1 00:00:00,866 --> 00:00:04,833 (playful upbeat music) (logo swooshing) 2 00:00:05,300 --> 00:00:07,300 - Welcome to the "Volunteer Woodworker." 3 00:00:07,300 --> 00:00:09,333 I'm your host, Charles Brock. 4 00:00:09,333 --> 00:00:12,133 Come with me as we drive the back roads, 5 00:00:12,133 --> 00:00:16,133 bringing you the story of America's finest woodworkers. 6 00:00:20,300 --> 00:00:22,066 (door slams) 7 00:00:31,700 --> 00:00:36,200 (playful upbeat music continues) 8 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:41,066 We're going to Santa Fe, Tennessee to meet Grant Batson. 9 00:00:41,066 --> 00:00:44,866 Grant is more than great at a lot of things. 10 00:00:44,866 --> 00:00:46,466 In his own relaxed style, 11 00:00:46,466 --> 00:00:48,733 he goes about life making the things 12 00:00:48,733 --> 00:00:53,433 that interest him most, like guitars and pipes, 13 00:00:53,433 --> 00:00:57,333 yes, smoking pipes from Italian bur. 14 00:00:57,333 --> 00:00:59,433 Let's meet Grant Batson. 15 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,900 - [Announcer] "Volunteer Woodworker" is funded in part by... 16 00:01:05,900 --> 00:01:08,466 Since 1970, Whiteside Machine Company 17 00:01:08,466 --> 00:01:10,933 has been producing industrial-grade router bits 18 00:01:10,933 --> 00:01:12,666 in Claremont, North Carolina. 19 00:01:12,666 --> 00:01:15,333 Whiteside makes carbide bits for edge-forming, 20 00:01:15,333 --> 00:01:17,900 grooving, and CNC application. 21 00:01:17,900 --> 00:01:20,700 Learn more at whitesiderouterbits.com. 22 00:01:21,866 --> 00:01:24,466 Real Milk Paint Company makes VOC-free, 23 00:01:24,466 --> 00:01:28,200 non-toxic milk paint available in 56 colors. 24 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:30,400 Milk Paint creates a matte wood finish 25 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:32,700 that can be distressed for an antique look. 26 00:01:35,733 --> 00:01:37,966 Good Wood Nashville designs custom furniture 27 00:01:37,966 --> 00:01:40,533 and is a supplier of vintage hardwoods. 28 00:01:41,700 --> 00:01:43,900 Keri Price with Keller Williams Realty 29 00:01:43,900 --> 00:01:46,200 has been assisting Middle Tennessee home buyers 30 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,000 and sellers since 2013. 31 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:50,500 Mayfield Hardwood Lumber, 32 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,633 supplying Appalachian hardwoods worldwide. 33 00:01:57,066 --> 00:01:58,233 Anna's Creative Lens. 34 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,566 (slow gentle guitar music) 35 00:02:15,066 --> 00:02:17,800 (logo swooshing) 36 00:02:27,333 --> 00:02:31,733 (slow gentle guitar music continues) 37 00:02:40,500 --> 00:02:42,866 - Grant, so nice to be here. 38 00:02:42,866 --> 00:02:44,033 - Thank you for coming. 39 00:02:44,033 --> 00:02:46,766 - I mean, the music and the setting, 40 00:02:46,766 --> 00:02:49,166 it puts me to sleep, but it doesn't- 41 00:02:49,166 --> 00:02:51,200 - There's a pillow right there. 42 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:52,166 Take a nap. (Charles laughs) 43 00:02:52,166 --> 00:02:54,700 - I might, but I tell you what. 44 00:02:54,700 --> 00:02:56,633 It doesn't do that for you. 45 00:02:56,633 --> 00:02:59,133 Seems to be motivating. 46 00:03:00,300 --> 00:03:04,000 Out of the many artists I know, 47 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,066 you're so laid-back compared to most. 48 00:03:08,066 --> 00:03:10,300 - My wife would disagree, but thank you. 49 00:03:10,300 --> 00:03:11,833 I'll take it. (Charles laughs) 50 00:03:11,833 --> 00:03:13,466 - And you're so productive. 51 00:03:13,466 --> 00:03:14,900 - Hm. - I mean, 52 00:03:14,900 --> 00:03:19,533 you do a little bit of everything from building a house 53 00:03:19,533 --> 00:03:24,533 to building a line of guitars with your brother, 54 00:03:25,333 --> 00:03:27,533 to building furniture, 55 00:03:28,733 --> 00:03:32,433 teaching, furniture-making. 