THE MAKING OF A CALABASH PIPE - PAGE 3 OF 8 THE GOURD

The first thing I needed, in order to make a gourd calabash pipe, was a calabash gourd, of course. The greek gourds rarely have a properly bent top, and if they do, it doesn't have the right shape, and the walls are too thin. So, for a long time, wherever I was, I kept my eyes open for anything resembling what I had in mind.

After a lot of search for the proper gourd, I found this instrument, in an exotic-gifts shop. It's an african shaker, like a cabasa, a gourd with sea-shells attached with strings. It was heavilly painted brown, and the top wasn't as curved as I wanted it to be, but it catched my eye at once, and I bought it for 12 euros. I wasn't sure it's a calabash gourd, but it sure was an african gourd in the right shape.

After drawing a circular line, I cut off the top of the gourd, using a small iron cutting saw. I scratched the dried remains of flesh and seeds from the inside walls of the gourd, and I trimmed both ends, using a file. I sanded all the inside walls of the gourd with a coarse sand paper, using the paper as a roll in the narrow part. The walls are thick enough, and the outer surface is harder than any wood I know.

I did some more trimming on the edges, using a blade cutter and grit paper, in order to make the top flat and even. I also removed most of the paint, using the same tools. I didn't use any chemicals, because the smell remains for a long time.

I polished the surface of the gourd and removed some paint remains, using fine grit papers and steel wool.

I drilled a hole in the narrow end, using 1 to 6mm drill bits, carefully not to pass through the opposite wall. I made sure I had an air passage, by blowing through the hole.

I curved a groove for the cork gasket, using the cutter and the grit paper. The groove is the only way to keep the gasket in place. It mustn't be too deep, because the wall becomes too thin, and the gourd may crack while inserting the bowl, or smoking. <= BACK HOME NEXT =>