Pretty cool, I have yet to do anything with Bamboo.Well, here's another one of my freshman attempts. I wouldn't ordinarily try to make (or smoke) something like this with so little practice under my belt, but this was a special gift. My little brother (also a pipe smoker) recently finished his Bachelor's in Music Education, so this was conceived as his graduation present. He had once told me how much he liked the Tsuge bamboo-shanked pipes, and wished he could find (or afford) a Volcano. Last spring he was sent as a part of a "Jazz Embassador" group to Japan, and got a nice picture of himself with Mt. Fuji in the background, cherry trees in full flower. Given such, here's my attempt to translate that memory into a pipe.
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Things I learned:
Bamboo is an absolute booger to drill correctly. I went through nearly a foot of it before I got it right. The leftover nubbin got turned into a tamper/pick.
Airway extensions are tough, but doable. I used the same basic principle as my first pipes ("The Mighty Thud"), albeit with a little more precision and restraint.
I won't attempt a Volcano again until I can jury-rig a system to drill bent air channels and tenons. The swooped bottom looks kinda goofy.
Despite my misgivings on the finished product, he loved it and decided to have it's maiden smoke then and there. I'm just glad the draw was open enough and didn't leak. Now his girlfriend wants a bamboo-shanked blowfish. Oy vey.