Oscicleemople
New Member
My brother decided to take his pipe enthusiasm to the next level and is currently working on 2 poker pipes. A poker style pipe for me and a volcano shaped pipe for himself. Mine was his first attempt at poker pipe making and here is where it's at thus far... Where it all starts (a $30 piece of briar):
Some critical planning:
A little drilling:
And lots of carving, filing, sanding and shaping:
And voila...it's in it's final shape:
Now for the color options. He decided to darken the grain via a little chemistry experiment. On Thanksgiving day he brought a bowl of vinegar which had been soaking some rusty springs for a couple days. He also brought a baggie of grape tannins and we added that to a cup of water on the side. He mixed the two chemicals to produce a jet black dye and then rubbed it into the briar. It was then rubbed down with some steel wool and the grains were much more pronounced, leaving the rest of the briar only slightly darkened. His plan is to dye the remainder of the briar red, sticking with a red and black theme which is consistent with the colors of the suits involved in poker cards. This is supposed to be my official poker playing pipe and should be finished by Christmas. 
[more pictures coming soon]
[more pictures coming soon]