Pipe smokers/collectors

[ablecane]

Nice progress!

[bornwrongera]

Great post...will keep an eye on the progress. Good-Luck!

[Tellumnothing]

Hello all,
The heavy stuff, drill press, dremel,rasps,files and rifflers are put away. Now the second phase starts. SANDING! I'll start 1st with 100 grit then 200 grit then 500 grit and finish ( hopefully all the nicks and groves are gone) with 1000 grit - hot oven bees wax covering and a good buffing. Still no "scalding" mistakes. I'm very pleased to this point. STILL HAVE MY FINGERS CROSSED. THanks for following. Tellumnothing

[ablecane]

Nicely done.

[bobk]

Looking really nice

[Tellumnothing]

Hi all,things are going along ok, however I had my first mishap this week. While trying to straighten out my grove around the top (using my needle file) I put to much pressure on it and CRACKED a chip out of the rim. Pretty small piece and it broke out cleanly. I was able to glue it back and I'm probably the only one who can find the line. Went through my first round with 80 grit paper and the second round with 120 grit. That's where it stands now. I took the picture after I got it wet so you could see what it will look like when finished. I really like the color and the sheen. I put my 4 "rifflers" in the picture so you could see what they look like. They have been invaluable!! I had never used them before but I'm sure glad I found them.
I ordered a custom stem that should be here this week and then I can finish shaping the shank so they fit real nice. I'm thinking about adding a narrow ring of antler from my elk horn but I'm very Leary of trying to do it. We'll see. Have a good week.
Thanks for following
Tellumnothing

[bobk]

Antler ring would be a real nice touch !

[ablecane]

Thumbs up!

[Tellumnothing]

Just waiting for my stem so I can fit it to the pipe and do the final shaping so they both match up perfectly. Here are the pics of today's work. Thanks for following.
Tellumnothing

[Tellumnothing]

Here is my photo of the Indian petroglyph from our family cabin in Montana's Castle Mountains that I used for my pipe.

[thorsma]

That's really cool that you've used the petroglyph images. Do you know their meaning or what the images represent?

[Tellumnothing]

The images represent three Indian hunters and a bull elk. I assume they killed him for food. There are a couple other images on the rock but I have never been able to identify what they were. Thanks for your interest.
Tellumnothing

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, This is a great project. Thanks for sharing.

Jay Edwards

[ablecane]

Sweet!

[Tellumnothing]

Just a quick update. I received my "backup stem" two days ago and just couldn't wait to try it out. It will be my "backup" after I finish the Red Willow branch stem when I locate some Red Willow. However, this one is perfect for now. The length is 6" with a quarter bend and my choice of color being (Amber Tortoise) matched up beautifully. My first smoke was a bowl mixture of Red willow bark (Indian original) and Borkum Riff Bourbon. Very much to my liking. On a little negative note though, the bowl burns very HOT and being somewhat of a "rock" composition it is pretty heavy for a pipe. This week I will do my best to extend the shank with a 1/4 piece of elk antler and do the sanding/shaping to match everything up. Thanks for following.
Tellumnothing

[ablecane]

Bravo!

[bobk]

That is absolutely beautiful and thank you for sharing your project with us..... I like the current stem very much but look forward to the next one with the antler!

[prairieschooner]

Hope it smokes as good as it looks!

[thorsma]

Beautiful pipe and it looks like a perfect spot to enjoy it. Congratulations and thanks for sharing with us!

[Tellumnothing]

Hi all,
This will be my last post for sometime until I get the Red willow branch I need to fashioned an original stem.I had some difficulties with the antler piece. The first one I made was only a 1/4" thick and it broke while I was trying to drill the hole. So I made the second one 1/2" thick and I like it much better. I did have considerable difficulty matching the antler piece to the stem and the shank. Lots of sanding and filing. Then I used apoxy to glue the antler piece to the pipe but it must not have been heat resistant because when I heated up the pipe to coat it with beeswax the antler section fell off. So I had to find some other "heat resistant glue." I'm not too happy with the beeswax at this time because it seems to be pretty sticky. However, I still haven't buffed it with my buffer and that will probably help bring out the luster and remove some of the excess wax. Anyway, it's been a fun project and I really enjoyed doing it and thank you all so much for your kind comments and encouragement as I have proceeded. I'll post one more picture, probably this Fall, when I get my red willow branch and make my original stem. THANKS AGAIN AND HAVE A GREAT SUMMER
Tellumnothing