Who uses hommade pipe tampers?

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smokinfireman

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 17, 2015
176
1
Who here has a favorite homemade tamper? They can be quite interesting depending on what you use. Have seen everything from shell casings fashioned onto antler to a gold plated bolt.

 
Sep 27, 2012
1,779
0
Upland, CA.
I have a few that I use when I'm home... Various sized casing from .45, .38, etc fastened to various woods like eucalyptus, walnut, solid core ply... I make them all the time with various wood waste from the shop.
But really don't use anything quite as much as my basic nail.

 

smokinfireman

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 17, 2015
176
1
I haven't one with a shell casing. That's my next woodshop project. Have a nice 7.62x54r shell casing that should do nicely. I have several hardwood tampers I turned out but when I'm on the town I carry a slim stainless store bought tamper/pick combo. Easier in the pocket.

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
When I'm working in my storage shed/workshop, I use an old .30-30 casing that always seems to be kicking around on my bench.

 

smokinfireman

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 17, 2015
176
1
That's all that matters. I'd rather have a simple tamper than no tamper at all. I have used a fountain pen cap in a pinch. Not the type to scorch my little finger under any circumstances.

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
...around the campfire, their blustery stories of bravado died on their lips, as they noticed Warren quietly stirring the coals with his... :rofl:

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,568
27,070
Carmel Valley, CA
I have a bunch of curly branches off a uh, curly tree that I use when my regular tool is out of reach. It' really more of a shrub sized thing. Sorry my mate is away and I am poor with names of plants.
Anyway, they're the right size, and the twists in a short span make for interest. I'd love to know how to de-bark them without using a knife or any sort of elbow grease.....

 

jkrug

Lifer
Jan 23, 2015
2,867
8
I have a few that I turned out of apple and cherry wood that are quite nice. I also have a few made using .38 and .357 brass on the ends of oak dowels. I'd like to get a hold of some briar and make up a few. That will be a good winter project. :puffy:

 
Mar 1, 2014
3,646
4,916
Lately I've been grabbing a chunk of Vulcanite from a failed stem.

It has a drill bit embedded in it because I was trying to stretch the bore out. Not only did it fail because the end cracked, but that drill bit is stuck in there good.

 

maxx

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 10, 2015
709
6
image6-450x600.jpg

Steel rod I found. Works great.

 

ericusrex

Lifer
Feb 27, 2015
1,175
3
On more than one occasion I have used a tube of chapstick when nothing else was handy. Plastic and fire is not a good combination.

 

lestrout

Lifer
Jan 28, 2010
1,758
283
Chester County, PA
I have a bunch of nice tampers, mostly gifts, which I fear losing, so I rarely use them. When out and about, I go commando, picking up a twig (10-17mm diameter is good), knocking the dirt off on a leaf, sanding a flat in the end by scraping on a rock or sidewalk, and having at it. I don't like metal or heat conductors on the end of a tamper because I often tamp while the ember is active, and I dislike feeling rushed so that I don't accidentally kill off the cherry.
hp

les

 

gambit88

Can't Leave
Jan 25, 2015
341
2
I haven't made one yet but I've been known to use golf tees. I do have two tamper a friend of mine made me. One is an antler he put on a lathe and made a brass end for. The other is a piece of aluminum he spun into a cool looking tamper. More often then not I use a Czech tool just because I have a boat load of em.

 

edgreen

Lifer
Aug 28, 2013
3,581
15
Like Cosmic I make my own. Of course having neither the talent or materials he does, I just break off a branch when I'm outside and use that. It gets thrown into the garden after use and will recycle (although it may take a few years for that twig to decompose and become part of the next generation of tamper)

 
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