56 00:03:32,433 --> 00:03:37,033 And then you have a specialty like nobody else 57 00:03:37,033 --> 00:03:40,266 that I know that you make pipes, 58 00:03:40,266 --> 00:03:42,566 not just ordinary pipes, 59 00:03:42,566 --> 00:03:45,466 but pipes that are influenced 60 00:03:45,466 --> 00:03:48,266 by some of the best in the world. 61 00:03:48,266 --> 00:03:49,533 - Mm-hm. - Yeah. 62 00:03:49,533 --> 00:03:51,033 - Yeah. 63 00:03:51,033 --> 00:03:54,100 - So it's just amazing to be here with you. 64 00:03:54,100 --> 00:03:59,033 And does the setting do something for you as an artist? 65 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,033 - Oh, you know, that's a great question. 66 00:04:04,033 --> 00:04:05,333 I think it has to. 67 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,100 I don't know that I think about it a lot, 68 00:04:10,766 --> 00:04:13,733 but you got to walk down the path 69 00:04:13,733 --> 00:04:15,900 from the shop to the porch here, 70 00:04:15,900 --> 00:04:20,400 and it's the path that I walk every time I make pipes. 71 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:21,933 I don't typically drive down. 72 00:04:21,933 --> 00:04:23,100 I walk. 73 00:04:23,100 --> 00:04:26,933 And that is like a reset for me. 74 00:04:26,933 --> 00:04:29,666 If I'm in a mental space... 75 00:04:29,666 --> 00:04:31,333 I mean, you know, life is crazy 76 00:04:31,333 --> 00:04:32,733 and coming at you fast all the time, 77 00:04:32,733 --> 00:04:34,566 and so there's something interesting 78 00:04:34,566 --> 00:04:37,933 about walking down that, just, 79 00:04:37,933 --> 00:04:42,333 tree-covered gravel road 80 00:04:42,333 --> 00:04:45,300 just 250 feet or so. 81 00:04:47,833 --> 00:04:50,933 Gratitude is always there. 82 00:04:50,933 --> 00:04:55,833 And I feel small, 83 00:04:55,833 --> 00:04:59,366 and I'm surrounded by creation. 84 00:04:59,366 --> 00:05:04,300 And it, I think, definitely gives me a spark 85 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,966 that I need to be creative, so. 86 00:05:08,966 --> 00:05:13,333 - What was the seed for little Grant Batson 87 00:05:13,333 --> 00:05:16,066 to become inspired to do all of this? 88 00:05:18,066 --> 00:05:20,733 - Yeah, I mean, it's funny. 89 00:05:22,566 --> 00:05:26,100 Being mindfully present and understanding these things, 90 00:05:26,100 --> 00:05:29,066 you really kind of have to sit in those questions. 91 00:05:29,066 --> 00:05:31,266 And I have pondered these at times 92 00:05:31,266 --> 00:05:34,233 just as I've looked back at, how did I get here? 93 00:05:34,233 --> 00:05:36,600 You know, this wasn't my plan. 94 00:05:38,133 --> 00:05:42,866 And so my parents were definitely incredibly instrumental 95 00:05:44,366 --> 00:05:48,400 in that, as most parents impact their children in a big way. 96 00:05:49,633 --> 00:05:53,866 But my mom and dad were very hardworking, 97 00:05:53,866 --> 00:05:57,166 and we did everything ourselves. 98 00:05:57,166 --> 00:06:00,966 So I grew up in Central Texas out in the midst 99 00:06:00,966 --> 00:06:02,866 of corn and cotton fields. 100 00:06:02,866 --> 00:06:06,566 And my dad had a little business that he ran, 101 00:06:06,566 --> 00:06:08,233 but we did everything ourselves. 102 00:06:08,233 --> 00:06:10,700 So if a car broke down, we fixed it. 103 00:06:10,700 --> 00:06:13,400 If we added onto the house, we did it ourselves. 104 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:15,466 If something needed to be welded... 105 00:06:16,833 --> 00:06:20,366 You know, my dad wrote a book on refrigeration. 106 00:06:21,633 --> 00:06:23,733 He just did everything, including woodworking. 107 00:06:23,733 --> 00:06:25,166 And so I kind of, 108 00:06:27,666 --> 00:06:30,666 I think the woodworking stuck out to me the most. 109 00:06:33,033 --> 00:06:35,266 Oh, he's also a master electrician. 