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Fantasy churchwarden pipe


Alan Longmire
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As I mentioned in the show and tell forum, the churchwarden in this thread is for sale: new pipes thread

 

The long stems are a serious pain to make, so this might be the only one I do. :lol:

 

post-510-1199206883.jpg

 

post-510-1199206894.jpg

 

Edited to add: SOLD! :)

Edited by Alan Longmire
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All right...I'll bite. How do you bore out a hole that long and thin?

"I'm not anti-gun. I'm pro-knife." Molly Ivins

NT Limpin' Cat Prokopp

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First, you annoy the wombat...

 

 

:lol:

 

Braze a 1/8" bit onto a long 1/8" bit of drill rod, drill about 1/4" at a time, using windex as lube, clear chips every single 1/4" lest ye end up with a burned and bubbled spot inside the stem. For the last little bit at the mouthpiece end, braze a #4 tapered fuller pilot bit to another 1/8" rod and use it to finish.

 

I did it freehand :ph34r: since this was too big for my lathe.

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Freehand, eh? The wombat must have been fair knackered after that.

"I'm not anti-gun. I'm pro-knife." Molly Ivins

NT Limpin' Cat Prokopp

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I thought I was the only one that smoked a pipe - wife doesn't like my cigars. What type of wood is used? I can't remember the name of it.

D. Scott MacKenzie, PhD

Heat Treating (Aluminum and Steel)

Quenching (Water, Polymer, Oil, Salt and Mar-Tempering)

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Lookin' good Alan! Don't smoke, but those pipes still look cool ;)

Bob O

 

"When I raise my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance upon mine enemies, and I will repay those who haze me. Oh, Lord, raise me to Thy right hand and count me among Thy saints."

 

My Website

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Thanks again, y'all. B)

 

Scott, you'd be surprised how many of us here sometimes smoke pipes. The wood is Mediterranean Briar root, aka white heath, Erica arboria.

 

Got another one in the works for later, too...

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Briar - that was what I was thinking of - the mind is playing tricks on me. Part of being an old man. I like the freehand stuff. Used to have a bunch of Ben Wade freehands - but wife threw them out after I quit smoking. Funny story - One New years day - I quit smoking. I was taking daughter to school a couple of day afterward and she noticed immediately. On my our anniversary in July, I took wife out to dinner - it didn't go well. She starts on the "you always take me for granted - never notice anything I do, etc."....I told her that I make changes and she never notices....Upon she replied - "like what?" ...I just kept on drinking my beer....and didn't reply. Later that evening, she looks at me and says - "You quit smoking - when did you do that?" I replied "about 6 months ago." She looks at me and say - "I guess I lost that argument"....

 

Kind of like the old story - "If a man is in the forest and says something, and there is no woman around to correct him - is he still wrong?"

D. Scott MacKenzie, PhD

Heat Treating (Aluminum and Steel)

Quenching (Water, Polymer, Oil, Salt and Mar-Tempering)

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Now that's a good story! :lol: Too bad about the pipes being tossed, though. They sell on ebay for moderate amounts, depending on condition. Ben Wades aren't as pricey as some, but they're far from the bottom.

 

Oh, and the answer is yes, he is. ;)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Alan,

 

What a terrific looking churchwarden! I used to manage a tobacco shop way back in the day, and have amassed quite a collection myself. (The shop gave me a 40% discount, so that helped a lot!)

 

I've smoked a lot of brands, but the one line I always came back to was the unassuming Edward's line.

I've never found a pipe at any price range that could surpass the sweet smoke that those pipes produced. The only brand of tobacco I've smoked (since 1967) is their "Jamaica".

 

Another rather hectic and chaotic brush with retail sales (Penney's) got me on cigarettes and I've always regretted it. Pipes are infinitely more satisfying, that's for sure!

 

Anyway, that textured bowl and amber lucite (?) stem is one of the most classy combinations I've ever seen. I tried my hand at pipe making and turned out a few freehands, but nothing came close to the quality you've got there!

 

Beautiful work!

 

(do you do any additional curing to the briar blocks you use?)

 

Terry Knipschield

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Thanks, Terry! :)

 

A 40% discount is hard to pass up, for sure! I'm not familiar with Edwards Jamaica, but I have heard of them. And yeah, I know the ciggie story too well. If only the bastids would allow an hour smoke break instead of five or ten minutes, pipes would be on top again for the first time since about 1850 or so... :lol:

 

As for extra cure, no, just air drying in the shop from the time I get the briar until I'm ready to use it, about six months in this particular case. This pipe was made from a nice chunk of very well cured Algerian briar, extremely dry and lightweight. The new owner reports it's a good smoker, nice and cool with that 13" stem. Oh, and yep, that's lucite. And a bit of antler as a spacer.

 

Thanks again!

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