How I become a pipe maker
The pandemic was a catalyst for some much change in people’s lives, me included. Before the first lockdown in the UK in April 2020, I was a cigar smoker, I’d never smoked a tobacco pipe. I used to buy Cuban cigars from a well-known Hong Kong retailer and that supply line was abruptly cut. My wife suggested I try a pipe instead. Reluctantly I decided to give it a try, thinking it would just be a stopgap before I could buy a box of Partagas again. I bought a cheap pipe and a pipe tobacco sample pack from Cgars. I was instantly smitten. Like most new pipe smokers, I had a couple of months of learning how to pack, light and keep a pipe lit.
Soon I wanted a better pipe. With limited lockdown funds, I decided to start buying neglected estate pipes on eBay and restoring them. A handful of pipes soon grew to a collection of 20 including Dunhill Shell Briar, A Savinelli Punto Oro and a Peterson Deluxe System, I was completely hooked on my new hobby. After restoring nearly 30 pipes and making 4 ‘hobby block’ pre-drilled pipes by November 2020, with the second UK lockdown looming I bought my first lathe to start pipe making. After thoroughly reading pipe making forums and watching hours of Youtube videos and the hobby block pipes looking reasonably good, I thought I was ready.
My first pipe was… ok!
The finish was good, the dimensions were good, it was drilled correctly and smoked well, but the bowl walls were too thin. After making another dozen pipes, each getting better and better, I decided to upgrade my equipment to a metal lathe as I knew this is a direction I wanted to take in my life to new levels beyond hobbyist tinkering. Below is a video of one of the “dirty dozen” pipes I made on my old wood turning lathe, Enjoy!
