DIY Wooden Tobacco Pipe

The finished product.

I started with an old block of scrap ash wood, 2"x4"

The ash was cut with a mitre saw to rough shape for the pipe bowl (I would have preferred to use a band saw, but I don't have one), seen at the top. The shape of stem was drawn onto a 1"x2" piece of pine, seen below.

The stem was cut out using a jig saw, and then marked along the center.

A pull saw was used to cut the stem in half. The original outsides of the wood were then marked along the center as symmetrically as possible.

A channel was carved along the center of each half using a dremal along the lines drawn earlier.

Since the outside of the original piece is quite flat, by carving the channel on this side as opposed to the cut sides gives a flat surface to glue the two halves back together. To do this a pipe cleaner was placed in the channel of one half, and wood glue applied to the outer wood of the second half.

The two halves of the stem are lined up and pushed together, with the pipe cleaner allowing them to be lined up. The pieces were then clamped, and the pipe cleaner pulled through the stem to remove any glue from inside the hole. This method allows a stem to be made in just about any shape since you aren't drilling any holes through it.

Once dry the stem blank was lightly sanded, and ready for further work. The center line between the two pieces gives a reference point to ensure any carving and shaping of the stem is done symmetrically.

Back to the bowl of the pipe. The main bowl was marked, then drilled out with Forster bits using a drill press. The bits were marked to the desired depth with orange masking tape. Starting with a 3/4" bit to a depth of 1", I worked my way down to 3/8" to a depth of 1.5". This leaves a good size bowl, with a roughly rounded bottom.

The smoke hole was marked along the outside of the pipe to where the bottom of the bowl inside was. This line was used to line up a 1/8" drill bit.

Though the wood was lined up correctly the grain of the wood pull the bit slightly to the side, so it came through the bowl off center. The hole was then widened for the first 1/2" using a 3/8" spade bit to make a mount for the stem. In the future I would recommend drilling the 3/8" hole first since it's less likely to be deflected by the wood grain, followed by the 1/8" bit to drill through to the bowl.

And back to the stem. The stem mounting point was roughed out to a square that is 3/8" wide using a box cutter.

A dremal with a sanding wheel was then used to round the stem mount until it fit snugly into the hole of the bowl.

The stem fits quite snuggly; a strong enough hold to lift the entire block without falling out.

The block was marked to rough shape of the pipe, and then cut to this shape using a mitre saw and a jig saw. Really wish I had a band saw, as this was a pain in the ass to do using those saws.

Using my dremal with a larger sanding wheel I worked the rough shape down until it started to resemble a pipe. This step makes me wish I had a belt sander, but I'm limited to the few tools I have in my apartment (and my office drill press).

Further shaping with the dremal gets me to the point where it's almost done.

Before I finish the pipe I decided to take it for a test run and make sure it pulls smoke cleanly. Dropped some dry tobacco leaf in and it worked like a dream; as well as any store bought pipe I've ever had. The smoke pulls through really easily, and the leaves cherry very nicely.

After a bit more sanding and shaping I applied a coat of stain and lacquer. I had hoped by leaving the wood unpolished it would take the stain better, but the stain only drew well into about half the pipe, while the other half it failed to absorb at all. If anyone has any advice on getting oil based stains to better absorb into ash and pine I would love to know. Unfortunately this means that I lost the grain of the wood, but I want a black pipe so I decided to stick with it.

I gave the pipe 4 coats of stain and lacquer, and sanded between each with 600 grit sandpaper. Here's the pipe after a bit of sanding, which shows the surface is a bit rough. I had hoped that the stain would absorb into the wood and I could do my last sanding of the wood after it dried, but this didn't work.

After the last coat of stain I painted a gold serpent onto the pipe in gold paint. This was followed by a clear coat to protect the gold paint.

Another angle showing the rest of the serpent.

The stem and bowl separate nicely for cleaning.

Taking the finished product for it's first go.