Recent Comments
Dan on How Do You Set Prices for Hand… 
literaryworkshop on How Do You Set Prices for Hand… 
Jim Dillon on How Do You Set Prices for Hand… 
Cliff Tyllick on Working with Weird, Local Wood… 
Sylvain on For Narnia! A Stone Table Made…
Tag Archives: tobacco pipe
How to Make a Tobacco Pipe with Hand Tools, Part 4: Stem-Bending, Staining, and Finishing
On balance, I would say that half of pipe making involves sanding. It’s not exactly the fun part of making a pipe, but the results are worth the care and effort. Theoretically, rasps and files are used to establish the … Continue reading
How to Make a Tobacco Pipe with Hand Tools, Part 3: Shaping with Rasps and Files
When we left off last time, we had a stem inserted into a drilled block of briar wood. Now, you could smoke this block if you wanted to (I’ve seen it done!), but you probably want to do some shaping … Continue reading
Posted in Build-Alongs, Tutorials, Wood and Woodwork
Tagged button, file, handscrew, how to make a pipe, how to make a tobacco pipe, make a pipe, pipe, pipe making, rasp, stem, tobacco pipe
3 Comments
How to Make a Tobacco Pipe with Hand Tools, Part 2: Drilling the Briar Block
In my last post, I explained how I prepare a stem to be fitted to a pipe. In this post, I will show how I drill the holes in the block of wood itself. This stage of the pipe-making process … Continue reading
How to Make a Tobacco Pipe with Hand Tools, Part 1: The Stem and Tenon
Five years ago, I wrote here about making a tobacco pipe with hand tools. That post assumed you were starting with a “pipe kit,” i.e. a pre-drilled block of wood with a stem pre-fitted into it. I still think that … Continue reading
Recent Pipes
I’ve spent quite a bit of time this summer making more pipes. I learn a little bit (and sometimes a lot) with each one I’ve made recently. I’ve been experimenting with layering different stains on top of each other, and … Continue reading
Tobacco Pipe Aesthetics and Design: Whole Number Ratios
Why do some tobacco pipes look smooth and graceful while others look clunky and clumsy? I had been looking at classic pipe shapes, especially in old Dunhill catalogs I’d found online. I began wondering why some designs stood out, and … Continue reading
Posted in Tutorials
Tagged apple pipe, billiard pipe, Dunhill pipe, pipe design, ratios, tobacco pipe, tobacco pipe design, tobacco pipe shapes, whole number ratios
3 Comments
Literary Workshop Is Now Live on Etsy
It is with some trepidation that I announce that the Literary Workshop has gone commercial. I will now be selling my tobacco pipes (and perhaps a few other items) at my new Etsy shop. I plan to make one or … Continue reading
Two More Pipes
I have made two pipes in the last two weeks. The first is a freehand churchwarden, which was a lot of fun to shape. The textured top is the natural top of the burl from which briar pipes are made. … Continue reading
The Tragedy of Dull Saws
This afternoon, I was reading William Goldring’s The Pipe Book: A History and How to (1973), which briefly recounts the history of each historical type of pipe and explains how to make a similar one using a few, simple tools. … Continue reading
Posted in Musings, Woodworking Literature
Tagged briar wood, hack saw, hand saw, pipe book, tobacco pipe
3 Comments
The Literary Workshop Blog 