How to make a Tobacco Pipe?

Question

Before I ask my question:

I am 18

I do already own a pipe (I am doing this for the fun of it, not because I am cheap)

Its my decision to smoke, please don't lecture me

I only smoke tobacco

I don't want to half-@ss this thing

So I recently sprained my ankle and I'm looking for something to do. I plan on making the shaft of the pipe out of bamboo and the head out of oak. I was wondering if I need some sort of sealant or heat resistant stuff on the inside of the bowl so that it doesn't just burn straight through it. Also, is oak alright to use? I have an oak tree in my back yard so I don't feel bad about using it and not somebody elses tree. I also need some suggestions for the mouth piece. I was suggested online to use vulcanite. I don't know what that is or how to get it. Should I just buy a mouth piece online? Or is there something else I can use?

Answer 1

There are tons of articles on the Internet on how to do this.

Just google it and they will come up.

Good luck!  Enjoy the pipe......

Answer 2

They are actually fairly easy to make, a few tips though...

For the head, oak is fine.  generally speaking, the harder the wood the slower it will burn through.  The bowl should be roughly cone shaped towards the bottom, if it is flat like a regular spade bit would leave it you will have an incomplete burn. also, the bigger the bowl, the cooler the tobacco stays and the slower it burns.  

a softwood stem is fine, not sure how you would connect the bamboo to the head.  This joint is the weakest part of any pipe so make sure the wood/boo is clean and dry and use a heat rated glue.  regular wood glue gets soft when it gets hot so the stem could seperate from the bowl, mine has a number of times. the size of the hole in the stem determines how hard you have to draw on the smoke. I'm a little afraid the bamboo would be like smoking through a straw...

You can seal teh outside of the pipe with whatever but never seal the inside of the bowl. one, whatever it is might burn off and release toxic fumes. two, it prevents the pipe from "smoking in."  The traditional finish is a polished wax.

For the mouth piece you can use any hard substance; another piece of oak glued to the end of the stem, and ordered plastic bit, a nice small piece of (really) hard wood such as cocobolo, ebony, ironwood, osage orange (hedge apple), a soft wood if you don't mind the teeth marks, or I have even used a piece of one of the plastic cutting boards.  

all that said, people have used everything from hollowed out corn cobs and a hollow stick for a quick smoke to the old fashioned clay bowled pipes to the really artistic Meershaum pipes(check these out, awesome!)

Have fun!