Viprati Estate Pipe Too Weird Not To Have

[shanez]

I saw this Luigi Viprati estate pipe today that is odd enough to suit my tastes. This had to be a very tricky drilling job!

 

[Briar Baron]

I have several Viprati pipes, they are excellent value and nice designs.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have a nice Viprati Bulldog with a white stem... one of my favorites.
Thats a nice pipe there. Yeh, kinda weird, but I’d want to get the size specs; know of it’s going to be huge or normal in my hand.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I bet it’s drilled with a curved bit, like we use in lapidary. It’s a curved tube with a cutter head on a flexible shaft. I have a Hilson drilled like that. Still very tricky.

 

[dmcmtk]

La Pipa! A Four Clover pipe, sort of a synthesis of Danish and Italian design. If you haven't seen the video series, it's a fun watch.

alberto belometti - https://www.youtube.com/user/albertobelometti

 

[georged]

I bet it’s drilled with a curved bit, like we use in lapidary. It’s a curved tube with a cutter head on a flexible shaft. I have a Hilson drilled like that. Still very tricky.

Yup. In the pipe trade it's called a "peck drill".

A curved airway is a basket of problems waiting to happen, though, from carbon build-up that can't be removed except mechanically; to rough walls that collect pipecleaner fuzz like mad. Not a fan except for "look much, smoke little" special occasion pipes.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Not a fan except for "look much, smoke little" special occasion pipes.

I have to admit, I just don’t smoke that Hilson very often. Just has a precarious “hang” to it.

 

[sumusfumus]

I bet it’s drilled with a curved bit, like we use in lapidary. It’s a curved tube with a cutter head on a flexible shaft. I have a Hilson drilled like that. Still very tricky.

THANK YOU! I was trying to figure out why, after hanging around tools, and using them for 55-60 years, WHY! I could never drill a curved hole. So, that shank was drilled with some kind of special bit or guide. I'll be damned!

 

[Country Bladesmith]

@georged or @cosmicfolklore , do either of y’all have any info on the bit y’all are talking about? Something like that might would come in handy for when I’m drilling out the slots for my hidden tang knives. I’d be interested in seeing one. That one hasn’t made its way into my craft yet. Not that I’ve seen anyhow.

 

[SpookedPiper]

That is right up your alley, congratulations!!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

@georged or @cosmicfolklore , do either of y’all have any info on the bit y’all are talking about? Something like that might would come in handy for when I’m drilling out the slots for my hidden tang knives. I’d be interested in seeing one. That one hasn’t made its way into my craft yet. Not that I’ve seen anyhow.

Mine is a diamond bit grinder in a curved tube. I bought it decades ago for one specific project, where a thick slab of stone had to have a curved inner hole for wiring. I'll have to look for it.
Skip has one that he had made for making pipes, but I have yet to see a pipe with that curved draft that he has made with it. I've never seen one for sale designed for wood. But, there isn't a big demand for curved holes in wood. But, it would bring me great pleasure to ask Skip, and ask what he has done with it, ha ha.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

So, that shank was drilled with some kind of special bit or guide.

I think it's a tool that requires a certain degree of skill and practice to use. It's not like a lot of other tools, designed to make a specific job "easier." You can't just put it in a drill press and pull the lever. It merely facilitates a difficult cut, with a practiced hand.

 

[jaytex1969]

Not to spoil anyone's fun, but, by my calculations, there may be "just" enough room in there to get two straight line tunnels to meet.

View attachment 44918

Shanez, when you get it, push a cleaner in half way and see if it comes back straight or curved.

Or, for science, just cut the thing in half so we all can see....


View attachment 44917

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I actually have found a few curved drill bits being marketed now. Here is a video of one...

Here is also a jig this guy has rigged to help guide the drill.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Shanez, when you get it, push a cleaner in half way and see if it comes back straight or curved.

Or, for science, just cut the thing in half so we all can see....

I think that this is Georged's territory, but by my layman's estimation, if it were drilled like that, Jay. The draft would come out in a useless place inside the chamber.

 

[jaytex1969]

if it were drilled like that, Jay. The draft would come out in a useless place inside the chamber.

You just drilled too deep...

View attachment 44996


View attachment 44995

 

[jaytex1969]

Why is this thread seeming familiar..?

View attachment 45000


Sorry... Couldn't help myself... ?


View attachment 45001

 

[hawky454]

Beautiful Viprati! I’ve grown fond of his pipes since I picked one up at an antique shop!

 

[Country Bladesmith]

It is a beaut. I got so caught up in “how the hell did he drill that?,” I didn’t even mention how pretty the pipe is. ? It’s definitely a looker.

 

[Perique]

That’s a gorgeous pipe!