Teipen Pipes

December 2011

wteipen — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:06:57 +0000

Here’s what’s lined up for December.

Bent Dublin:

Bent Poker:

Bent Dublin:

Bent Bulldog:

A Danish styled Apple:

A Bent Apple:

Bent Billiard:

Another Dublin:

November 2011

wteipen — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:01:28 +0000

Here’s what’s in the works this month:

These are all drilled and rough shaped. The bottom left hand bent billiard is nearly complete. The only thing left is to stamp and give it a final buff then snap some photos. I ended up sandblasting it and giving it a Cumberland stem with matching stain. I used a bit different staining technique on this one and am real happy with the results. The stain matches the Cumberland perfectly. Stay tuned for it’s availability. The bamboo cutty is nearly complete. I’m hoping to finish it up and post it for sale by the end of the day. The Danish style Dublin needs a stem and then sandblasted and stained, etc. The two Dublin-esque cherrywoods have antler shank rings and ebonite stems. One has a plateaux rim and the other smooth. They still need a good deal of refining but they are getting close. The brandy at the bottom middle and the apple on the bottom right are rough shaped with antler shank rings and ebonite stems. I expect these both to turn out quite nice and so far are looking to be smooth finishes. I’m sitting on the volcano a bit. I’m not crazy about the stoutness of it. I much prefer the more slender volcano styles. I’m waiting for the pipe to give me some direction and inspiration.

Here’s where they are after some rough shaping:

I’m redoing the stem on this one.

Still need to make a stem for this Danish style Dublin. I decided to get a little fancy around the mortise with a bullseye effect using ebonite and white acrylic. I still have a good bit of shaping to do. I’m hoping for a smooth but it’s looking like a sandblast.

This bent billiard has some nice grain and looks like it may be a smooth finish. The shank ring is antler and the stem is ebonite.

This bent dublinesque poker is getting close. The shank ring is American Holly. I’ve decided it needs a shorter stem.

This volcano needs a lot of work. I haven’t decided which direction it wants to take.

May 2011

wteipen — Sat, 07 May 2011 05:53:19 +0000

I recently received a request to make a pipe similar to Tom Eltang’s Tubos with the calabash-esque air chamber. Aesthetically speaking, the style isn’t quite my style but I’m deeply intrigued by the inner engineering concepts. With that in mind I decided to put together my take on the design and with a prototype completed I’m growing more and more fond of the looks and feel of it. I call the shape a calabilliard. Here’s a picture of the prototype:

And here’s one with a longer shank and air chamber and a stack bowl:

October 2010

wteipen — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 05:42:23 +0000

1/4 Bent Billiard

This 1/4 bent billiard is going to be sandblasted tomorrow. It has a silver band and a cumberland stem. It has nice straight grain but as you can see it just has too many tiny sandpits to keep smooth. I think it will make an outstanding blast.

September 2010

wteipen — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:42:53 +0000

How is a raven like a writing desk?
Here’s a design I’m working on now:

I call this one “The Mad Hatter.” It’s whimsical design and almost nonsensical feel reminds me of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. It’s also quite a departure for me from my tendencies toward more traditional shapes. I’ve got more shaping to do and I’m leaning toward a light sandblast. I envision a black stain with the top of the rim, bottom of the bowl, and shank ring being left natural or a light yellowish brown.

To make life a bit easier, I turned what I could of the stem on the lathe.

After that, it’s rough shaping on the belt and disk sander. In this photo, I’ve done a first round of hand filing and refining the button. Things are still a bit thick. Next up: more filing then hand sanding. I can’t wait to bend the stem. I think the whole thing will start looking like it’s coming together after that.

I’m settled on sandblasting this one. I’ll be visiting Nate King, another aspiring pipemaker and repairman, to use his sandblasting setup. This will be my first sandblast so I’m excited to get the experience under my belt. I’m hopeful things turn out the way I envision it. More pics to come.

In the following photos I’ve done some more shaping on the stem, refined the stummel a bit, finish sanded and put the finish stain on the parts I intend to leave smooth, and masked them off for sandblasting. Early on I made a cap out of scrap briar (not shown in pictures) that will be inserted in place of the stem and stem ring that I’ve used while shaping. I’ll blast with the cap in place to protect the shank face and to keep from damaging the ring. The stem needs a little more refining with sandpaper then it’s ready for bending and buffing.

Here’s “The Mad Hatter” after sandblasting yesterday:

Not bad for my first sandblast, I think.

And here’s the final product after staining, buffing, waxing, and stamping:

Repairs and Refurbs

wteipen — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 08:31:32 +0000

It’s seems I’m getting more and more pipe repair requests lately so I thought I would post some of my work here. I have very little experience doing this kind of work so I really appreciate the fellas that have entrusted their pipes to me. I really enjoy the work and am learning a lot. Here’s a couple handmade replacement stems I’ve done:

This Ser Jacopo R1 Bell Shape had this replacement stem that had a tenon that was way too loose…
BEFORE

AFTER

This Comoy Everyman lovat was purchased on ebay with the tenon broken off in the mortise. The replacement stem is handcarved from absylux and is a pretty close facsimile of the original.

Here’s an old Dunhill Shell in the prince shape. The original stem shown is oxidized beyond repair and it has been bitten through on the underside of the bit. I hand carved a replacement replica out of lucite.

September 2008

wteipen — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:20:11 +0000

I hope to get a handful done here at the start of the month because the end of the month doesn’t look like I’ll get much time in the workshop. We’ll see.

Here’s one I’m currently working on:

August 2008

wteipen — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:53:21 +0000

This is a straight bulldog I’m working on as a commission. It’s in pretty rough form now but is going pretty well. The drilling couldn’t have gone better.

Here’s the airway hole dead center in the bottom of the chamber:

This Dublin is either going to be a straight Dublin or a Zulu. I haven’t decided yet. The stem is Cumberland rod stock:

This one is giving me fits. It has gone from having a Bocote stem extension to this bamboo. I keep putting it aside mostly due to commissioned work but also because it can’t decide what direction it wants to go. It’ll let me know soon enough I’m sure.

Here’s a blowfish I started a long time ago. As you can see the shank/stem transition is quite ambitious. I’ve set it aside until I get up the nerve to give it a go.

This is one of three blocks that I plan on making either straight bulldogs or Rhodesians out of. They are all based on the design of the commissioned straight bulldog pictured earlier. This one of the three has very promising grain. The other two will likely be rusticated. We’ll see.