One Czeque That Won't Bounce

I decided a while back to make my own pipe.  Just short of doing the whole thing myself, I bought a pre-drilled/stemmed carve your own block from my local pipe shop, The Pipe Puffer in Greenwood, IN.  The block was in pretty rough shape having a square shank and bowl.  Of course I started work, forgetting to take a 'before' picture. The poor drilling of the stummel made final sanding difficult as none of the holes were true to, well, anything!  I had been speaking with a full fledged pipe maker, Wayne Teipen, during the whole process, bouncing ideas off of him.  He was most helpful throughout the process of design.
The block took its first cut on a smaller disc sander, a Delta 6" setup with 120 grit paper.  As I roughed in the top of the bowl, the pipe began to direct its shape.  Starting as a general looking 'poker' style pipe with the shank still remaining square, I flattened both top and bottom in parallel.  To leave the fore and aft bowl faces unparalleled seemed to give the pipe an interesting look.  I partly borrowed the idea from a Danish inspired bent 'brandy' shape I had recently seen.  At this point I roughed in the shank the best I could with the disc.  The rest of this part would be done with my Dremel at home.

The shank was probably the hardest decision of the pipe shape.  I wanted to utilize a form that complemented the bowl but was still sleek, as I could envision the shape being almost aerodynamic. I used my Dremel tool, fitted with a flex shaft and a cone shaped carbide cutter, to give form to the shank.  I hoped to mimic the curve of the stem and continue it to the shank, which proved to be a bit tricky.  After the basic form was made with the cutter, I changed it out for a 1/2" fine grit drum and accomplished the final curve I was seeking. I was able to obtain a decent symmetry all around the pipe with only minor nuances of asymmetry.
After shaping the stummel and getting the basic shape of the stem done, I decided I would give sand blasting a go.  I decided on a partial pattern on the stummel/shank to accentuate the pipe's shape.  I learned a great deal during the process and the absolute necessity of precision masking before blasting.  The final result was well worth it though!
I asked Wayne to help with the finish and he told me to take a trip out to his shop.  We put the finishing touches on my pipe there and enjoyed a smoke together.  He showed me the finer points of 'contrast' staining, starting with a very dark base stain, applying it 3 times.  After the base application, over to the red tripoli buffing wheel to remove the dark stain and obtain the desired level of coverage.  I left the blasted sections darker than the smooth surfaces to accentuate the unique blast.  Completing this step, we went back to the stain selection and I picked and orangey-red color for the surface stain.  This took only two applications, then back to the buffing wheel.  This time the white diamond wheel which only polishes and does not remove any finish.  The gloss had begun to shine now and the detailing touches were applied to the stain before giving the pipe a high gloss with the carnauba wax wheel. The stummel looked fantastic! The only part left was the stem.
That night I worked with a piece of white pearlescent acrylic Wayne had given me to use as an insert in the top of the stem.  I decided to install a dot and drilled the stem to accept it.  Completing the final size hole in the stem, I moved to the small piece of acrylic I cut earlier.  Using a drill I spun the outside diameter of the insert to the correct size with a drill bit as my spindle.  Glued the insert in the stem and cut small pieces of aluminum and brass tubing and a small brass rod, to finish off the look I wanted.  Glued those into place and filed the whole lot flush with the stem.  Went through the process of sanding the stem, then a polish and finally a nice coat of carnauba wax.  I decided to name the pipe according to its shape and attributes, the check-mark.  Having come up with the general name idea, I let a good friend come up with an interesting spelling.  Czeque it was!  I will be smoking it with friends for the first time tomorrow in celebration of our great nation's Independence Day!

I am pretty pleased with the result of my first attempt at pipe making!  I am looking forward to the next venture and actually drilling my own block and making a stem from solid rod stock.  Until then...

*Edit 07/04/2010* Wanted to add, I smoked the pipe for the first time today with Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Bullseye Flake, and it was great!  Nice draw and cool smoke, had one small gurgle mid-bowl, but it went away with a little reverse puff.  Turned out to be a great smoker!

    Czeque

• Style: Mod. Poker/Tankard
• Material: Briar
• Stem: Vulcanite
• Finish: Smooth/Partial blast
• Group Size: 4
• Length: 5 5/8"
• Height: 1 9/16"
• Bowl Dia.: 1 3/8"
• Chamber Dia.: 13/16"
• Chamber Depth: 1 1/8"
• Weight: 40g