Hey guys,
Still new here and still getting know everybody but just wanted to share some pipe making "experiments" I've done so far. These are my first two pipes I made last year and they are made from Walnut wood; the stems are made from hard rock maple. Just kind of experimented with these (as I had a lot of Walnut on hand) so I could work my way up to briar (which, I'm working on my first briar now--will post pics of that whenever I get done with that as well).

1st pipe ever:






As you can see, this is pretty rough, but I hand turned the tenon on the maple stem myself so, if for nothing else, it was worth it to know I can do it. I left the bark on the edge of the wood (3rd pic) and I was pretty happy with the shaping (considering it was my first pipe). This is a stubby nosewarmer and I still smoke it. The Walnut has a very, well, nutty taste to it (which I really like) when you're breaking it in (once it's broken in, though, there's no taste to it) and it stays pretty cool. I have smoked this one regularly for almost a year and it's still one of my favorite pipes to smoke. Weighs about 0.7 ounces so, it's nice and light and you can clench it all day.

Here's my 2nd Walnut pipe, a paneled, squat, nosewarmer pot with a square, stubby stem.







With this 2nd one I wanted to focus more on finishing, shaping and using the wood grain as a design component. I cut a block of walnut that had sapwood and heartwood and then drilled the chamber in between them. I like the contrast in the wood. The finish was tough on this one, since Walnut is so porous. I had to sand to 2000 grit (with pumice and a homemade, all natural filler) to close up the pores so that I could get a decent shine (unlike my first which just soaked the stain and wax like a sponge-haha). The walls on this are almost 1/2" thick so it stays nice and cool. It's pretty beefy at the bowl area (about 1-3/4" wide) but it still only weighs about 1. 5 oz. I smoke this one a lot still and I really love it.

Thanks for looking and suggestions, comments, etc. are always welcome.

Very interesting. I like the bark on the front of the first pipe, very nice touch.

Really very lovely. I can't wait to see your briar work.

If you can get your hands on some olive wood you may also want to try your hand at that, talk about striking grain! Keep up the work, can't wait to see some work down the road!

man really nice work

Thanks for the all too kind words, guys. I'm really enjoying BoB

thanks for the pics

Very nice artistry. I've never heard of pipes out of this material, so forgive my ignorance. How does something like this smoke?

Martin

Love the nosewarmer. Been wantin one for awhile but have a serious lack of funds.