Anyone here ever make your own corncob pipe?

[kzm007]

I'm wondering if it's possible to make your pipe and the stem from the same cob? I mean

either without having to glue anything (one solid piece) or

with gluing (piece of the cob is the bowl, another is drilled to be the shank then glued or fitted).

It seems like the first option would be doable, and yes I realize these will be small.

Is it possible to make a tight fit without glue?

[NCRadioMan]

FWIW Kegan, the cob's they use for pipe's today has been genetically altered over years and are not the same as the corn we consume.

[alley00p]

Actually, my son brought home a bunch of big, thick ears of "deer corn" that is sold to hunters in Northen Michigan. it's used as bait, along with sugar beets by the hunters who put out "bait piles".

My son wants to let them dry out and try making a cob pipe or 2.

:pi

[Demented]

I have not.

If you’re handy with a saw and a drill, there’s no reason you couldn’t fashion a pipe bowl from a dried corn cob. The shank would have to be carved from wood and drilled out, and the bit?

Working with a hand drill, I’d drill the airway in the piece of wood for the shank before shaping it.

Parts can be made to fit together snugly without glue, the mortice and tenon joint on a smoking pipe is a fine example of this. I don’t know how well it would work for joining wood shank with cob bowl.

[Mister Moo]

...Is it possible to make a tight fit without glue?Plastic Wood of 1890 was cornstarch/water paste.

[Demented]

Take a gander at this ~ Cob pipe (http://www.ehow.com/how_4499718_make-corn-cob-pipe.html)

[kzm007]

Thanks folks. I'd seen that eHow link before, but it's worth a shot (:

And as for genetically altered corn (ooh, tasty O.o) all Missouri Meerschaum does is grow corn with smaller kernels so the cob is thicker, I believe. I think field corn might be a good bet for me.http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/pipe-manufacturer-retailer-spotlight/corn-cob-pipes-the-making-of-at-missouri-meerschaum/#more-2939

[kzm007]

That link shows how they're made.

Interestingly, you can see that nothing has really changed if you go here (http://blogs.pipetrader.com/TobaccoBarn/archive/0001/01/01/corn-cob-pipe-story-from-life-magazine.aspx). This is from LIFE in 1945.