home made ceramic pipes that I made.

[Ronley]

I recently took up Ceramics and I made these pipes. I bought a glass pipe in Amsterdam and based the design on that.

I made about 25 pipes to start off with, I gave most of them away to friends who were exteremely happy with the gift.

My plan is to make a whole lot and sell them, but I just have not got it together to make a new batch. Instead I am making flower pots and square plates. I want a whole dinner service of square plates....

Ronley

 

[cough_cough_eer]

Nice pipes Ronley.
So you must have acess to a kiln. uuummm If i were to make some things and mail them to you , could you fire them and send them back?? for a fee of course.

 

[Ronley]

I dont know how they would survive the shipping. Dry clay- even if it is dry is quite fragile. - and then once fired- also it can be fragile- but would need to be packed properly,

But we could try,- what type of stuff do you want to make?

 

[aesther]

That's some cool shit man, how do you make the pipes? I only have experience in ceramics with the wheel, and I've made a lot of vases and bowls so far, and a couple bongs as well. Sometime soon maybe I can post pics of what they look like.

 

[aesther]

Also, if it isn't much trouble could you post pics of your other works? I love seeing what other people make, theres so much uniqueness out there...

 

[Ronley]

I hand built them - ( as opposed to using the wheel)

I first made a bowl, and then a similar shaped slightly bigger bowl, The object is to put the smaller bowl into the bigger one and join the two.

the bowls have 2 holes, one in the side of the bigger bowl, and another hole in the cup of the smaller.
the smoke has to fill up the gap that is between the 2 bowls, and the hole in the side works as a choke as I puff away and open and close the side hole,

Then I joined the stem/holder of the pipe. first I pianted the neat colours and designs which is the really fun part, fired them in a bisque fire and then galzed them, and returned them to the kiln for another fire.
Well my teacher does the fireing. I just have fun making the pipes and pots and plates etc.
I am relatively new at pottery, and I absolutely love the artistic creative medium that the clay provides.
(Actually I make the pipes at home because its a pity to waste a lesson on pipes when I could be creating flower pots or vases or plates etc.)

I have to do a photo session of the stuff that I make. Unforetunately i dont have a digital camera- but I would be happy to post the stuff that I make.

Ronley

 

[cough_cough_eer]

I'm wanting to make a long pipe (about 12 inches or so) kinda peacepipe-ish and even if it breaks in shipping it not that big a deal. I don't even have the clay yet (been a while since I worked in clay) I'm gonna get some today as there is a clay warehouse fairly close to here.Any particular type of clay I should get? Ya know, to keeep the firing temps about the same. I assume your working with a Raku or somekind of white clay. I would need you to paint and glaze it also if ya could. :smile:

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Over here in England, if u go anywhere and dig up a back garden, u have a pretty good chance of finging old, some broken, some not, clay pipes.....you getloads of emin staffodshire near the potteries...all those pipes back then after the introduction of tobacco(YUK) by SWR to England....they were all hand made into the basice shape, and the stem rolled like a joint, lol....then the whole thing would go in a smal mould which would have a pattern to print onto the bopwl....
Some of these old pipes can be worth a lot of money if u can find one in one opiece, such as the "Church Wardens" which are massive long ones with like a2 foot stem, like you see in old paintings of smoking houses!
You could draw a lot of inspiratuion, and et ideas ofdifferent techniqies from them, look into it mate.
Your are very pretty though man, im a pipe maker from junk, lol....
anyway, Id buy one if they came on the market.....that hand made slightly rough look is more personal that something knocked out by the thousand in a mould or on a lathe huh.
Nice work man

 

[Ronley]

Harry, thats such a nice thing to say.

I will look in the type of pipe that you mention.
[ins]http://www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr/Wizard/Gandalf/Grey/Gandalf_pipe_sj_small.jpg[ins]

 

[Ronley]

What a nice thing to say, Harry.

The type of pipe that you talk about is really cool. I would love to make something like this...

 

[onus]

Ronley, your pipes are very attractive and thoughtfully designed. I was glad to read that you're not using Philo (filo? sp?), the stuff you can bake in your oven, because my question is this: Once pottery is glazed, do any potentially harmful substances 'bake off' of it while it's subjected to high temperatures? To answer my own question (God help you, I'm thinking out loud) I would say that nothing bad comes off of it at normal cooking temps, up to say 450 f, or we'd taste it in our food and we wouldn't have been using it for cooking vessels for so long. (One thought does occur to me. When I was young, now 40 yrs ago, we were cautioned from buying Mexican pottery because, I believe, of lead in the glaze or maybe the clay.) On the other hand, cannabis burns much hotter than 450 f, I think.

