Making a STEM for a smoking pipe - from start to finish

In this video I show you how I make a stem for a smoking pipe, from start to finish, from an acrylic rod, with a wood lathe.
As you can see, this part of the smoking pipe, the mouthpiece, is apparently simple, but in reality it requires a very long process and a lot of precision.
But a professional result can be obtained with not too expensive equipment.
The stem in a smoking pipe is a very important part, because it must be comfortable, it must have the right curvature, and a perfect realization denotes a high level of craftsmanship of the pipemaker
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[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

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[@hermanator74301]

Acrylic is my favorite pipe stem material. The craftmanship that you demonstrated here was par excellence.

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Many thanks for yor kind words! Yeah, I like acrylic, especially those elegant colored rods (and sometimes slightly transparent) from Janzen.

[@gibbyrockerhunter]

What about it makes it your favorite?

[@snvb2007]

Great work. Beautiful.

[@Gappyps3]

I make my stems this way, and yours was a great job 👍🏻

[@lynnglidewell7367]

Nicely done!

[@joelg4849]

You make it look so easy, I'm convinced i can make one. And i don't even have a lathe. Great video, well done :)

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Hi my friend, thanks a lot for your comment! Of course you can make one :) I hope this video can be helpful. By the way I can tell you that is convenient to use a lathe because it is easier to avoid off-axis machining and drillings.

[@Dan_Soundgar]

I have made a bunch of pipes, the only power tool I've got is a cordless Hercules drill.

[@ndertor9413]

Thank you!

[@gabrielestingi8542]

Maestro!

[@bradb.4570]

Beautiful work!

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks!!

[@morganwoolsey1087]

Amazing work my friend!

[@pioner1030]

Amazing...

[@1616katerst]

Well done. Thank you for sharing.

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Many thanks to you for watching it!

[@83project]

Good job 👍 memuaskan

[@amitshukla4718]

May God bless you.

[@Pipemonkey]

Great work, well done 👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks a lot!

[@sypchannel10]

Amazing

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thank you!

[@user-hs3bi3ee1v]

Кабан из капа очень хорошо получился, великолепно👍

[@lthlth4365]

Ok thank you

[@jean-luclefevre9099]

Bonsoir Arcangelo ! Magnifique réalisation ! Cela donne envies de réaliser de beaux objets à mettre dans une vitrine en décoration, pour ne pas " attraper un cancer " du fumeur ! Congratulation ! Jean-Luc

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Merci beaucoup Jean-Luc! Je suis ravi que vous appréciez mes réalisations. Bien sûr, certains qui me les achètent les fument, d'autres les laissent en vitrine... d'autres les deux 😊

[@chrismarusic4277]

Yea,nice job real pertty

[@skeeviesteve1071]

subbed....ty for showing all the steps, I'm just beginning to look into this, and am trying to collect as much knowledge before even thinking about beginning my first piece. BTW, GENIUS idea using the plateau as the mohawk top texture of your boar! so perfect! Love it!

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks a lot, I'm glad you liked the idea 😁

[@samiam3297]

Whoa! 😲 Thank you! (Such amazing work! Very nice!)

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Glad you like it! Thanks to you for watching it 😄

[@danangharnowo6123]

Nice... 👍

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thank you!

[@sulai6i]

Great job , I'm going to explore ur channel ^^

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks a lot! I will upload new videos for sure :)

[@timkerr116]

What kind of glue is used for gluing the tenon?

[@alexborgia1675]

where did you get the tenon? is a tube or did you drill it out from a rod

[@87atxskater]

What material is this? Fantastic work!

[@richardcarpenter-jo5ej]

How did he put the curve in the stem.

[@vaughntongs1836]

Great demonstration thanks. One trick i learnt from you is scraping with a blade. That will remove filing marks brilliantly and reduce the amount of sanding. Thanks

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

I'm very happy the video was helpful for you, thanks a lot!

[@Dan_Soundgar]

How do you drill the curved hole, j.kiding, nice work brotizzle

[@RaduCiprian]

Very informative video! What's the reason for using a blade to scrape the stem before sanding?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks a lot, glad you like it! About your question, I've noticed that scraping is a very effective way to remove the deepest scratches!

[@dragonslyer74]

Where do you get the rod?

