Now many smokers are beginning to think about their he alth, many are quitting this habit, while others are switching from cigarettes to regular tobacco, which has much less impurities. However, it requires a tube. The distribution network offers a wide selection of them, but really high-quality copies are very expensive. And now we will discuss how to make a smoking pipe yourself.
Material for making a smoking pipe
Craftsmen make briar pipes. It is a growth at the root of a tree called heather. It is ideal for creating such a specific product. After all, heather grows in the stony soil of the Mediterranean climate, and briar absorbs moisture and minerals, which subsequently give all the necessary qualities to the tree, which is so appreciated by the craftsmen who make smoking pipes from it.
Local woods to create a smoking pipe
However, this tree does not grow in our area, and if you buy it, it will cost a lot. You can make smoking pipes with your own hands, the materials for which are easy to find in local gardens. For the manufacture of the pipe, fruit trees are suitable, which have dense wood: apple, pear, plum. But it is best to choose cherry, its fibers are the densest of the listed breeds, so it will not burn out for a long time. All the rest are also good, but they char a little faster. It is advisable to use the root part for harvesting, but branch or stem material is suitable. Fruit trees have an excellent taste when smoked. Some people like the taste of cherries, others like apples, it all depends on their own preferences. For this reason, it is also better to make a smoking pipe with your own hands.
Material preparation
Having decided on the type of wood, you also need to learn how to properly dry a suitable workpiece. You cannot cut a live branch or part of a root and immediately make a tube out of it. Sections are painted over or smeared on the material so that moisture cannot quickly evaporate through them. It should gradually come out through the bark, which in no case should be removed immediately. And so the tree should lie until next year - then the fibers will gradually dry out, and there will be no cracks in their structure. And only after this time it will be possible to remove the bark and grind the shape of a smoking pipe.
You can also make a smoking pipe from a dried log. To do this, you need to cut the workpiece from itcenter. Of course, if it was in a dry place. The extreme places with cracks are cut off, after which there is solid wood that does not have flaws. After that, the bark is removed and the desired size of the workpiece is cut out, but with a margin of five centimeters. Then the tree is set aside for a week, because it must completely dry out, after which microcracks may well appear. If you immediately start to grind the shape of a smoking pipe, then the flaws that have opened will ruin everything. And in a week, even if small cracks open, they will be on the left stock, and after cutting it will be an ideal surface for carving.
Production process
To begin with, a simple angular blank is cut out, resembling a square or a rhombus. Its surface must be sanded in order to clearly see the structure of the tree and determine if there are any defects on it. If everything is fine, we mark out the future shape in more detail in order to know where the smoking chamber will be, and where the shank is the part where the mouthpiece is attached. It is necessary to outline all the details and holes with a pencil. It is also worth drawing directions to make it easier to maintain angles when drilling.
When making smoking pipes with their own hands, the craftsmen first of all drill a hole for the chamber into which tobacco will be poured. At first, it is worth doing this with a thin drill, and then picking up everything thicker until the hole is the desired diameter. But you should not immediately bring it to the final size, you need to leave an allowance of a few millimeters in order to grind it latersandpaper. After all, the drill leaves an uneven surface, and it should be smooth.
After that, a smoke channel hole is drilled on the side in the place where the chubuk is planned. This must be done carefully, because making smoking pipes with your own hands is a very precise and time-consuming process. The smoke outlet must be strictly at the bottom of the tobacco chamber. This is a very important point, because if you make it a little higher, then the tobacco inside will not burn out completely, which can lead to souring, and this will worsen the taste of the pipe and smoke. This channel can be from 3 to 4 mm. The wider it is, the drier the tube will be. by the way, it is better to equip it with a filter to prevent ash from getting into the middle. In addition, a wide smoke channel makes it easy to clean the pipe with a brush. After the holes are ready and accurately connected, you can start creating the outer shape.
Of course, it is better to make smoking pipes with your own hands on the machine, it will be much easier and faster. But in the absence of such a technique, you can still make a good copy by hand.
Next (when working on the machine) you need to make circles that you can, all other parts are cut by hand with a well-honed cutter. It is important to make the edge of the motif narrower than the entire width of the shank. This is necessary so that you can put on the mouthpiece, and the two parts were on the same plane. After that, the surface is polished inside and out with sandpaper. First, all the bumps left by the knife are removed with a large one, and then scratches are removed from a flat surface with a small one. However, you can leave the outer partsraw - here everything is already done to the taste of the master.
