About 8 years ago, I got a box of old turn of the century, unused bulldog stummels from Skip at The briary. They gave me a chance to hone my hand at making stems and some pipemaking basics. I had/have no intentions of becoming a pipemaker, but I did/do like to make things for myself.
One of the pipes I made was one that quickly became my favorite latakia pipe. I rusticated the stummel, stained it, adjusted the draft, banded it, and made a stem from some antler that I had laying about. I drilled and carved the antler, and then bleached it to give it a whiter color.
The antler being very porous, quickly yellowed, and eventually started cracking.
So, although I loved the way this one smoked latakia, it went into a drawer. The hard stem just felt terrible on my teeth.
Then, the last few months I saw posts about stems being cast. So, I did a bit of research, and I found that my vacuum casting equipment for production jewelry work, would work just fine for making acrylic stems. Plus, I have always wanted to make a spigot. So, I grabbed that old bulldog I had made out of the drawer and took it back to the drawing board.
I made a cap from sterling silver, and set a turquoise into the stem, and... then made a silicon mold from another spigot stem, cast some acrylic under vacuum... made the silverwork for the stem, and viola.
I have repaired several spigots for Skip at The Briary, customers bringing them in after they mangle them, ha ha. Anyways, I became familiar with how other pipemakers have approached the concept. Usually using machined sterling from very thin sheet stock. I prefer my own made pipes to have a touch of couture (when fashion meets art, usually meant to merely influence the future styles). So, I cut the stem side at an angle and used thicker sheet, and a bit of hand fabricating. I was really happy with how it all came together.
Just a tad more than 7.25" long, I really like the length. I've also given the fit of the stem the old, sling test, to see if I could dislodge the stem. It passes, with an excellent fit. The angle of the stem side is not as steep an angle as what you see protruding from the cap. The taper changes to make it the perfect angle to keep a tight friction fit. I just had to match the angle of the stem side to the hole's angle to make two angles meet up perfectly. I can't sling it out at all.
I also cleaned up the well used stummel a bit, reamed the chamber, and fit it all together. I was really pleased. And, I am looking forward to smoking this one often in the winter.
Mrs. Cosmic is always off put when I start sketching out designs for white stems on my pipe designs. It does come across as formal, black and white. But, she really liked the way the touch of red on the bead line, and the blue of the turquoise cab added a touch of whim.
Anyways, I have already started breaking it in a bit yesterday, and I look forward to continuing my relationship with this pipe, and it's new duds. OH yeh, it passes a pipe cleaner, no problem, if you have an extra long one. But, being a spigot, I can break it apart at any time during a smoke if I need to.
I've already contacted a pipemaker (who I won't throw under the bus) for some more stummels to play around making myself some more spigots, maybe trying to get a little more wild with the designs. I do have a lathe in my machine shop, and I have made a few stummels, but the woodworking part of pipemaking doesn't appeal to me much. I'm lucky enough to know Skip well enough to get some contacts with the artisan pipemakers who can more easily get me shapes that I want to work with. I may make a stummel or two in the future. I do have a fully functional machine shop next to my studio. I just am not crazy about getting briar dust all over the precision equipment. I use it mostly for making machine parts for repairing machinery, and making specific tools when I need them, so I like to keep things very clean in there.
Anyways, thank you for looking. What do you think of the makeover?
One of the pipes I made was one that quickly became my favorite latakia pipe. I rusticated the stummel, stained it, adjusted the draft, banded it, and made a stem from some antler that I had laying about. I drilled and carved the antler, and then bleached it to give it a whiter color.
The antler being very porous, quickly yellowed, and eventually started cracking.
So, although I loved the way this one smoked latakia, it went into a drawer. The hard stem just felt terrible on my teeth.
Then, the last few months I saw posts about stems being cast. So, I did a bit of research, and I found that my vacuum casting equipment for production jewelry work, would work just fine for making acrylic stems. Plus, I have always wanted to make a spigot. So, I grabbed that old bulldog I had made out of the drawer and took it back to the drawing board.
I made a cap from sterling silver, and set a turquoise into the stem, and... then made a silicon mold from another spigot stem, cast some acrylic under vacuum... made the silverwork for the stem, and viola.
I have repaired several spigots for Skip at The Briary, customers bringing them in after they mangle them, ha ha. Anyways, I became familiar with how other pipemakers have approached the concept. Usually using machined sterling from very thin sheet stock. I prefer my own made pipes to have a touch of couture (when fashion meets art, usually meant to merely influence the future styles). So, I cut the stem side at an angle and used thicker sheet, and a bit of hand fabricating. I was really happy with how it all came together.
Just a tad more than 7.25" long, I really like the length. I've also given the fit of the stem the old, sling test, to see if I could dislodge the stem. It passes, with an excellent fit. The angle of the stem side is not as steep an angle as what you see protruding from the cap. The taper changes to make it the perfect angle to keep a tight friction fit. I just had to match the angle of the stem side to the hole's angle to make two angles meet up perfectly. I can't sling it out at all.
I also cleaned up the well used stummel a bit, reamed the chamber, and fit it all together. I was really pleased. And, I am looking forward to smoking this one often in the winter.
Mrs. Cosmic is always off put when I start sketching out designs for white stems on my pipe designs. It does come across as formal, black and white. But, she really liked the way the touch of red on the bead line, and the blue of the turquoise cab added a touch of whim.
Anyways, I have already started breaking it in a bit yesterday, and I look forward to continuing my relationship with this pipe, and it's new duds. OH yeh, it passes a pipe cleaner, no problem, if you have an extra long one. But, being a spigot, I can break it apart at any time during a smoke if I need to.
I've already contacted a pipemaker (who I won't throw under the bus) for some more stummels to play around making myself some more spigots, maybe trying to get a little more wild with the designs. I do have a lathe in my machine shop, and I have made a few stummels, but the woodworking part of pipemaking doesn't appeal to me much. I'm lucky enough to know Skip well enough to get some contacts with the artisan pipemakers who can more easily get me shapes that I want to work with. I may make a stummel or two in the future. I do have a fully functional machine shop next to my studio. I just am not crazy about getting briar dust all over the precision equipment. I use it mostly for making machine parts for repairing machinery, and making specific tools when I need them, so I like to keep things very clean in there.
Anyways, thank you for looking. What do you think of the makeover?