[@eltonjohnson]

do you think you could use a small lathe for this kind of work? I see them on Amazon for around $60'ish, and wonder if it would suit the hobby, given its relative scale...

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

I think it could be possible but with some difficulties because the material is hard and it requires weight and stability in the machine. In addition, sometimes these cheap lathes are not compatibles with chucks and and other accessories useful for this kind of work.

[@martinvignau397]

Excellent pipe, you are the only pipe maker on youtube that shows the making of the stem. I wanted to ask you where do you buy the rods, what materials can be used and if it can be done with epoxy and other resins that you can do by yourself.

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Hello my friend, thank you so much, I'm happy that this video could be helpful for you! The acrylic rods I use can be bought from here: shop.janzen-pfeifen.de/produkt-kategorie/stangen/acrylstangen/ Ebonite is also a great material for stems (you can find some ebonite rods in the same website). Some pipemakers make rods for stems from some kind of cast resins, but I've never tried.

[@MassisPipes]

@@arcangeloambrosi4130 Personally I much prefer ebonite for stemmaking, mainly because it's a bit softer and easier to work with. Acrylic has a tendency to shatter a lot. I've tried some cast resin, like the ones Chris Kelly over at Eldritch pipes produces. It's somewhere in between acrylic and ebonite to work with, and I'm quite pleased with it. It's definitely not general casting epoxy though, which doesn't like to hold a bend and is pretty annoying to shape.

[@MassisPipes]

There's not many out there, but they exist 🙂 I've got a few videos that include the stem making process up on youtube, as does Jeff Gracik of J. Alan pipes.

[@martinvignau397]

@@MassisPipes im going to search for him thanks, i love the alaskan banker

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

@@MassisPipes thanks for sharing your experience! I like and use both acrylic and ebonite. Some kind of acrylic rods have some transparency (like the one in the video) and once polished I like how they look, similar to glass. Ebonite has a very natural feel and look, and some rods have very nice veins.

[@eltonjohnson]

Is there a reliable to way ensure you don't pinch the airway while bending? Have you ever made that mistake?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

The most easy and common way is to insert a pipe cleaner into the airway, simple and effective

[@zatarraii7234]

I recently purchased a new pipe from England with an acrylic stem (Most of my current pipes are Vulcanite) have you ever noticed a burning smell while shaping the stem? the pipe (comissioned) was recently made ...wondering if that could explain the acrylic smell?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Hi, generally acrylic stems have not smell, and even while shaping it the smell is more like plastic, not a burning smell. So I can't explain it. Try to clean it well inside with alcohol. On the countrary, vulcanite stems have a strong smell, unpleasant and sulphurous, so it is normal that you can feel it when a pipe is new.

[@lucky_wood]

👏👏👏👏👏👏🤝😍very nice

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks, I'm glad you like it!

[@lucky_wood]

@@arcangeloambrosi4130 thank you bro🤝

[@petrihonkaniemi8204]

What material it is?

[@johnazoni]

Where do you get a french wheel like that for sanding? Im having a lot of trouble finding one online.

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Hi John! If you mean the one at 5:41, I built it. The spindle is obtained from an old grinder, and has a reverse thread. The plate is made of plywood, with the edges rounded on the lathe, everything is stopped by washers that hold also the sandpaper on the back. Obviously the strips of the sandpaper sheet must be overlapped in the direction such that the edges do not "hook" to the piece during the rotation, breaking. Inserting a round thin sponge just under the sandpaper layer helps to have a smoother and more delicate action and to make the sandpaper last longer.

[@HESUpodcast]

@@arcangeloambrosi4130 Great. Thank you! All signs seem to point to I'll need to make my own. I've seen other pipe makers with their own variations of what you described that they came up with. To the shop we go!

[@johnazoni]

Can you post a link to the diamond bit you use for the slot funnel?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

I found it on rawkrafted.com But it seems it isn't in stock now, I suggest to send them a mail and ask if you don't find it

[@Blackdogmoz]

thanks so much for this video... how can a make this tamper whith horn???

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks to you. Which tamper?

[@rodrigoolazabal3728]

Hello, if I send you a tabacco pipe, can you make the stem? I am shopping for stems online but none seem to be a perfect fit to my old BBB pipe. Thank you

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Hello, Sorry I don't do repairs...

