Building with Bamboo

[chiefwannapuff]

Hello Everyone. I'm new here to both the forum and pipe smoking in general. I've decided to take up both pipe smoking and crafting my own pipes out of Bamboo, as a useful hobby (and to stay in the garage a little longer).
Here is snap of my creations thus far.

More of an experiment to learn and please myself than to sell to others. Most follow the two chamber reverse calabash design. I like having a separate chamber to cool the smoke. So far it's working. There are infinite possibilities. When I see a particular pipe, the light goes off and I grab the hacksaw.
I do plan on getting into smoking with Briar, (maybe try making one). Am I correct that once I go to briar, I'll never go back to anything else? Is it that good?
Anyway, I hope to reference this site often. Take care.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Hi Chief, welcome to the forum. Certainly some 'interesting' pipes you have there.
Have you smoked them all?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Interesting. Welcome to the forum. Do you buy your bamboo, or do you harvest it yourself? I have a grove of it on my property, and all of my friends all think that I should just be making all sorts of things out of it. But, it is so finicky and hard to cure, that I just pile it up and burn it every year. It's more trouble than growing my own tobacco.

 

[chiefwannapuff]

Jay. Yes. I've smoked them all. Mind you, I'm a newbie to this to so I have no real comparison to smoking pipes of other materials, (I'm working on that). However, the Bamboo, if the wall is thick enough, is very resistant to heat. The thin walled ones do get hot and need to be smoke slowly, (or I double up the wall using a bamboo sleeve). In doing some research, my best guess is that they need to smoked like a Venturi? Bamboo is natures plastic composite, so it makes sense. I have smoked a few almost nightly for a month, with no issue or burning through.
The overall experience is dry and pleasant. Bamboo is noted for not added a flavor to the tobacco. (I also heat treat it before using). No soreness, toxic fumes or headaches were encountered.
Cosmic. Yes it's local bamboo, from a wild grove, right along side pine and oak trees here in Pennsylvania. Golden Bamboo, I believe. Amazing stuff.
You can heat treat/cure the bamboo using a propane blow torch (preferred), heat gun, or camp fire. Be sure to use forced ventilation or go outside as the fumes are toxic. It takes some practice. Techniques can be found on the web. I used a slow, constant sweeping motion, working between nodes, to heat a small section, until the grass burns off and leaves a nice, light brown color. The sugars convert into a natural varnish that will last indefinitely.
I usually heat treat it the same day it's cut, then store inside for a week or two before working with it.
I also make hiking sticks with the stuff, very light for long walks. I can see why it's used for structural building and scaffolding.
I do want to try working with Briar. However, I'm quite happy with this new hobby.

 

[chiefwannapuff]

A closer look at the individual pieces and how they're made:

 

[jpmcwjr]

Extra-ordinary! Thanks for sharing the above. I would have scoffed at someone who said you could use bamboo for the chamber. Good to know!

 

[lohengrin]

Congratulations, nice works showing creativity and some nice shapes.

I didn't think bamboo could be used without a briar chamber.

Keep on displaying us the next pipes.

 

[chiefwannapuff]

Thank you, jpmcwjr. It was an experiment that proved to be an eye opener and lead to all the above. I was a cub master for two of my boys, and we worked with bamboo, so I was aware of it's properties. Apparently, Bamboo has a ignition temperature almost twice that of most woods, about 420 degrees, and a melt or fail temperature of 900 degrees. Fresh bamboo, exposed long enough to a torch, will behave and burn like melting plastic. Once cured, it takes on wood characteristics.
When smoking, they can get a little hot to the touch. Especially the thin walled ones, requiring a second sleeve to be inserted to double the thickness, (see the second image from the top on the previous post. That has been smoked nightly for a month now. Nice cake. No issue). I Smoke them slowly or put them down and grab another.
Lohengrin. Thank you. This is a fun hobby. I was thinking of using a plaster chamber on the onset. No need. My current piece is a root, following an elephant foots or pick axe design. I'll post an image once it's done.

 

[tbradsim1]

Man I like the Red Vodoo Chief one.