110 00:06:35,266 --> 00:06:37,100 I mean, you know, he literally just, 111 00:06:37,100 --> 00:06:38,266 he can do all of the things. 112 00:06:38,266 --> 00:06:40,633 - Was he the farmer-scientist type? 113 00:06:40,633 --> 00:06:42,500 - Oh, he's very much a scientist. 114 00:06:44,433 --> 00:06:47,233 Being around him is very inspirational. 115 00:06:47,233 --> 00:06:48,200 I learn stuff. 116 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:49,600 We have coffee every week, 117 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,866 and I learn things from him every time I'm with him. 118 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:55,366 He is one of my favorite people 119 00:06:55,366 --> 00:07:00,300 and generous to a fault and just brilliant. 120 00:07:01,566 --> 00:07:04,433 So from him, I think, and my mom as well, 121 00:07:05,700 --> 00:07:08,733 I kind of got this attitude of 122 00:07:08,733 --> 00:07:10,666 if it needs to be done, you do it, 123 00:07:10,666 --> 00:07:13,466 and do it with the things you have. 124 00:07:13,466 --> 00:07:15,033 - So there was no box. 125 00:07:15,033 --> 00:07:18,000 You could always color outside the lines 126 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,033 or inside the lines, so there was no box. 127 00:07:21,033 --> 00:07:25,100 And that way, you can grow as a person and as an artist. 128 00:07:25,100 --> 00:07:28,033 - Yeah, and so, you know, resourcefulness was, 129 00:07:29,133 --> 00:07:31,833 and it still remains a thing for me, 130 00:07:31,833 --> 00:07:36,433 even in furniture that I build or pipes that I make. 131 00:07:36,433 --> 00:07:39,666 I a lot of times use materials 132 00:07:39,666 --> 00:07:41,733 that I've found (rooster crowing) 133 00:07:41,733 --> 00:07:45,300 or are laying around, or sometimes they're unlikely. 134 00:07:45,300 --> 00:07:47,533 They're almost trash, if you will. 135 00:07:47,533 --> 00:07:51,533 And I like to find a way to kind of redeem the thing 136 00:07:51,533 --> 00:07:53,700 that has been kicked to the side 137 00:07:53,700 --> 00:07:57,300 and see if I can find usefulness in it. 138 00:07:58,500 --> 00:08:01,300 - Grant, from the sounds that I just heard, 139 00:08:01,300 --> 00:08:04,266 you're also a gentleman farmer. 140 00:08:04,266 --> 00:08:05,966 - Yeah, I'm gonna go ring his neck 141 00:08:05,966 --> 00:08:08,200 so we can keep this conversation going. 142 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,633 Yeah, Joe is our rooster, 143 00:08:11,633 --> 00:08:16,000 and he takes care of about a dozen hens 144 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:17,933 who lay eggs for us every day. 145 00:08:17,933 --> 00:08:19,666 It's really my wife's passion. 146 00:08:19,666 --> 00:08:21,900 (rooster continues crowing) 147 00:08:21,900 --> 00:08:24,333 He really wants to be in on this interview. 148 00:08:24,333 --> 00:08:25,300 (Charles laughs) 149 00:08:25,300 --> 00:08:26,966 So, but we love it. 150 00:08:26,966 --> 00:08:28,166 They're great. 151 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:30,366 The grandkids love it. 152 00:08:31,433 --> 00:08:32,866 We let 'em out in the yard 153 00:08:32,866 --> 00:08:34,933 as long as they're not eating my wife's vegetables. 154 00:08:34,933 --> 00:08:37,100 - Making pipes, 155 00:08:37,100 --> 00:08:40,133 you make pipes that are in a style 156 00:08:40,133 --> 00:08:43,800 that is known internationally, and you've learned 157 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,400 from some great pipe makers. - Oh, yeah. 158 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,733 - How did you get on that path? 159 00:08:48,733 --> 00:08:51,233 - So it's kind of interesting. 160 00:08:54,933 --> 00:08:59,566 I'd love to say that my life's been very intentional 161 00:08:59,566 --> 00:09:02,133 and that I have had a great plan, you know, 162 00:09:02,133 --> 00:09:07,100 but the truth is you find yourself in a situation 163 00:09:07,966 --> 00:09:09,766 and improvising, adapting. 