Pipemaking – next Part - a report by Heinz-Günter Döteberg, September 2007

Since the first part of my report of making pipes a lot of things happened, which changed my proceeding drastically. As written in my report “Meeting Rainer Barbi”, which can be found under Teil 2, I was allowed to see and learn how a professional pipemaker works. After that I changed my proceeding and my equipment within the bounds of possibility, but I want to write in this report about the completion of the pipe from the first part to show, how at last the project ended.

To remind, here’s again the state of affairs from the end of part 1:

... With the grinding disc the shape will be worked out and the bowl will be rounded, while the stem is fitted at the shank. If the contour matches the layout, the rough work is done... Now the precision-grind with files and abrasive cloth begins...

The mouthpiece will be roughly formed with a file. That is important, so that the symmetry in view of the stem/shank junction could be taken into consideration while grinding it.

Now the stem will be mounted in the right position. Also the bending of the stem is made at this point, so that all junctions could be arranged properly. For that the stem will be heated with a heat-gun up to the point where the material is soft enough to bend it equally and controlled. To fix the form the bent mouthpiece will be quenched in a bowl with cold water, whereby it’s recommended to pay attention not to distort the hot stem itself.

After that the whole pipe will be formed symmetrically with files, rough and fine abrasive clothe and the surface area will be sanded smooth. The junction from the shank to the stem will be sanded flush and of course the stem will be sanded as far as any visible scratches have disappeared – the rest will be made with the buffing wheel.

The shape of the pipe and the mouthpiece is finished and the nice grain is already distinguishable. To flatten the surface of the bowl the pipe will be wetted with water. With that the fine fibres of the wood, which will be build while grinding, straighten up. With fine abrasive clothe this fibres will be grind away. After that the pipe will be polished with buffing compound and a cotton wool wheel with the buffing machine. Now the pipe is normally ready for the finish.

Unfortunately the nearly finished product showed some naturally flaws in the surface of the wood. Now I had to decide if the shape should be changed by grinding in hope to get the flaws removed or if the surface will be treated in an other way. It’s possible to rusticate it with appropriate tools, whereby the surface will be brought into a rough structure by hand work.

My luck was, that finishing this pipe was at the same time, as I met Rainer Barbi! He was so kind to extend me to sandblast the pipe. Thereby the wood will be treated with high pressure and appropriate materials, so that a native structure of the wood appears. This structure is build by the tree rings and removed filler.

The pictures show the rough structure after sandblasting. Of course the finish is still missing: The wood must be properly coloured, the surface sealed and than treated with carnauba wax, to give the wood a glossy shine and a protecting coating.

After consulting Rainer Barbi I decided to make a tanshell finish. That should accentuate the fantastic grain of the wood and the structure, so that the pipe will build a characteristically patina while darken with time.

Finally in spite of all the difficulties the work was rewarded! The pipe reached the customer on 1st September and even though the wanted specification of a smooth, uncoloured surface couldn’t be satisfied, his enthusiasm is, with gladness of the pipe maker, great...

Technical details:

Shape	Full-Bent Giant
Material	Briar, Italy
Length:	140mm 70mm bowl 70mm stem
Hight:	80mm overall 68mm bowl
Diameter:	37mm at the boarder 54mm in the middle
Tobacco chamber:	25 x 60mm
Air channels:	4mm shank 3mm stem
Stem:	Acrylic, Fishtail
Filter chamber:	9mm
Finish:	Sandblasted Tanshell
Weight:	118 Grams (The primarily plateau block was 426 grams!)

Quaint story by the way: I made an arrangement with the customer, that we swap my still “work of a beginner” with pipes of his collection. So I got a 97th “Rainer Barbi” in best conditions for that pipe. The circle was closed: For a fantastic “Rainer Barbi” the customer got a “HGD-Pipe”, which was sandblasted by Rainer Barbi...

At the end I want to thank all involved persons: The “customer”, who was fancy to support the work of a newcomer, Andreas Harm from Esterval’s Pipe House, who not only gave me the possibility to view my early work in public, but also organised the beautiful briar and of course Rainer Barbi, who made that fantastic finish possible and who is also supporting my work as a newcomer in word and deed.

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Copyright © 2007 by TECON GmbH
with friendly support of Heinz-Günter Döteberg