Layton Pipes: Difference between revisions

My first pipe (Pictured below) was made out of a chunk of Cherry wood from a tree that I had cut down the year before. I used the stem from an old pipe I had since our stems from Pimo hadn't arrived yet and I couldn't wait. I drilled the holes and mortise with a hand drill. I had to drill the air hole about 3 times to get it in the right place since the pipe was bent which is not the pipe to start with ( as I found out) but I was copying one of my factory pipes and didn't think about it. Anyway I stained the pipe with some Minwax wood stain and finished it with an oil finish. This first pipe was very roughly made but it smoked so I was hooked. From there I kept making pipes from my Cherry wood with pre-made stems and a tenon cutter from Pimo. I never sold any of the cherry wood pipes because they were not worth the $10 I might get for one, plus I was nowhere near able to create a finished product. After I got pretty good at drilling the holes I ordered my first briar blocks. I worked with briar for the first time and I created my first briar pipes. The pipes smoked well even though the second grade briar I got usually had some cracks here and there. The drilling process I developed never included using a dremel to center things up or make it possible to pass a pipe cleaner.Although ounce I started making my own pipes I took a better look at my few pipes and pictures of other pipes online. I soon realized that not every pipe maker had the same standards as I had developed. After these first few briar pipes thing started to spiral out of control. I started acquiring  all kinds of tools, files, drill bits, sanding pads, buffing wheels, motors and much more as I could afford it and I spent every moment of spare time in the carport working . I had already moved to a drill press when I made my first briar pipes and I soon moved to a full size metal lathe that makes perfect holes, mortise, stems, shank connections and tenons. Since then I have sought advice from several established pipe makers and two in particular have helped me enormously, they are [[Mark Tinsky]] pipe maker at www.amsmoke.com  who I talked with over the phone early on when I first started selling my pipes.,and I also sent him a pipe as a gift but really  for his critique which was very helpful, and [[Premal Chheda]] pipe maker and owner of www.smokershaven.com    , who I met at last years NASPC pipe show in Columbus Ohio , and who has also spent allot of time working with me on the fine details that are very important for a pipe that costs more than $200. Now Premal is selling my pipes in his shop in Columbus Ohio.

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