With all the excitement about the big money Chonowitsch pipes and the claim in his bio on smokingpipes that he has refined all parts of pipe design, including engineering, I decided to poke around a bit to find out what people mean when they use the term, especially as I've considered the term an inflated euphemism for drilling.
I thought I would get a lot of hits googling "pipemakers forum engineering," but not much turned up. But I did get a hit to Stephen Downie's blog:
"What this means for me when I'm making my pipes is that I drill with a large enough bit to give ample airflow. I'm a fan of drill bits on either side and including 11/64ths. These are generally small enough that they won't draw flakes of ash and tobacco up the pipe and large enough to give a good draw.
The next part is maintaining the airflow. You can have a draught hole an inch in diameter if you want, but if it narrows for to the size of a needle you still won't be able to draw much out of it. So here we come to the problem: People like an open draw and a narrow, comfortable bit. This means that simply drilling an 11/64th bit all the way through a piece of plastic and calling it done isn't going to cut it. That's why most pipe makers drill the stem material with a drill bit that tapers to a point from one side of the stem material then drill with a much smaller diameter bit from the other side. This is followed up by opening up the bit side of the stem with various needle files, thin saw blades, drill bits and other assorted burrs and files. The important part here is to make sure that the airway isn't constricted once the bit is opened up. The airflow should be constant from the draught hole to the end of the bit.
These are the basic rules I follow when I'm making a pipe. Every pipe is different and each needs to be evaluated for the engineering that will work best for the tobacco chamber size and construction considerations. Beyond these two basic engineering aspects people begin talking about polishing the airway, and other more exotic ways of helping a pipe smoke well. At this point it gets into the Law of Diminishing Returns. Basically it's a lot more work for very little -if any- gain."
So. He drills a non-engineered straight line through the shank into the bowl, at the bottom and centered. No engineering here. But he does take extra time with the stem and uses a variety of tools to promote the airflow through it. He opens the stem but uses no engineering principles in doling so. Also of note are the final two sentences which clearly state that hours spent on minute features, which might amount to engineering, produce little or no airway improvement.
I'm going to look into this more and will post here if I find anything noteworthy.
I thought I would get a lot of hits googling "pipemakers forum engineering," but not much turned up. But I did get a hit to Stephen Downie's blog:
"What this means for me when I'm making my pipes is that I drill with a large enough bit to give ample airflow. I'm a fan of drill bits on either side and including 11/64ths. These are generally small enough that they won't draw flakes of ash and tobacco up the pipe and large enough to give a good draw.
The next part is maintaining the airflow. You can have a draught hole an inch in diameter if you want, but if it narrows for to the size of a needle you still won't be able to draw much out of it. So here we come to the problem: People like an open draw and a narrow, comfortable bit. This means that simply drilling an 11/64th bit all the way through a piece of plastic and calling it done isn't going to cut it. That's why most pipe makers drill the stem material with a drill bit that tapers to a point from one side of the stem material then drill with a much smaller diameter bit from the other side. This is followed up by opening up the bit side of the stem with various needle files, thin saw blades, drill bits and other assorted burrs and files. The important part here is to make sure that the airway isn't constricted once the bit is opened up. The airflow should be constant from the draught hole to the end of the bit.
These are the basic rules I follow when I'm making a pipe. Every pipe is different and each needs to be evaluated for the engineering that will work best for the tobacco chamber size and construction considerations. Beyond these two basic engineering aspects people begin talking about polishing the airway, and other more exotic ways of helping a pipe smoke well. At this point it gets into the Law of Diminishing Returns. Basically it's a lot more work for very little -if any- gain."
So. He drills a non-engineered straight line through the shank into the bowl, at the bottom and centered. No engineering here. But he does take extra time with the stem and uses a variety of tools to promote the airflow through it. He opens the stem but uses no engineering principles in doling so. Also of note are the final two sentences which clearly state that hours spent on minute features, which might amount to engineering, produce little or no airway improvement.
I'm going to look into this more and will post here if I find anything noteworthy.
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