Smoking pipes manufacturing process.

These days smoking pipes are either hand made or machine made. If you wish to make your own pipe, a pipe kit can be of help. All you need to do is to carve. The kit contains a briar block which has the tobacco chamber, the air hole and the tenon holes drilled and meeting at their proper locations. Many decisions have to be made before we drill the block, while you are making a custom pipe.

Usually to make a pipe two materials are needed, they are briar and stem stock. They are available in different forms and qualities. Most experts advise beginners to start with an ebauchon because ebauchons are typically cut in a size and shape to facilitate making a pipe, and being from the inner, less desirable part of the burl, they are cheaper. And it is also possible to start with extra-grade plateaux, that costs a few dollars more. Generally the process of pipe making takes 8 to 12 hours.

A majority of briar pipe stems are made of vulcanite (hard rubber, also referred to as ebonite or vulcanite) or acrylic. The most common is Dupont's Lucite, but also encountered are Perspex by Imperial Chemical Industries, Plexiglass by Rohm & Haas and Acrylite by American Cyanamid. Both vulcanite and acrylic are available in rods of varying diameters from which the craftsman can produce pipe stems of any desired shape and size. For the beginner it is possible to buy a pre-shaped vulcanite blank and shape, sand, bend and polish it.  They are available in a variety of styles and sizes both for standard shaped pipes and freehands.

The first step to make a pipe is drilling the smoke hole and mortise and the tobacco hole. When the drilling is finished, there comes shaping the pipe to its finished contours. Experienced wood carvers might prefer a knife for this stage though a lot of modern instruments and materials are also available.

When you created the shape you want, the sanding process begins. The goal is to refine the shape to its final lines and to remove as many flaws as possible from the visible surface while arriving at a stummel that is ready for staining and/or waxing. When the sanding is completed then comes wiping the entire stummel down with alcohol on a soft cloth. Wiping helps to remove sanding dust and to expose any flaws that the dust may have hidden or any scratches left by the final sanding.

The final step to prepare the stummel for use is to apply a stain and a through waxing. Lots of pipes will be enhanced by a stain that brings out the grain or simply changes the color of the wood to provide the wanted aesthetic impression. Professionals as a rule use alcohol-based stains that are widely available today.

Having stained the bowl to a satisfactory color, the pipe maker is ready to apply the wax. As a rule, most pipe makers use pure carnuba wax .

Then, step to fit the stem comes. Once the stem is shaped to the desired contour and sanded to a smooth finish, it is time to bend it to its proper curve to enhance the pipe for which it is intended.

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