Choice of material for the mouthpiece
Let's continue talking about how to make a smoking pipe, and now let's create a mouthpiece. It can be made of ebonite or acrylic. The first material is softer, but polishing remains on it for a very short time. It is better to choose it for those who hold a pipe in their teeth while smoking. Acrylic is harder and more durable, and therefore it is suitable for holding the product in the hands.
Production process
You need to take a stick of ebonite or acrylic with a length of 10 to 15 cm. So that when smoking the smoke has time to cool, do-it-yourself smoking pipes are made no shorter than 10 cm. With this in mind, we choose the size of the mouthpiece. A hole is made in it along the entire length with a drill, the diameter of which is 3 mm. Start with the part where there will be a connection with the chubuk. After that, the hole is expanded by half the length to the diameter of the smoke channel. Then this step, which is formed, needs to be smoothed out. To do this, cut a triangular tip on a wire with a diameter of 4 mm. It must be driven all the way and gently rotated several times.
After that, the channel is polished with a thin wire with sandpaper glued to it. The place where the mouthpiece will be is expanded horizontally to form an oval of 5-6 mm. So the smoke will be easier to be absorbed by the smoker. On the other hand, the hole in the mouthpiece is widened so that it fits snugly on the shank, but without much effort.
Outer Mouthpiece Molding
Mouthpieces are processed, like smoking pipes, with their own hands. You can grind on the machine or use improvised tools. The form is also arbitrary. After that, you need to grind the surface first with fine sandpaper, and then with felt with GOI paste. If you make an ebonite mouthpiece, you can bend it, give it a different shape. To do this, it is heated over a gas stove or candle and then bent.
Do-it-yourself wooden smoking pipes can be waxed or etched - this way their surface will look elite, and the wood pattern will be much more distinct and, of course, this is an excellent protection for the wood surface.
Tube etching
An excellent mordant can be two-chromium potassium ground in water, as well as oxalic acid. After the reaction with the release of gases stops, this indicates that the mixture is ready for wood pickling. The more concentrated it is, the richer the color and contrast of the pattern of wood fibers. The tube is immersed in the composition until it becomes the desired tone. You can store this mordant as long as you like in a glass sealed container.
Waxing
There is a great and easy way. Needs wax. 100 g of it must be finely chopped, then add mastic (12 g), instead of it you can crushed rosin (25 g). The selected mixture is put on fire so that everything becomes liquid. Then they remove it from it and immediately pour 50 g of turpentine - warm. After that, the mixture must be thoroughly stirred and drained into the required container. In it, the composition is stored until it is necessary to use it. Take the mixture, apply it to a woolen or cotton cloth and rub it thoroughly into the wood.
Cleaning a smoking pipe
This should be done when the tube is completely cold. It is necessary to carefully disconnect the mouthpiece by unscrewing it clockwise. If you pull it out with remarkable force, you can damage both parts of the tube. The mouthpiece is cleaned with special brushes, starting them from the side of the mouthpiece. It is better to have several of them, for a more convenient process.
It is necessary to clean the shank after each smoking process. The brush is started from the side where the mouthpiece was. After everything is cleaned, the brush is left inside the stem until it is time to fill the pipe with tobacco. The cleaning of the product is completed by wiping all its external surfaces. The tube is then purged to remove any carbon or debris that may have been left inside.
For general cleaning of the tube, wax, alcohol, and various other liquids are used, it is carried out as it gets dirty. And only the owner himself knows when simple maintenance is not enough.
Now the pipe is rather an element of decor, it is rarely smoked, because it needs to be looked after. They are now like good wine, which is only savored from time to time. There are also many accessories for this kind of refinement (smoking pipe stands, for example), which can be of different shapes and sizes.
What is the difference between the most expensive and collectible pipes from ordinary ones
First of all, thisthe ideal material is briar. In the most expensive collectibles, the fibers of this wonderful tree are visible, woven randomly, but the master presents them as if they were grown specifically for this smoking pipe. They, like rays that envelop the smoking chamber, turn into a chubuk. Such a piece of art as a collectible smoking pipe, reviews are always enthusiastic not only from knowledgeable people, but also from the townsfolk. After all, a masterpiece always has a special aura and, of course, appearance. And looking at it, you cannot catch yourself thinking that you can change its shape or appearance. This is where the master's talent lies.