164 00:09:10,900 --> 00:09:12,333 It's kind of, I guess, my life story. 165 00:09:12,333 --> 00:09:14,266 I think it's probably most people's story. 166 00:09:14,266 --> 00:09:17,500 But pipe making for me was, 167 00:09:18,666 --> 00:09:20,500 it felt very much like an accident. 168 00:09:20,500 --> 00:09:22,933 It was an opportunity that I stumbled on. 169 00:09:24,233 --> 00:09:27,433 I was getting to the point 170 00:09:27,433 --> 00:09:32,400 where I needed to make a change from guitars. 171 00:09:33,266 --> 00:09:37,233 And there was a pipe maker 172 00:09:37,233 --> 00:09:39,166 who had seen our guitar work 173 00:09:39,166 --> 00:09:43,400 and asked if we could build a display cabinet 174 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,466 for some of his work. 175 00:09:45,466 --> 00:09:48,766 And I was interested in it, 176 00:09:50,866 --> 00:09:52,433 but I'd forgotten about it. 177 00:09:52,433 --> 00:09:56,266 And this was maybe a year or two before I left the guitars. 178 00:09:57,833 --> 00:10:02,666 So I left the guitar business and kind of needed some work, 179 00:10:02,666 --> 00:10:05,933 and I remembered, "Oh, this guy's got a cabinet 180 00:10:05,933 --> 00:10:07,233 that needs to be built." 181 00:10:07,233 --> 00:10:09,233 And so I called him up, 182 00:10:09,233 --> 00:10:12,600 and through the course of that time, 183 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:14,600 he started teaching me pipe making, 184 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:16,333 and I didn't even know that was a thing. 185 00:10:16,333 --> 00:10:20,200 I thought you'd buy pipes out of a basket. 186 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:23,100 In a tobacco store, they're 20 bucks, 187 00:10:23,100 --> 00:10:25,433 and they're made by some machine somewhere. 188 00:10:25,433 --> 00:10:29,166 But this guy's pipes were 10,000 bucks. 189 00:10:29,166 --> 00:10:30,000 - Wow. 190 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:32,400 - And it blew my mind. 191 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:33,600 I had no idea. 192 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,700 So he starts teaching me pipe making, 193 00:10:36,700 --> 00:10:38,433 and I'm doing other things as well, you know. 194 00:10:38,433 --> 00:10:41,200 I was building out kitchen islands 195 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:43,266 in, you know, custom homes, 196 00:10:43,266 --> 00:10:46,066 and I built some electric guitars. 197 00:10:46,066 --> 00:10:50,333 And I had a couple of other really interesting things 198 00:10:50,333 --> 00:10:53,000 I was working on, but nothing was really sticking. 199 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:59,000 And the guitar business had been, 200 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:00,266 it had worn me out. 201 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,566 And so I found pipes 202 00:11:04,666 --> 00:11:07,800 kind of an unexpected joy. 203 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,100 I really thought it would be boring. 204 00:11:10,100 --> 00:11:11,800 And in fact, when he told me, 205 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:13,900 "Hey, you'd be really good at making pipes. 206 00:11:13,900 --> 00:11:15,900 You should make pipes," and I thought... 207 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:19,133 I think I even said to him, "It looks boring." 