Does anyone here smoke tobacco in a pipe?  I have been making replicas of some of the NA pipes found at Moundville and I don't really know what to do with the finished pipe.  These are just the bowl, they will need a stem of some kind.  And I don't know if they actually smoked them or if they were high status items to be used in the next world.  The clay may crack when you fire it, some of the examples are missing part or all of the bowl.  If you are a reenactor from the correct period, mid 1500's on, it would be period correct.  Right now, I have 4, if you are interested, just say so.  I will be making some more, probably next week.

I might be interested. A picture would be nice if you can post one.

Send me an address in a PM and I will try to get it in the mail on Monday or Tuesday when I go to town.  Are you going to actually smoke it or get it cause it's cool?  I blackened a couple, I don't know what will happen to the blacking if you light it.  You blacken pottery by taking the red hot item and put it in a pot lined with green leaves and then put a lid on it to keep it from catching on fire.  The pottery absorbs the carbon in the smoke and turns black.  If it comes in contact with a fire, it can burn the black off.  

You can use the stems from smaller corn stalks as a pipe stem. They work quite well and are authentic.

The branches of Sambucus Nigra make the best pipe stems ever imo.I use one,about 11" long,cools down the smoke,looks good.

I like biting the ends off of a twizzler (strawberry licorice) and using that. ;)

Donnerschlag wrote on Jul 16^th, 2012 at 7:58pm:

I like biting the ends off of a twizzler (strawberry licorice) and using that. ;)

 
Too sticky! ;D

I made a couple of stems from wood.  It had a pith, I bored it out with a bamboo skewer and a little sand.  I had cut this tree back in October, I used part of the tree for a handle for a stone ax, the rest I just put in the shed to dry.  The pith had shrunk, all I had to do is clean it out.  Then start to whittle.  One pipe head I glued on with hide glue, my brother got that one, the second I am still working on.  Still got a couple left.

BK, all the corn stalks I have seen are full of pith and are pretty fragile, are you sure they weren't cane or bamboo?  

There are often smaller stalks on the corn plant that don't produce corn. Wait until the stalks dry out and you should have an easier time finding some the right size.

I smoke a tobacco pipe and have made one of my own in the style of a corn cob, but made entirely from drilled out wood. If I were you, if you haven't already found a solution, I would get a large wooden dowel and find a place that does wood working (whatever it may be, because Home Depot used to do this but no longer does) and has a drill press and a lathe. Make sure the dowel is as large as the outside diameter of the pipe's stem hole, then have the wood worker use the lathe to shape one end to fit inside the pipe's stem hole, then drill through the length of the dowel to make it usable as a stem. Shape the mouth piece as you will and don't worry about the little fibers left over as they will burn off eventually from the heat of the smoke.

 Any hardwood will work for a stem, just find something that grows as a shoot and has a small pithy core, ash, maple, etc. all have a narrow pithy core you can burn or push out, elder is also a wood that was historically used on indian pipes, make sure you dry it before you put your lips too it, it is mildly poisonous before it is dried, I tried it once and it made my lips burn just very slightly.

towelie wrote on Oct 7^th, 2012 at 3:54pm:

I smoke a tobacco pipe and have made one of my own in the style of a corn cob, but made entirely from drilled out wood. If I were you, if you haven't already found a solution, I would get a large wooden dowel and find a place that does wood working (whatever it may be, because Home Depot used to do this but no longer does) and has a drill press and a lathe. Make sure the dowel is as large as the outside diameter of the pipe's stem hole, then have the wood worker use the lathe to shape one end to fit inside the pipe's stem hole, then drill through the length of the dowel to make it usable as a stem. Shape the mouth piece as you will and don't worry about the little fibers left over as they will burn off eventually from the heat of the smoke.

Welp, I'm gonna necro this thread because that's what we do on the Trading Post board.  
You don't need a lathe to do that.  I've bored out plenty of stock with just a drill press or hand tools.  It won't look so pretty, but it'll be more "authentic."  You can also split a small branch, scrape out a channel on both sides and glue it back together.  I did that on a pipe once.
Bill, what were you making those bowls out of?

The bowls are fired clay.  If, when I make a pot, I have clay left over, I usually make it into a pipe bowl that is similar to one of the pipe bowls displayed in the museum in Moundville.  I have also made them by pecking and grinding siltstone and by carving and then firing floatstone.  After I make them, I just usually give them away, usually to reenactors at some of the events I go to.  Lately, I have just been boring out the center of a piece of ash and just giving it with the bowl to somebody.  If they want a finished pipe, they have to whittle out the stem.  A lot of the reactors like that, it gives them something to do between the groups that is period, they can set everything down and give their presentation and then pick it back up when the group leaves.

