Hand-Made Custom Wooden Pipes

The Story of PipeDreams Marietta

PipeDreams Marietta - is an online store that continually features a variety of high-quality and affordable products for your enjoyment. Our pipes can be used for herbs or tobacco as may be your choice. They can be works of art or a novelty. They are made by me, one at a time and it's now time for me to share. I have made them for years for friends, but recently, I've found new ways to amuse both myself and the wood I work with. 

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Finding hardwoods is easy but though Marietta Georgia has "exotic wood" dealers, the scale of places in North Carolina dwarfs the local stocks and the prices are better. I'll run up to NC once a quarter and come back with new finds or old friends.

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The process begins on the chop saw where I come up with 3/4 inch by 3/4 inch by 4 inch "blanks". Sometimes depending on wood and the cuts I get, 3 inch pipes are among the "blanks".

Then I drill a 5/8th inch hole for the bowl with a Forstner bit and a 3/16th hole through the stem.

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I use a 5-inch vertical sanding wheel exclusively. I have a belted sander for inside and outside curves but I prefer the disc sander. Several grits from 36 through 220 and stages of hand sanding and I just do what the wood seems to tell me to do.

Sometimes there can be mistakes where I drill the holes badly or the sides of the bowl work out too thin. Ill recut the wood on a bandsaw and then glue up combinations to use for other, newer designs.

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I sand to a 400 grit and then polish on the buffing wheels to about 3500 where you get a nice luster from the wax compound and the wood. On early pipes I used a sealer which brought out the grain more. Now I just use a vegetable buffing wax, black, red or white and spend some time on each piece.

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These pipes feel good in your hand. You will see me say that often. There are many pipes that will soon be listed that include inlays of abalone and Mother of Pearl, turquoise and jade. Diverse combinations of African and South American hardwoods can delight the eye and the hand. My passion is for working with my hands, music, art and the drive to make things. 

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Check out my store and please get in touch with questions or requests. It will take a while to list the hundred or more pipes I have ready for you and the hundreds more blanks that call to me.

If you have ideas, sketch and send.