208 00:11:19,133 --> 00:11:21,900 - (laughs) Well, there is a boring part. 209 00:11:21,900 --> 00:11:23,266 You've gotta bore a hole. 210 00:11:23,266 --> 00:11:25,300 - That's true. - Yes. 211 00:11:25,300 --> 00:11:27,333 Or the pipe's just not gonna work, yes. 212 00:11:27,333 --> 00:11:30,200 - That's right, there is some boring involved, for sure. 213 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:35,166 - (laughs) Well, what makes your pipes more than the pipe 214 00:11:36,666 --> 00:11:39,366 you were talking about that you saw in the tobacco shop 215 00:11:39,366 --> 00:11:43,200 that was probably made in assembly line? 216 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,166 - Well, so engineering is one of them, 217 00:11:47,433 --> 00:11:49,800 the way that the tobacco chamber and the airways 218 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,400 and the fitting of things, 219 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:55,033 and then, of course, materials too. 220 00:11:55,033 --> 00:11:57,766 So the materials that I use, 221 00:11:59,300 --> 00:12:03,233 all of the pipe makers that are in the high-grade world, 222 00:12:03,233 --> 00:12:06,533 as we call it, they're using... 223 00:12:06,533 --> 00:12:10,366 This mouthpiece material is Ebonite, 224 00:12:10,366 --> 00:12:12,800 which is a vulcanized rubber product 225 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,733 that comes out from two different companies in Germany. 226 00:12:16,733 --> 00:12:21,033 And then the briar is a high-quality briar 227 00:12:21,033 --> 00:12:25,900 that is typically coming out of Italy or Greece. 228 00:12:25,900 --> 00:12:28,100 - Now, what is briar? 229 00:12:28,100 --> 00:12:32,366 - So briar is the root ball of a conifer tree. 230 00:12:32,366 --> 00:12:34,100 It's a conifer. It's called the white heath. 231 00:12:34,100 --> 00:12:37,100 And it's really kind of like this scrub brushy 232 00:12:38,900 --> 00:12:42,400 shrub that grows all over the place. 233 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:44,033 And when I say Mediterranean, 234 00:12:44,033 --> 00:12:48,100 it's in Algeria, Morocco, Spain, Corsica. 235 00:12:48,100 --> 00:12:49,466 It's everywhere, 236 00:12:49,466 --> 00:12:51,100 and it just grows randomly in the foothills. 237 00:12:51,100 --> 00:12:55,800 And these guys will take their wooden wheelbarrows 238 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,333 and their pickaxes, and they'll climb up into the foothills, 239 00:12:58,333 --> 00:13:00,100 and they'll pick it out of the dirt. 240 00:13:00,100 --> 00:13:02,466 And half of the root ball is exposed. 241 00:13:02,466 --> 00:13:04,733 - So there is a briar patch. 242 00:13:04,733 --> 00:13:06,000 - Very much. - Yeah. 243 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,900 - Yeah, and then they'll cut these balls out 244 00:13:09,900 --> 00:13:11,466 and cut all the little roots off of them, 245 00:13:11,466 --> 00:13:15,300 and they're usually cantaloupe to watermelon in size. 246 00:13:15,300 --> 00:13:19,866 And they'll roll 'em down to the edge of the road, 247 00:13:19,866 --> 00:13:22,033 and then a little truck comes along, 248 00:13:22,033 --> 00:13:25,500 and he'll buy them from them, and they'll load 'em up. 249 00:13:25,500 --> 00:13:28,700 And then he'll drive them to a briar cutter, 250 00:13:28,700 --> 00:13:31,833 and they'll open up this big, 251 00:13:31,833 --> 00:13:34,233 usually it's a basement or some type of, 252 00:13:34,233 --> 00:13:37,566 you know, dark area in their shop. 253 00:13:37,566 --> 00:13:39,233 And they'll dump that, 254 00:13:40,900 --> 00:13:43,433 and then they wet them down, and it's a curing process. 255 00:13:43,433 --> 00:13:46,166 They'll cut them, and then they'll boil them. 256 00:13:46,166 --> 00:13:48,333 They're trying to get tannins and things out of them. 257 00:13:48,333 --> 00:13:50,866 But it's usually about a three-year process 258 00:13:50,866 --> 00:13:53,533 to get the briar from the earth 259 00:13:53,533 --> 00:13:56,000 and to the point where they can ship them 260 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:57,333 to someone like me. 261 00:13:57,333 --> 00:13:58,900 - Grant, can you take me down to the shop? 262 00:13:58,900 --> 00:14:00,200 Can you show me- - Absolutely. 