What could I do to get my hands on one of those bowls? Any trade-type item you might like?

I'll have to make some more, I just gave the last one away.  I'll make some tonight, let them dry for a couple of days, then put them in the oven overnight and then fire them the next day.  Due to all the rain recently, that firing will probably be in a kiln, is that OK?

Bill Skinner wrote on Feb 5^th, 2013 at 7:52pm:

I'll have to make some more, I just gave the last one away.  I'll make some tonight, let them dry for a couple of days, then put them in the oven overnight and then fire them the next day.  Due to all the rain recently, that firing will probably be in a kiln, is that OK?

Yeah! What else do you fire them in? :-?

A fire. ;D  


It's called pit firing but it doesn't use a pit, it is surface firing.  Except that term was already taken when the Europeans got here, and it means something entirely different to a potter, so the way the NAs' fired their pottery got lumped into a general category

TC, send me a PM with a mailng address, your pipe bowl is ready.  I fired it in a fire, just before the rain got here.  But, I cheated somewhat, I put it in the oven for 24 hours at a temp just below boiling to completely dry it out before I fired it.

Going once...

I found this one in a juniper stick. Not a replica, but I think it looks pretty cool.

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That's a nice looking pipe, are you going to smoke it?  I have a friend that smokes a pipe, he prefers wood.  He says all wooden pipes burn out sooner or later.  He said they can add a taste to the tobacco.  He also said that stone and clay pipes are noted for not adding any taste or flavor to the tobacco.  I'll take his word for it, I used to smoke cigarettes but I quit a long time ago and I don't intend to start again.  

Bill Skinner wrote on Feb 12^th, 2013 at 9:53pm:

That's a nice looking pipe, are you going to smoke it?  I have a friend that smokes a pipe, he prefers wood.  He says all wooden pipes burn out sooner or later.  He said they can add a taste to the tobacco.  He also said that stone and clay pipes are noted for not adding any taste or flavor to the tobacco.  I'll take his word for it, I used to smoke cigarettes but I quit a long time ago and I don't intend to start again.

I envy your xsmoking  :o I bought a clay pipe once at a rendevous in SP Co.  It was a real harsh smoker. Someone told me to coat it with honey and fire it up. Same with wood to keep it from burning up :-? Do you have a pic of your pipes?

My camper model ;) Made from a moose antler tine back in the mid seventies.

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walter wrote on Feb 12^th, 2013 at 11:06pm:

My camper model ;) Made from a moose antler tine back in the mid seventies.

That is pretty cool.  How does it smoke?

Plenty of smoke :), but hot & harsh :( A stem extention would cure that, but then I would smoke more.

TC, your pipe is boxed up and addressed and still siting on my kitchen table.  I have to get to town when the PO is open, I have managed to get to town during her lunch hour a couple of times.  I haven't forgotten, I just haven't managed to get it in the mail.

Bill Skinner wrote on Feb 24^th, 2013 at 8:51pm:

TC, your pipe is boxed up and addressed and still siting on my kitchen table.  I have to get to town when the PO is open, I have managed to get to town during her lunch hour a couple of times.  I haven't forgotten, I just haven't managed to get it in the mail.

There's no rush.  It's still a little too cold here to stand on the patio and smoke.  I'm looking forward to it whenever you get around to sending it out

walter wrote on Feb 24^th, 2013 at 2:28pm:

Plenty of smoke :), but hot & harsh :( A stem extention would cure that, but then I would smoke more.

Yeah, I'll bet it gets hot.  It is pretty, though

Luckily enough there is still a specialist tobacconist in Coventry that still sellls clay pipes so I can enjoy them at leisure.

I flirted with pipe smoking back in the late 70s.   In my typical fashion, I did a lot of reading about the history and practice...  (I tend to get overly involved...)
Anyway, I likely know more than you would ever want to know.

The standard wood is briar, of course, specifically the burl (root structure) of the plant and more specifically highly-prized sections with the "burl" grain at the bottom and vertical grain structure on top so that the burl forms the bottom of the pipe and the grain goes vertically to "drain" fluids down to the burl section.
Back then, you could obtain a decent standard briar for from 20-50 dollars, but the very best grades were vastly more.   I have no idea what they go for now.

In addition to that traditional material, others include the popular "meerschaum" or "sea foam", (which colors beautifully with use) the old standard clay (which works surprisingly well) and more others than you can imagine.
Almost all good pipe materials are slightly porous.

I came to find out that only a small percentage of pipe smokers actually know what they are doing and properly tamp, light, tamp and re-light, tamp during smoking...  And as well to properly clean, store, and rest one's pipes.
Not to mention carrying around a bunch of junk with you all the time.....