Everyone has start somewhere.
I started by staring at an overgrown hedge. On the right front side of my property, my neighbor was grown a black walnut tree. Not on purpose mind you, it was pure negligence.
It grew big enough to shade the dashboard on my Jeep. A couple of years of trimming branches that blocked the public sidewalk made me offer to cut the bastard down. My neighbor graciously agreed to let me enter her yard so that I could cut down the shrub (keep in mind anyone else would have called it a tree).
It took me an entire day with a handsaw to get it cut down. When I was getting ready to haul the carcass of the tree out back, I had a an idea.
I needed a trophy.
For a good 7 years I had stared at that eyesore. I didn't just teach it a lesson, I conquered it. It was lying dead at my feet.
There were two sections of the "shrub" that were about 3 feet long. As I was hauling it out back for the city workers to remove, I took those two sections and set them aside. At the time, I didn't even know what I was going to do with them. I just knew that I was going to get my revenge by turning the eyesore into something.
I work in the computer industry and spend way too much time sitting. I started developing some lower back and leg pain. My doctor recommended spending more time on my feet. I started woodworking.
The last thing I had made from wood was a junior high shop project, the results of which still grace my parents beach house. I honestly think they are just too cheap to buy a new lamp.
It started by grabbing a branch from that "shrub" that I had set aside and whittling. When I started I didn't even know what I was making. I just a knife to wood and started moving it. It turned out that a pipe was a very easy shape to whittle.
I don't even know what took me that direction. It could have been anything. It wasn't just anything though, it was a pipe. I'd only tried to smoke a pipe once before. A good twenty years before carving this pipe. It was an awful experience. It was a cheap drugstore pipe with cheap drugstore weed and I had no idea what I was doing. It was hot and my tongue felt like it caught fire. Either way, that is what appeared in my hands when I started moving the knife.
I figured what the hell. I carved the shape of a pipe, I might as well drill a couple of holes to see if I could make it functional. I didn't have much of a collection tools. I had to go out and buy a couple of drill bits. I bought a 1/2 inch and 9/32 long shaft bits.
Some type of pipe magic let me take those two bits and hand drill a functional bowl and draught hole. It certainly didn't have anything to do with any skill I possess. The draught hole was a little off center (about 1/32" to the right of center), but it did enter at the bottom of the bowl. It was an almost perfect junction.
All I needed at this point was a stem. I was driving down I-79 one day and noticed a very attractive staghorn sumac. It almost called to me. It said "Rob, suck me". That kind of turned me off. I decided that tree needed to die. I circled around and cut it down. I know that Native American's used to use sumac for stems on calumet pipes. I thought it would probably make a great stem for mine. I cut off a good 12" section, threw it in the back of my jeep and drove off.
Now that I had all of the materials I needed, I started to work. I used nothing but hand tools so it has taken me several weeks to finish it. It still needs some polish, but it's to the point that I've started smoking it.
During all these weeks of working on the pipe, I figured I should try to see if I like pipe smoking. I bought an MM Cobb and loved it.
Not only have a cut back on cigarettes, I'm less stressed, my back and leg pain has disappeared, and I've found something to do with my time that has a tangible result.
It may not be a high caliber pipe, but I made it with my own two hands. It will always be a special pipe because it helped my find the magic of pipe smoking.
I did a little photo shoot last night in my shop so that I could share the results. Keep in mind when I say "shop" that means an old kitchen table in the basement, a couple of cinder blocks, a hobby vise and a crap load of dust and cobwebs.
And here it is:
I started by staring at an overgrown hedge. On the right front side of my property, my neighbor was grown a black walnut tree. Not on purpose mind you, it was pure negligence.
It grew big enough to shade the dashboard on my Jeep. A couple of years of trimming branches that blocked the public sidewalk made me offer to cut the bastard down. My neighbor graciously agreed to let me enter her yard so that I could cut down the shrub (keep in mind anyone else would have called it a tree).
It took me an entire day with a handsaw to get it cut down. When I was getting ready to haul the carcass of the tree out back, I had a an idea.
I needed a trophy.
For a good 7 years I had stared at that eyesore. I didn't just teach it a lesson, I conquered it. It was lying dead at my feet.
There were two sections of the "shrub" that were about 3 feet long. As I was hauling it out back for the city workers to remove, I took those two sections and set them aside. At the time, I didn't even know what I was going to do with them. I just knew that I was going to get my revenge by turning the eyesore into something.
I work in the computer industry and spend way too much time sitting. I started developing some lower back and leg pain. My doctor recommended spending more time on my feet. I started woodworking.
The last thing I had made from wood was a junior high shop project, the results of which still grace my parents beach house. I honestly think they are just too cheap to buy a new lamp.
It started by grabbing a branch from that "shrub" that I had set aside and whittling. When I started I didn't even know what I was making. I just a knife to wood and started moving it. It turned out that a pipe was a very easy shape to whittle.
I don't even know what took me that direction. It could have been anything. It wasn't just anything though, it was a pipe. I'd only tried to smoke a pipe once before. A good twenty years before carving this pipe. It was an awful experience. It was a cheap drugstore pipe with cheap drugstore weed and I had no idea what I was doing. It was hot and my tongue felt like it caught fire. Either way, that is what appeared in my hands when I started moving the knife.
I figured what the hell. I carved the shape of a pipe, I might as well drill a couple of holes to see if I could make it functional. I didn't have much of a collection tools. I had to go out and buy a couple of drill bits. I bought a 1/2 inch and 9/32 long shaft bits.
Some type of pipe magic let me take those two bits and hand drill a functional bowl and draught hole. It certainly didn't have anything to do with any skill I possess. The draught hole was a little off center (about 1/32" to the right of center), but it did enter at the bottom of the bowl. It was an almost perfect junction.
All I needed at this point was a stem. I was driving down I-79 one day and noticed a very attractive staghorn sumac. It almost called to me. It said "Rob, suck me". That kind of turned me off. I decided that tree needed to die. I circled around and cut it down. I know that Native American's used to use sumac for stems on calumet pipes. I thought it would probably make a great stem for mine. I cut off a good 12" section, threw it in the back of my jeep and drove off.
Now that I had all of the materials I needed, I started to work. I used nothing but hand tools so it has taken me several weeks to finish it. It still needs some polish, but it's to the point that I've started smoking it.
During all these weeks of working on the pipe, I figured I should try to see if I like pipe smoking. I bought an MM Cobb and loved it.
Not only have a cut back on cigarettes, I'm less stressed, my back and leg pain has disappeared, and I've found something to do with my time that has a tangible result.
It may not be a high caliber pipe, but I made it with my own two hands. It will always be a special pipe because it helped my find the magic of pipe smoking.
I did a little photo shoot last night in my shop so that I could share the results. Keep in mind when I say "shop" that means an old kitchen table in the basement, a couple of cinder blocks, a hobby vise and a crap load of dust and cobwebs.
And here it is:
