Quick Cob Mod

[Emperor Zurg]

Recently bought a nice bamboo stem cob here on the forum.

I've never really cared for the haphazard heel in a cob. At the rate I smoke it takes just forever for the nooks and crannies to fill in and develop a halfway decent spherical bottom like a briar... so since this was such a nice pipe and unsmoked to boot, I decided to remedy the situation by making my own heel out of a 3/4 Cherrywood dowel.

I didn't document all the steps but here's a few pics to give the general idea.

Here's the pipe sitting on my pipe Butchery fixture. The post matches the 7° included angle which seems to be standard in Missouri Meerschaum cobs. The pipe is actually finished at this point - the varnish on the bottom is just drying. Anyway this would get clamped in the mill and I would bore out the original bottom of the pipe with a 3/4 endmill. The reaction bar obviously keeps the pipe from spinning should it take the notion.


Here's a shot down the finished chamber, replete with new heel. It's not exactly perfect because, as is usually the case, the shank / drillway doesn't hit dead center of the bowl. However, the depth is right on, it's plenty good enough for what it's for and after a half dozen bowls you'll never know the difference.


Anyway, that's the idea. I never could leave well enough alone...

[Bruck]

Very nice. Dig the fancy acrylic stem

[BryGuySC]

Nice work. Is the wood flat or concave at the bottom of the chamber?

[Emperor Zurg]

Nice work. Is the wood flat or concave at the bottom of the chamber?

It's spherical, just like a briar pipe would be. I bored the heel with a 5/8" ball nose end mill like this one

[Tobias Lutz]

Beautiful work (as always). I think I'll go smoke something out of my glass sipper now

[El Whedo]

I've never really cared for the haphazard heel in a cob. At the rate I smoke it takes just forever for the nooks and crannies to fill in and develop a halfway decent spherical bottom like a briar... so since this was such a nice pipe and unsmoked to boot, I decided to remedy the situation by making my own heel out of a 3/4 Cherrywood dowel.

Well... you clean out yer cobs with an air hose. That probably (DEFINATELY...hehe) is why yer cobs don't fill in and form a nice heel.

Anyhoo... ya did a bang-up job. Even if ya didn't need to do it, ya did a wonderful job of it as always. I'm impressed with all yer projects and yer craftsmanship.

[Emperor Zurg]

Well... you clean out yer cobs with an air hose. That probably (DEFINATELY...hehe) is why yer cobs don't fill in and form a nice heel.

Anyhoo... ya did a bang-up job. Even if ya didn't need to do it, ya did a wonderful job of it as always. I'm impressed with all yer projects and yer craftsmanship.

Haha! Well I did stop cleaning them with the air hose. Figured that's why they never filled out. But I have a fair collection of cobs now plus some briars so with the little I smoke and rotating thru a few pipes they still take forever to even begin the process.

I know it's 100% unnecessary but I have a shop full of (metalworking) equipment so I couldn't resist. Thanks for the props!

Oh, and nice to see you around again, Marcus!

[FidelCastro]

Love the ingenuity....

[penna stogey]

Noice..