 

[chiefwannapuff]

tbradsim1. Thank you. That one I call "Little Zu". It smokes nicely. I made a mount out of lava rock, (drilling that was a chore), and a matching tamper/scraper spear.
My favorite is the first one on top. Smokes nicely, and second to that is the short, oily looking one, with the chimney stack and sits like a poker. I call that the Dirty Diesel. I coated parts of it with raw honey for effect.

 

[nevadablue]

Very nice and very interesting work. You are quite an artist with the design and execution. Please show us more.

 

[chiefwannapuff]

Thank you, Ken. Here is my latest, a pickaxe style, whose pot is made from a bamboo rhizome bud. A hollowed out dowel pin, secures a two piece stem. Then is painted with a nontoxic acrylic paint and finished with a clear coat.

The bud is a single chamber, but the stem, being so large, long and hollow, acts as cooling chamber for a reverse calabash effect. The tip can be removed to place a filter or for cleaning.

It's quite a chore to both dig up and then cut down the massive cluster of roots to get to the rhizome's bud. The roots of the Bamboo apparently do not contain the silicon as found with the shoots. However, it cures easily and quickly with a few days of drying indoors, resulting in a hard wood.

The pot is then coated with Raw honey to promote caking. I took the photos before smoking, as I don't know how the root will hold up, (time will tell -I'll have to go easy on it). However, it makes for a nice, smooth smoke after a second breakfast. By leaving a small length of roots protruding, it makes for a nice grip and insulates the hand from heat. I like it.

 

[wyfbane]

Dude. Those are seriously cool. Thank you for sharing this. It is so unique. Welcome to the forums. Stick around and keep making those.

 

[chiefwannapuff]

Thank you, wyfbane. I'm no expert, but after a month of smoking from these, no issues so far. I do have a few other ideas, a horn and a nose warmer. I'm also thinking about going left field, away from traditional as well. I'll share as it goes.

 

[chiefwannapuff]

The wife's says that last one looks like a chili pepper. I just smoked three bowls of OHM Bold through it, (dry seems to work best for breaking them in), and no issues. The big test will be something a little hot and wetter. Which will have to wait until tomorrow.
I'm learning a lot from this site.

 

[nevadablue]

Chief, you have a PM.

 

[mso489]

I especially like the ones in natural earth tones. They show off some sophisticated design instincts. Welcome aboard.

 

[chiefwannapuff]

Thank you, mso489. I agree and in part because the makeup of the bamboo, having silicon within it's substrate, does not take well to stains. One would have to sand down sufficiently to get to the more porous wood. However, you run into thin wall issues.
Painting of cured bamboo is possible, but requires a light roughing of the surface with steel wool. It bonds wells.
Properly done, heating treated green bamboo with a torch, causes the sugars to leach from the wood and form into a hard varnish, (excess is wiped off with a clean rag while hot). Then the poles are left to dry naturally for a few weeks more. This creates a hardwood with it's own shellac. It feels like a waxy plastic, but does not rub off into the hand. It's a nice feel. I can use a bare end as a pipe stem. It feels like a plastic tip, with no after taste or slivers.
There are natives whom still use an open fire to cure the bamboo. I've also learned how to control the torch to create light and dark areas as needed. Thus I can create transitions, or leopard spots.
Roots, however, lack this resin and require paint and or staining. I have RIT to try out for that. I'm still experimenting.
If I were to sell or gift these, I'd most likely stick to a more tribal look and natural finish.

 

[chiefwannapuff]

Here's my latest creation. I Harvested more Bamboo and while it cures, (since I'm taking a break from Pipes), I decided to build something else: A Bamboo Pipe Tree.

This one holds ten pipes. The top holds cleaners and tools.
I'll need to stagger the holes for the next one, and make them bigger as well.

 

[nevadablue]

Many of your pictures in this thread have gone missing. I hope they can be restored.
So, I asked chiefwannapuff for some bamboo suitable for stems. I have some bamboo, but it is all too large for stem work. I want to try my hand at making some stems and shanks for various projects, using bamboo.

Today the box of material arrived and included was my very own CWP Custom Bamboo Sitter! What a neat little pipe. It smokes nicely. Bamboo is certainly a different bowl material. This one is tiny and has a thin bowl. That bowl heats up when lighting and puffing but immediately cools down after a puff. This CWP design has the bottom of the bowl at the node that is above the stem. The stem goes into a chamber below the bowl. It works VERY well. I am impressed.