263 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:01,200 - How you do it? - I would love to. 264 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:02,033 Let's do it. 265 00:14:02,033 --> 00:14:04,033 - All right, let's go. 266 00:14:04,033 --> 00:14:09,000 (playful upbeat music) (logo swooshing) 267 00:14:18,233 --> 00:14:21,766 (slow gentle guitar music) 268 00:14:30,733 --> 00:14:35,100 (slow gentle guitar music continues) 269 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,800 Well, this is briar. (logo swooshing) 270 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:40,833 - Yes, sir. 271 00:14:40,833 --> 00:14:43,766 - And I can see the grain. 272 00:14:43,766 --> 00:14:44,900 It's tight. 273 00:14:44,900 --> 00:14:46,166 - [Grant] It's very tight. 274 00:14:46,166 --> 00:14:48,766 - Yeah, it's got a little heft to it too. 275 00:14:48,766 --> 00:14:50,333 - It's very dense, yeah. 276 00:14:50,333 --> 00:14:54,766 - What makes briar the special wood 277 00:14:54,766 --> 00:14:57,400 to make a pipe chamber out of? 278 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,400 - So, someone way older 279 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,500 and smarter than me somehow figured out, 280 00:15:02,500 --> 00:15:07,300 like the mushrooms we were talking about, 281 00:15:07,300 --> 00:15:08,933 which ones do you eat, which ones you don't. 282 00:15:08,933 --> 00:15:10,933 - Yeah. - So somehow, somewhere, 283 00:15:10,933 --> 00:15:13,166 they figured out that the density, 284 00:15:13,166 --> 00:15:18,133 the properties of this wood, this combustible material, 285 00:15:18,900 --> 00:15:20,100 are actually quite ideal 286 00:15:20,100 --> 00:15:22,366 to light something on fire inside of 287 00:15:22,366 --> 00:15:23,700 and have it not burn up. 288 00:15:23,700 --> 00:15:27,933 So, as it burns the tobacco, 289 00:15:27,933 --> 00:15:32,100 it begins to create this kind of a coating, 290 00:15:32,100 --> 00:15:36,133 a caked layer on the inside 291 00:15:36,133 --> 00:15:39,033 of what we call a tobacco chamber 292 00:15:39,033 --> 00:15:42,266 that insulates the rest of it from burning up. 293 00:15:42,266 --> 00:15:44,733 And it's just the ideal wood. 294 00:15:44,733 --> 00:15:45,966 Pipes have been made of everything, 295 00:15:45,966 --> 00:15:49,100 stone and cherry and pine 296 00:15:49,100 --> 00:15:51,566 and, you know, willow and all kinds of things. 297 00:15:51,566 --> 00:15:55,233 But briar is, it's the one. 298 00:15:55,233 --> 00:15:56,500 It's the chosen one. 299 00:15:56,500 --> 00:16:01,233 - Well, it's got an interesting look to it. 300 00:16:01,233 --> 00:16:02,366 What's this? - Yeah. 301 00:16:02,366 --> 00:16:04,400 This is the live bark edge. 302 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:06,033 We call it plateau. 303 00:16:06,033 --> 00:16:07,366 This one's actually got a little bit 304 00:16:07,366 --> 00:16:11,933 of a rough loose-grain pattern. 305 00:16:11,933 --> 00:16:15,233 So while all of them have a dense, 306 00:16:15,233 --> 00:16:19,433 very close grain structure, some are looser than others, 307 00:16:19,433 --> 00:16:22,700 and you can tell kind of by the bird's eye on the plateau. 308 00:16:22,700 --> 00:16:25,633 This one's one that's got tighter... 309 00:16:25,633 --> 00:16:27,366 And then you, of course, I've got some 310 00:16:27,366 --> 00:16:30,100 that are much tighter. 311 00:16:30,100 --> 00:16:31,533 If you can look at the difference, 312 00:16:31,533 --> 00:16:33,833 the closeness of those bird's eye- 313 00:16:33,833 --> 00:16:36,033 - Yeah. - Compared to those. 