Made My Own Pipe in Denmark

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admin

Smoking a Pipe Right Now
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Nov 16, 2008
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St. Petersburg, FL
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While visiting Peter Heeschen in Odense Denmark with Sykes Wilford, we stayed over his house for a night, drank red wine, Havana Club Rum, ate fresh duck cooked on the grill, fresh potatoes that we dug up ourselves from Peter's garden and .... drum roll please .... we made our own pipes!
I picked out the piece of wood I wanted, then drew a shape with a pencil.
I've never done this before, and thought, "boy am I gonna screw this up bad. I hope I come away with all my fingers intact."
After drawing the shape on the Ebauchon, we then cut it out on the band saw.
Then we put it on a lathe.
At this point I have some pictures to help illustrate the process.
kevins-pipe-01.jpg

At this point above, I already turned the top part of the bowl to a round shape.
The Shank is still square and I am drilling the draft hole through the stem and shank together.
kevins-pipe-02.jpg

Where the bottom of the bowl and the shank connect, you can;t round that on the lathe, so you use a disc sander. I was worried about never playing guitar again while doing this.
kevins-pipe-03.jpg

The trick here is to get a nice rounded shape, but not hit the top of the bowl with the sander ... which I did three freakin times.
kevins-pipe-04.jpg

Still trying.
kevins-pipe-05.jpg

There's a better shot of the lathe.
kevins-pipe-06.jpg

The stem is partially shaped, and the bottom of the bowl still needs work, but it is starting to look like a pipe.
kevins-pipe-07.jpg

Above, we have the final shape of the pipe and stem and I am now sanding by hand with sandpaper.
kevins-pipe-09.jpg

After more and more sanding.
We didn't have time to stain the pipes as they need to dry overnight and then be buffed. In the morning we had to leave early to go see Mac Baren.
We moved straight to the buffing wheels.
In this next picture, the pipe is finished after being buffed on three different levels of coarse to fine.
kevins-pipe-10.jpg

kevins-pipe-11.jpg

kevins-pipe-12.jpg

kevins-pipe-13.jpg


 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,641
Chicago, IL
Fantastic souvenir from a wonderful trip. And to think that it was made on Heeschen's personal equipment.

Now there's a smoker that will evoke memories for the rest of your life. I imagine you years from now,

telling the whole story to a grandkid sitting on your lap as you smoke that ol' Godbee original. Priceless!
(I wonder how many old relics come thru eBay with histories that we'll never know about.

"If this ol' pipe could talk, oh, the stories it would tell! About Denmark and duck, and fresh-dug potatoes..." )

 

classicgeek

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 8, 2010
710
1
That's a great looking pipe. More than a little in common with my Stanwell Hans Christian Andersen, even the stain color. Congratulations on getting it so right on your first shot. Now, stop trolling eBay for used woodworking equipment.
Simon

 

admin

Smoking a Pipe Right Now
Staff member
Nov 16, 2008
8,861
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St. Petersburg, FL
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The pipe smokes unbelievably well. It is one of my best pipes and it definitely has the best story to go with it.
Igloo is right that I had a lot of help from Peter. Sykes even helped with the buffing.
Another funny thing is that while the buffers were fired up, I ran and got one of my Dunhills that had a chewed up and slightly oxidized stem and put it to the buffer. It came out like brand new, but Sykes warned me that it wasn't really a good idea to take my first practice run on a buffer with a Dunhill. I could have messed it up, but luckily it came out great.
I wish I had a stationary buffer now.
I love the pipe, it smokes great, and it wouldn't be so nicely shaped on the bottom if Peter didn't save it. I've had it for two weeks now and have smoked about ten bowls in it already.

 

menckenite

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 21, 2010
867
3
Alabama
Really appreciate the pictures! The pipe is great and so is the story. I'm really glad for you and that it turned out to be a great smoker, that's just icing on the cake.
I want a stationary buffer myself but I don't have a Dunhill yet so I better wait. :)

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,641
Chicago, IL
If I were you I'd rest it in the rack beside the Charatans. The fact that Heeschen had a hand in touching it up, ironically, only enhances the provenance. You may pass the Charatans and Dunnies down to your progeny, but the one real heirloom is that pipe; a part of you is in it.

 

python

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 8, 2009
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7,283
Maryland
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That is an awesome pipe Kevin!
One of the things that I love about pipes is the memories that become associated with them. They are like a memory enhancer.
I am jealous that I couldn't come to Denmark as well. It had to be a great time.

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,641
Chicago, IL
Ya, I think that Kevin really screwed you Bob. LOL

Oh well, I guess it's OK so long as he keeps paying for all that tobacco you review.
(Nothin' like stirring up a little sh*t now and then! LOL)

 

josephpaul

Lurker
Jun 11, 2010
34
0
Turned out beautiful! I love the wood ring on the stem and the light color of the pipe. At picture 6 it didn't look like much, but at picture 7 I could tell it was going to come out nice.

 

bubbadreier

Lifer
Jul 30, 2010
3,011
4
Norman, Oklahoma
Sorry I just realized that I tried to highjack your thread. I have no idea what wood it is but it is a hard wood :)
So back to your pipe, how long from start to finish did it take you to make this pipe?

 

admin

Smoking a Pipe Right Now
Staff member
Nov 16, 2008
8,861
5,571
St. Petersburg, FL
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Good question! We arrived at Peter Heeschen's house around 2 pm and finished the pipe around 8 pm, but we took several breaks in between to smoke pipes, dig up potatoes for dinner, drink red wine. I think it took about 4 hours total.
Keep in mind, we did not stain it, and we used a lathe, sander and three buffers. I did do some sanding by hand too.
Actually, maybe 3 hours total.

 
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