I want to make a trappers metal pipe to smoke when I am in the woods. I have some copper pipe lying around from another project and was wondering if it would be safe to use.
copper will not work out well, it gives off an odd taste (lick a penny) and corrodes in odd ways. Metal in general will heat up and could complicate the smoking a little
Hello there, No you do not want to use copper in a pipe. I do not think the pipe is going to get hot enough to give off the copper fumes. But that pipe will get very hot to the touch. Too hot to hold. Also, copper will make a nasty taste in the tobacco. I have seen pot pipes made from copper. But my guess is that potheads don't care about taste. Tobacco smokers do. If you use copper, I would think you will need some way to cover the outside of the pipe in order to hold it when you smoke. I would also try to come up with some way to line the inside of the bowl to prevent it from giving your tobacco a nasty taste. I don't think cake in a copper pipe is going to sweeten the tobacco. I am having a little trouble picturing what you want to make. I thought a trapper's pipe was a clay molded pipe. I must be thinking of something else. If you are making a rustic pipe, you can use a corn cob. Those burn out quickly but taste all right and are pleasant to smoke. Pipestone works well and is easy to work (soft). I make a couple pipes from Catlinite (red pipestone). You can find it on-line and probably on eBay. I got a few pieces at the black powder meet at Friendship. The pipe stem is the hard part. I wanted a long pipe stem (peace pipe type) so I cheated and bought a couple rough pipe stem blanks (smoke hole already drilled) at Friendship. I see those on eBay also. However, I doubt if you want the long stem cermonial type. Anyway, don't use copper. Bad idea. Also, if you are thinking of soldering the pieces together, you need to be sure to have lead free solder. Also, do not want too soft (low heat point) solder, like repair solder (extra easy flow). That may be a low enough heat point to get soft when you smoke. I am assuming you will actually use the pipe. Later,
Do you have lugs on the forks to bolt the calipers on to? Will the wheel accept the disk? Best bet: buy a new front fork assembly with wheel brakes, that will fit the 'head' bearing in your frame.