314 00:16:36,033 --> 00:16:37,133 And this is actually going 315 00:16:37,133 --> 00:16:39,700 to be a much more expensive block, 316 00:16:39,700 --> 00:16:40,833 and it's going to produce 317 00:16:40,833 --> 00:16:44,600 a much more beautifully aesthetic pipe. 318 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:46,366 - So when you look at this, 319 00:16:46,366 --> 00:16:50,566 how can you tell where the chamber needs to be? 320 00:16:50,566 --> 00:16:53,000 - [Grant] So typically, I'm not as concerned 321 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:54,433 about the location of the chamber 322 00:16:54,433 --> 00:16:56,766 because the makeup of this wood, 323 00:16:56,766 --> 00:16:58,166 it does fine wherever it is. 324 00:16:58,166 --> 00:16:59,900 - I see. - But what I'm really gonna go 325 00:16:59,900 --> 00:17:04,666 for is I'm gonna try to follow the pattern 326 00:17:04,666 --> 00:17:07,233 of the starbursting grain. 327 00:17:07,233 --> 00:17:09,266 It's growing from the center out. 328 00:17:09,266 --> 00:17:10,966 It's round. 329 00:17:10,966 --> 00:17:14,233 I'm gonna try to follow it in either a cross grain 330 00:17:14,233 --> 00:17:18,066 or a lateral grain 331 00:17:19,500 --> 00:17:22,200 so that I can draw out the absolute beauty of it. 332 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:25,266 I don't want to really cut through the grain. 333 00:17:25,266 --> 00:17:26,833 I wanna follow along with it. 334 00:17:26,833 --> 00:17:29,033 So as I'm making this, 335 00:17:29,033 --> 00:17:31,033 I can try to have a shape in my brain 336 00:17:31,033 --> 00:17:33,733 about what I'm gonna make, 337 00:17:33,733 --> 00:17:36,266 but I find that when I sit there, 338 00:17:36,266 --> 00:17:38,966 the wood itself begins to tell me, 339 00:17:40,700 --> 00:17:43,033 "You can't do that. You gotta go this way." 340 00:17:43,033 --> 00:17:45,266 And so I'm constantly making decisions based 341 00:17:45,266 --> 00:17:47,000 on what the wood's telling me to do. 342 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,233 - So the artistry is to listen and to look. 343 00:17:50,233 --> 00:17:51,700 - Yep. - Feel. 344 00:17:51,700 --> 00:17:52,833 Use your senses. 345 00:17:52,833 --> 00:17:53,800 - That's right, 346 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,033 yeah, paying attention to it. 347 00:17:56,033 --> 00:17:57,933 You can make a pretty pipe. 348 00:17:57,933 --> 00:18:00,066 Briar's pretty no matter what, 349 00:18:00,066 --> 00:18:03,533 but if you're really paying attention to it, 350 00:18:03,533 --> 00:18:06,400 you can draw out the absolute best of it. 351 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,100 And that's the challenge every time I sit down. 352 00:18:08,100 --> 00:18:10,233 In fact, I've been intimidated by blocks. 353 00:18:10,233 --> 00:18:12,500 I've picked up a very expensive, beautiful block, 354 00:18:12,500 --> 00:18:16,133 and I think, "Oh my, I've never seen one this good. 355 00:18:16,133 --> 00:18:18,533 Don't mess it up," you know? 356 00:18:18,533 --> 00:18:21,300 And I have messed them up, you know, so. 357 00:18:21,300 --> 00:18:22,500 - Well, let's see how you do it. 358 00:18:22,500 --> 00:18:24,866 - Okay, I'd love to show you. 359 00:18:24,866 --> 00:18:26,633 Feel free to put the masks on. 360 00:18:26,633 --> 00:18:27,900 I'm not gonna wear one. 361 00:18:27,900 --> 00:18:29,166 I never do. 362 00:18:29,166 --> 00:18:30,966 This dust collection does a pretty good job. 363 00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:37,700 (playful upbeat music) 364 00:18:46,666 --> 00:18:50,700 (playful upbeat music continues) 365 00:18:59,700 --> 00:19:04,200 (playful upbeat music continues) 366 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,333 So now I've kind of made some decisions 367 00:19:06,333 --> 00:19:10,000 about what the grain needs from me, 368 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,333 and now I'm gonna really try 369 00:19:12,333 --> 00:19:16,466 to just begin to refine a shape out of it 370 00:19:16,466 --> 00:19:19,100 once I've exposed most of the grain. 371 00:19:20,233 --> 00:19:23,033 (machine buzzing) 372 00:19:24,066 --> 00:19:26,066 - Wow, that's a great shape. 