I decided that since i can't afford an expensive pipe, and I'm pretty handy with wood, I would take a crack at making one. I won't be making my own stems and all that advanced stuff, But I'll probable buy some Ben Wade freehand style stems and work with that. I found some gorgeous marbleized ones for a little over 5 a piece so I'll just go that rout. I bought 4 Blocks of 40 year old Cypress Briar. They are very rough, and today Ii couldn't take it anymore, I had to see what the grain was like. I hand sanded with an old sanding block for like 2 hours on one side of one of the blocks. Then i took a hickory nut casing and some pure grain alcohol and stained the sanded side and rubbed some olive oil on it revealing some really neat grain. There are a couple of pits. i hope the come out when I shape the pipe. Here is a picture. Use your imagination and try to see the bowl and shank possibilities.I think the strait vertical lines are saw marke that i didn't get sanded out.
