new to the forum

[avidameteur]

Hello all! brand new to the forum, and to pipes really. I am a maker myself, and i work with a lot of cherry, but also maple, yew, black walnut, birch, and my personal favorite, osage orange. I haven't tried many tobaccos, but my current favorite is prince albert. I am a fan of curchwardens, and this is my favorite style both to make and to smoke. i dont have a picture of my current favorite, but it is an osage orange straight stem churchwarden, with a 3/4 by 1 1/2 inch bowl, and .4 inch thick walls. the stem is 9 1/2 inches long, and is made of a single piece of bamboo. gonna try to post some pictures here, if they dont work let me know.

the pipe pictured is a cherry "plus sized" churchwarden, 16 inch stem, cherry pipe, half inch thick walls, 1" by 1 1/2" bowl.

this pipe is a cherry poker, simple design, made from cherry limb and oak dowel, with bowl coating. bowl measures 3/4 by 1 1/4"

yew wood pipe, inspired by the hobbit pipes from the lord of the rings. pipe is yew, stem is bamboo 9 inches, bowl is coated, 3/4 by 1 1/4"
hope you all like them! will try to post pics of the osage pipe as soon as i can.

 

[minfarshaw]

Cool churchwarden. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You certainly came to the right place. New and old smokers, budding makers. The pipe obsessed, and the beginning collector. Not to mention constant hilarity. Prince Albert, eh? Some would call that a codger blend, but not condescendingly though. Very satisfying burley blend. You may like to look into Cornell and Diehl's tobaccos. They have several very good burley blends, and welcome to the forum!

 

[mso489]

avid, welcome aboard. I think you'll find this community valuable for pipe questions, history, lore,

and knowhow. We have accomplished carvers, restorers, and people with remarkable collections of

pipes. I like your pipes and the various woods you use. My go-to pipe carver does some beautiful work

in Mountain Laurel, but he's a difficult guy to intercept, doesn't sell online, and sells only on his own terms.

You have some beautiful editions of finely bound books in your library. Bravo.

 

[avidameteur]

here's another one of mine, a more recent and more finished product. this one is a stained maple bowl, with a half integrated maple, half black walnut shank. the stem is bamboo, and measures nine inches in length. overall the pipe is 13 and a half inches in length, the wall thickness varies slightly but is no thinner than .25 inches and no thicker than .35 inches at any point. the bowl measures 1 inch in diameter, and is about an inch and a half deep. hope you enjoy, haven't smoked it yet, but i like my other maples, they're clean, easy smokers.

 

[ivapewithfire]

Welcome.
I know where you are coming from. I've recently developed an obsession with making pipes. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm having a blast doing it.
Those are some cool looking pipes.

 

[ejames]

Welcome! You might try some Mulberry for a pipe. I've made several from it. Makes a great pipe!

 

[avidameteur]

actually, that's the one i forgot. i have made a couple mulberry pipes too, but never smoked one. how do they smoke? have you ever tried osage orange?

 

[bulldogbriar89]

Welcome Avid. those pipes look great, and keep up the great work.

 

[pipebaum81]

Good show, Avid and welcome aboard!

 

[bentmike]

Welcome avid and nice work -Always a treat to see members handmade pipes. I'm a fan of Osage too but I've only made primitive style longbows and flatbows. Osage is really flexible and tough and shoots a great arrow.

 

[jmill208]

Welcome. Looks like you will feel right at home here. Good job on the pipes.

 

[crusher47]

Very cool...welcome aboard

 

[jeepnewbie]

Welcome to the forums, nice looking pipes.

 

[momeerphil]

Welcome, Avid! Does Osage Orange impart any "flavor" when you first smoke it? We once tried a beautiful Poplar on some of our wooden pipes, but it had a very bad taste when first smoked. Missouri has lots of naturally occurring Osage Orange.

 

[avidameteur]

thank you all for all the wonderful welcomes! I didnt mention it, but i got my start as a bowyer, which is where i first encountered and worked with many of the woods i make pipes from. I still make bows, sell them too, but the pipes solve the problem of what to do with pieces of wood that are burled, knotty, spare ends off of bow staves, and just about anything else. as to flavor, the osage orange does impart a bit of an undertone to the smoke, but it is altogether wonderful. it reminds me of roasted almonds a bit. it also smells great when smoked. one word of caution when actually making a pipe from it though is to dry the wood slowly. seems like a no brainer, but fresh cut osage will check catastrofically in a matter of a few hours. one other thing is that the wood is heavy compared to other woods, even when dry, so doesnt lend itself well to overly thick walls or bulky designs, especially as a clincher. its a beautiful wood to work with. on a similar note, birch makes beautiful pipes, and altogether ugly smokers in my experience. while its easy to work and has a beautiful grain, the one birch pipe i ever made and smoked gave off a foul odor when lit, and made my Prince Albert taste about as good as 4 aces turkish. pretty pipes, again, but the wood burns very easily and everything you smoke through it tastes foul.

 

[ocpsdan]

Welcome, avid!
Thanks for sharing about your pipes, pretty cool. I'd encourage you to look into bowl coatings, especially for your birch pipes. I think it will help. Cheers!

 

[puffy]

Welcome

 

[fordm60]

Welcome!!

 

[andystewart]

Welcome to the forums avid - I hope you enjoy the journey!
Andy