Moving Beyond

Tyler Beard, master pipe carver

Given who I am, what I enjoy and my skill level, it's only logical that I might consider pipe carving in my future. I've always enjoyed woodworking. I enjoy pipes and pipe smoking. I certainly enjoy tools and gadgets. Therefore, becoming a pipe carver is a logical extension of all these things, or so one would think. I've been receiving encouragement from a friend of mine, a pipe carver of some renown, Tyler Beard. Tyler is a pastor in Midland and has been carving pipes for some years now, having honed his skills to a keen edge. He's a great guy, always willing to share his skills with others and to encourage growth of the pipe carving community in whatever ways he can. If I ever become a pipe carver, you can be assured that Tyler will have played a major part in that.

At the simplest level, one can get into pipe carving with a kit. This is a block of briar, with all the holes drilled, fitted with a stem, ready to be shaped into a masterpiece. This is a logical starting place, as more advanced levels require machinery. Making a pipe from a kit can be done with simple hand tools that most men will have. A bench sander would make the job easier, for sure, and these are not too expensive and take up only a small amount of real estate. Mark Tinsky (www.amsmoke.com) is a reputable source for kits. He has a good reputation in the pipe community and one could do worse than to start there.

Advanced pipe carving is what attracts me though. This involves taking absolute raw materials and fashioning a great pipe with them. A block of briar and a rod of vulcanite or acrylic, some bench tools, a goodly portion of elbow grease, and a bit of skill and imagination, and out pops a nicely made, great smoking pipe. Tyler makes it look easy. Most of his work is done on a Delta bench lathe. He drills on it, turns on it and sands on it, making it almost a one-stop-shop for an aspiring pipe carver. The only other equipment I've seen him use is a Taig MicroLathe, which he uses to drill and machine his stems. He also has a Delta dust collector, making the work of sanding less messy and not so unhealthy. Who the heck knows what breathing that Mediterranean wood dust will do to you?

There are a few obstacles to my embarking on such a venture. At present, I don't have a garage or shop in which to work, so purchasing the tools to use will be secondary to that. Then there's the raw materials. Blocks of briar are not cheap and are notoriously unpredictable. Many a block has ended up in the woodpile after the carver discovered a pit in the bowl or uncovered a crack as he turned or sanded. Rod stock, whether high-quality Cumberland vulcanite or lucite/acrylic, isn't that expensive, but isn't being given away either. All  of this adds up to create a few obstacles to my pipe-carving enterprise.

Some years ago, Tyler and I plotted to make a series of instructional videos, improving on his older videos that are still available on YouTube. The cares of life swept in and the plan evaporated, but I still think it would be a good idea. Let's see what the future holds. Hopefully, my roles as producer/director and as carver will merge someday and beautiful things will flow out of both.