Anyway, like Harry G said, making one's own pipes does look like a fun hobby, and that's why I'm asking these persinickety questions. Keep up the good work. I bet your friends are loving them! And, I'd appreciate the info if you have answered any of the safety-related questions above for yourself.

Onus

 

[Ronley]

The glazes that I use are non toxic - My teacher has assured me quite a few times of this. (Apparently bright red contains lead. and so I dont use it.)

Thank you all for the wonderful positive feed back. It really inspire me to make a new batch.

 

[onus]

Ronley:

Thanks for the info and for not being offended at the question. Keep up the good work.

A thought occurred to me: One advantage of these pipes is that they would not set off a metal detector. And, unlike borosilicate (pyrex) glass, they could be smashed to smithereens pretty easily to get rid of the evidence, so to speak. Furthermore, I bet the thermal mass of the ceramic is much higher than glass, and therefore would mellow the smoke more. Meerschaum is a clay-like substance, right? It's been valued as a tobacco pipe substance for a long time.

Onus

 

[Guest]

NIce one!
Im looking into carving some wood pipes just to keep my hands busy....
It would be nice to have a creative thread for us stoners to talk about what current hobbies and projects we are up to

Maybe share some tips...

 

[cough_cough_eer]

^^^a while back, there was a thread that showed some pipes made from the stems of plants,very intersting. I'll try to find it .

 

[nattynattygurrl]

wow!! i really dig those pieces!! :smile:
i too really appreciate sumthg tht's "1 of a kind", versus, those 'molded', mass production pieces, tht seem to most prevalent in most head shops, now adays..tht personal touch, really means a lot!! ..esp' whn made by sum1 u knw, personally!!
..i'v got a few pieces made by a college buddy..including, his very 1st chillum, sidecar, & nug jar, he'd ever made..as well as, his very 1st piece of glass he'd ever blown, a bead..& tho i didn't hv dreads in which to "display" this bead, for quite a long time after tht, i do now!! :wink: & after not hv'n seen him, for several yrs, i ran into him @ Coventry last summer..& he was soo touched, to find out i not only still had & used the pipes he'd blown, but esp' to see tht i was wearing tht very 1st piece of glass, tht bead!!!

anyways, i digress..very nice job!!! :wink: Bravo, my friend!! Bravo, indeed!!!

hope tht ths finds u all do'n & feel'n well!!!
hv a beautiful evening, my friends!!!

be peaceful,
natty

 

[ledhed]

so Leeroy&Co sez:

Im looking into carving some wood pipes just to keep my hands busy....
It would be nice to have a creative thread for us stoners to talk about what current hobbies and projects we are up to

Maybe share some tips...

Leeroy: me too! My cabs are out in my workshop, so I already spend a ton of time here in the evening tending to the babies, reading posts in IC, and sparking a bowl or three. I would very much like to try pipe carving. But hell, I don't even know what kind of wood to use or where to get it, so I could use some advice right off the bat.

But while I'm thinking about it, why stop at wood? Does anybody know of any good resources on pipe making in general? What metals are safe to use, how hot does glass have to get before you can work with it, methods of joining stem to bowl, stuff like that.

This could get to be fun...

 

[Ronley]

Thanks everyone for all the fantastic compliments.
Its true that what makes them so unique is that they are all one of a kind. Also that they are special and fun to make.
Just being positive and creating all different things in ceramics really makes me happy. Its the most amazing therapy. I used to paint fantastic water colour paintings. Bright vibrant colours of animals, and African shapes. Very much like the African designs that the Indebeli paint on their houses. These paintings made great posters to decorate kids rooms.

Now I am back creating pretty things and it makes me so happy. Everyone must create stuff. no matter what it is.

 

[GreatLakes THC]

You may already know this but that style of pipe is known as a churchwarden. Here's some I like.

Most churchwardens you'll find consist of two parts, a stem and bowl. They smoke nicely for both tobacco and cannabis. I'm too lazy to make one myself, but I have been toying around the idea for a few years to craft my own hardwood didjes.

GreatLakes THC

 

[Ronley]

Greatlakes JUST DO IT!! .. Please I really want to see your pipes that you will make...