Make a Pipe From a Branch

I cut a branch from my grandma's cherry tree and it looked like a pipe. So I let it dry and turned it into a pipe. Welcome to this instructables.

Sidenote on the photos :

At the end of a sunny day in my granddad's workshop, the warm sunlight shines through the window directly on the bench and workpiece, resulting in a beautiful contrast with the cool shade of the workshop. This makes a great setting for beautiful pictures if you focus the camera on the brightest part of the object.

The only specific tool you really need for this project is a long drill bit, I used a 10mm * 400mm from amazon (less than 3 euros as an add-on)

A drill to put the drill bit on duh

Then a food-safe finish of your choosing (I chose as usual a Hexane:Paraffin oil 1:2 mix)

Some sandpaper (a belt sander is nice!)

A knife

A drill-bit the size of your projected burn chamber

This may look straightforward buuut.... Drilling straight is harder on a longer length so plan carefully.

I drilled the tube first, marking on the wood how deep the bit went, then orthogonally predrilled the chamber, then enlarged it.

Tips to avoid overheating of the drill bit when drilling for a long time : proceed slowly, take the drill bit out often to avoid clogging with dust and drill through a piece of soap once in a while to lubricate. Oh and cool the bit in water.

So this drilled piece of wood looks a bit rough ! I removed big chunks of material with a knife then finished carving on rough belt sander paper.

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

120 grit through 400, using bricobart's method sadly no pictures because of not enough hands.

I applied my homemade mix, being careful to not put any in the bowl!

There you go! Thanks for reading :)