Who uses hommade pipe tampers?

[smokinfireman]

Who here has a favorite homemade tamper? They can be quite interesting depending on what you use. Have seen everything from shell casings fashioned onto antler to a gold plated bolt.

 

[captainprophesy]

I have a few that I use when I'm home... Various sized casing from .45, .38, etc fastened to various woods like eucalyptus, walnut, solid core ply... I make them all the time with various wood waste from the shop.
But really don't use anything quite as much as my basic nail.

 

[smokinfireman]

I haven't one with a shell casing. That's my next woodshop project. Have a nice 7.62x54r shell casing that should do nicely. I have several hardwood tampers I turned out but when I'm on the town I carry a slim stainless store bought tamper/pick combo. Easier in the pocket.

 

[aldecaker]

When I'm working in my storage shed/workshop, I use an old .30-30 casing that always seems to be kicking around on my bench.

 

[agnosticpipe]

I'm always making tampers out of empty 410 shotgun shells. I just whittle down a little sweetgum or oak twig and shove it in. Kind of simple and crude, but it gets the job done.

 

[smokinfireman]

That's all that matters. I'd rather have a simple tamper than no tamper at all. I have used a fountain pen cap in a pinch. Not the type to scorch my little finger under any circumstances.

 

[warren]

Left index finger. My mom and dad made it one night, at home (so the story goes) sixty some years ago. I've yet to lose it, though I have another less calloused, on the right hand.

 

[aldecaker]

...around the campfire, their blustery stories of bravado died on their lips, as they noticed Warren quietly stirring the coals with his... :rofl:

 

[warren]

As the guy at the next urinal observed, "Cold water."
"Deep too," I responded.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I have a bunch of curly branches off a uh, curly tree that I use when my regular tool is out of reach. It' really more of a shrub sized thing. Sorry my mate is away and I am poor with names of plants.
Anyway, they're the right size, and the twists in a short span make for interest. I'd love to know how to de-bark them without using a knife or any sort of elbow grease.....

 

[jkrug]

I have a few that I turned out of apple and cherry wood that are quite nice. I also have a few made using .38 and .357 brass on the ends of oak dowels. I'd like to get a hold of some briar and make up a few. That will be a good winter project. ::

 

[jaygreen55]

An old AA battery

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Lately I've been grabbing a chunk of Vulcanite from a failed stem.

It has a drill bit embedded in it because I was trying to stretch the bore out. Not only did it fail because the end cracked, but that drill bit is stuck in there good.

 

[maxx]

Steel rod I found. Works great.

 

[ericusrex]

On more than one occasion I have used a tube of chapstick when nothing else was handy. Plastic and fire is not a good combination.

 

[lestrout]

I have a bunch of nice tampers, mostly gifts, which I fear losing, so I rarely use them. When out and about, I go commando, picking up a twig (10-17mm diameter is good), knocking the dirt off on a leaf, sanding a flat in the end by scraping on a rock or sidewalk, and having at it. I don't like metal or heat conductors on the end of a tamper because I often tamp while the ember is active, and I dislike feeling rushed so that I don't accidentally kill off the cherry.
hp

les

 

[jiujitsubowl]

Jammed the aristocob tee tamper into a cork for a handle. Cheap and easy.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I make my own too.

 

[gambit88]

I haven't made one yet but I've been known to use golf tees. I do have two tamper a friend of mine made me. One is an antler he put on a lathe and made a brass end for. The other is a piece of aluminum he spun into a cool looking tamper. More often then not I use a Czech tool just because I have a boat load of em.

 

[edgreen]

Like Cosmic I make my own. Of course having neither the talent or materials he does, I just break off a branch when I'm outside and use that. It gets thrown into the garden after use and will recycle (although it may take a few years for that twig to decompose and become part of the next generation of tamper)