[@tremilayard5572]

Amazing. Just a question: which kind of glue is the best for connecting the stem with the tennon?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks! Epoxy glue, but only if you make horizontal and vertical grooves on the joining parts and roughen with sandpaper before gluing (you should create a mechanical joint).

[@morganpeace6867]

Is there a high heat tolerant food grade glue you use, or just something like gorilla glue?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

@@morganpeace6867 just epoxy. That part is not subject to heat, and if the joint is well executed there will be no glue in the air hole.

[@morganpeace6867]

That makes things a lot easier! Thanks for the help!

[@321drum]

@@morganpeace6867 check out Vermont freehand they sell pipe making tools and supplies and glue for pipes

[@Dan_Soundgar]

How many lathes do you sell, and are there affordable ones for broke bums like myself to make pipes?

[@areng.4494]

Awesome! Where can I get gloves like these?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks! Very common, ask local shops

[@aryah1513]

I want to learn to make the acrylic rod lol

[@user-pi8vt7ut3n]

... всё красиво получилось!-, только не понятно из какого материала сделано!🚬🚭🆗👌👈👍🤫👏!!!

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks a lot! This one is made of acrylic. It comes in rods and different styles of colors, you can cut it at your preferred length. Also ebonite is used a lot for pipe stems, and you can work it in the same way of acrylic.

[@Shrimp_Insurance]

Awesome pipe! Just a suggestions but you might want to plug the bowl while sanding the stem so that you don't introduce a lot of fine dust into the bowl, that wouldn't be very fun to smoke

[@vaughntongs1836]

I found that too. Especially polishing compound. Not the sort of thing you want to smoke.

[@user-LLPp9yy9om4sos]

🍺👍

[@ivancano2060]

🙀👌👏👏👏

[@user-wc1ft6jv8r]

Where u get material like that

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Janzen, from Germany

[@zhaxisss]

Thank you, very nice video. But i think still skip too much of the step.

[@petrihonkaniemi8204]

What material you use?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Hello Petri, it is Acrylic.

[@lorenzourciuoli1589]

what do you use to cut the slot? a dremel?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Presumo tu sia italiano 😄 si, un dremel con una punta che taglia di lato, abbastanza comune... Se serve te la linko 😉

[@lorenzourciuoli1589]

@@arcangeloambrosi4130 ciao, si, non avevo visto il nome del tuo canale. Se riuscissi a linkarmela sarebbe divino. Ti ringrazio in anticipo e complimenti per la tua arte :)

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

@@lorenzourciuoli1589 grazie mille! Dal telefono non riesco a linkartela, ma puoi cercare la punta scrivendo "dremel 199", anche su Amazon. In ogni caso ci sono diversi modi per realizzare lo slot, per usare questa punta occorre mano molto ferma e procedere ben perpendicolare alla superficie

[@lorenzourciuoli1589]

@@arcangeloambrosi4130 e posso chiederti quali sono gli altri modi? Comunque grazie mille

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

@@lorenzourciuoli1589 allargare lo slot, partendo da un foro, con lime o seghetti...

[@oscardavis3906]

WHAT kind of wood are you using?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

The stem is made of acrylic, while the wood used for the pipe is briar

[@oscardavis3906]

@@arcangeloambrosi4130 WOULD you know if the wood from a Mulberry tree would be safe to smoke from? I have one tree, I use for making brandy, that had to be cut back, and the wood has naturally cured, and dried, over the past several months and has a sweet smell to it. I would like to try to make my first pipe out of mulberry wood.

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

@@oscardavis3906 I don't know, sorry, you should make some research on eventual toxicity. Also be sure that it is not soft... I use well tested woods in the world of pipemaking: briar, olive wood, bog oak. Wild Cherry is also used

[@oscardavis3906]

@@arcangeloambrosi4130 THANK YOU for your feedback. Mulberry wood is considered a hardwood, but softer than other hardwoods. AND not toxic. I will Post a KZbin video on my channel when I get around to making the Mulberry pipe. Then let you know when I release the video.

[@minerblue9641]

I like the stem very much but I don't like the bowl.

[@Me4tart]

Работа интересная, но курить из жопы....

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

Thanks, I can assure it tastes good

[@masouddr5843]

what material you use for stem ?

[@arcangeloambrosi4130]

In this case I've used acrylic (methacrylate)