I talked about something Harry Potter-inspired last year, so it only makes sense that this year should be The Year of the Ring.
Whether you understood the story or not, you can’t deny that the props, costumes, and stellar animation helped make The Lord of The Rings movie trilogy the timeless classic it is today. But before viewers were thrust into the war for the One Ring, we all remember being introduced to the cinematic world of Middle Earth by way of the peaceful Shire.
Inspired by the opening scenes of Peter Jackson’s trilogy, Make N’ Create crafted his own Bilbo Baggins smoking pipe. You know the one: a long-stemmed pipe with engraved leaves adorning the heel. This particular pipe uses cherry wood for the stummel and spalted beech for the stem
The Stummel
This is the most prominent part of the pipe, where tobacco is fed, and smoke emanates. Make N’ Create started this piece by carefully tracing a paper outline onto a single woodblock. He then cut out the stummel’s shape before hollowing the camber and sanding the whole thing down.
The engravings on the heel were made using a rotary tool. Following a pattern drawn on the pipe made it much easier to carve out Bilbo’s iconic insignia onto the curved wood.
The Stem
Unlike the stummel, the stem is made of three pieces of spalted beech. Make N’ Create had to carefully make the tiny air canal (which allows smoke to flow through the stem) using small chisels and metal pieces.
Once the canal was finished, he glued the main two pieces and set them on a curve nestled within a larger piece of wood. This “anchor” was then set with clamps so that the stem could contort into a curved shape.
After popping out the now curved pipe, he fitted it with a smaller piece of spalted beech. This third piece is called the “tenon” and allows the stem to fit perfectly into the stummel. To complete Bilbo’s pipe, Make N’ Create tied a length of string around the area where the stem and stummel connect.
Giving the pipe a good sanding and finish made it look just as good as its movie counterpart. It even works, as evidenced by Make N’ Create smoking a nice, fat wad of tobacco and exhaling the fumes. More of Make N’ Create’s works can be found on his YouTube channel, not all of which promote activities that are hazardous to your health.