373 00:19:26,066 --> 00:19:27,600 It really is. 374 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:30,033 Is this kind of a classic shape? 375 00:19:30,033 --> 00:19:34,133 - So this would probably fall into the Dublin category. 376 00:19:34,133 --> 00:19:39,100 Dublins tend to have a flared outward chamber, 377 00:19:40,466 --> 00:19:42,433 but it's very much a freehand style of a Dublin. 378 00:19:42,433 --> 00:19:47,066 So what I like about this 379 00:19:47,066 --> 00:19:49,466 is having the plateau on the top, 380 00:19:50,700 --> 00:19:54,100 revealing the bird's eye, and then having... 381 00:19:54,100 --> 00:19:56,833 You'll have what's called a panel on the bottom side, 382 00:19:56,833 --> 00:19:58,366 and this will all be bird's eye. 383 00:19:58,366 --> 00:20:03,033 But then here, if you can see the pattern of the grain, 384 00:20:03,700 --> 00:20:04,666 it flares out. 385 00:20:04,666 --> 00:20:06,066 - Yeah, yeah. 386 00:20:06,066 --> 00:20:08,833 - And I've tried to create the shape, the taper- 387 00:20:08,833 --> 00:20:11,500 - Wow. - So that it perfectly exposes 388 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:12,700 the lines of that- 389 00:20:14,533 --> 00:20:16,500 - Kind of lifts up. - Grain structure. 390 00:20:16,500 --> 00:20:19,833 - Yeah, and then do you leave a little bit of live edge? 391 00:20:19,833 --> 00:20:23,433 - I do. I like to leave live edge as often as I can, 392 00:20:23,433 --> 00:20:24,933 and sometimes you can't. 393 00:20:24,933 --> 00:20:27,333 Sometimes it has to go away for the shape to be right. 394 00:20:27,333 --> 00:20:29,566 Every time it goes away, though, I'm a little disappointed. 395 00:20:29,566 --> 00:20:34,533 I like to leave live edge because this is a luxury product. 396 00:20:36,133 --> 00:20:38,433 You know, I've made a lot of luxury products through time, 397 00:20:38,433 --> 00:20:42,433 and it's got a big price tag on it. 398 00:20:43,733 --> 00:20:48,266 And for me, sometimes you lose the story. 399 00:20:49,166 --> 00:20:50,233 This has a story. 400 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:55,000 This was in the dirt on the side of a mountain, 401 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,033 and some relatively poor people 402 00:20:58,033 --> 00:21:00,333 with wooden wheelbarrows came through, 403 00:21:00,333 --> 00:21:02,333 and they pickaxed it out of the ground 404 00:21:02,333 --> 00:21:04,166 and rolled it down the hill. 405 00:21:04,166 --> 00:21:07,733 And it, to me, it's a reminder. 406 00:21:07,733 --> 00:21:10,166 Having that live edge reminds someone 407 00:21:10,166 --> 00:21:15,133 that this is an organic plant that came from somewhere. 408 00:21:16,366 --> 00:21:20,866 And now it's been given a different purpose now, 409 00:21:20,866 --> 00:21:22,600 but it's got a story. 410 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:23,966 - You're celebrating that story. 411 00:21:23,966 --> 00:21:24,933 - Yeah, yeah. 412 00:21:24,933 --> 00:21:26,033 - Yeah, you do it beautifully. 413 00:21:26,033 --> 00:21:27,933 Well, what's the next step? 414 00:21:27,933 --> 00:21:29,400 - So the next step will be, 415 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:34,366 I will draw four axis lines 416 00:21:35,900 --> 00:21:38,966 around this thing intersecting so that I can hand drill it. 417 00:21:38,966 --> 00:21:43,600 Here is actually eyeballing a perfectly straight line 418 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:47,066 around a very curved substrate, I guess, 419 00:21:49,733 --> 00:21:52,333 because if your line is off, 420 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,166 your drilling is off. 421 00:21:56,166 --> 00:22:01,033 And you can really make a bad go of this ordeal. 422 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,766 So, trying to really make sure that it's perfectly straight. 423 00:22:05,766 --> 00:22:08,300 So I'm kind of closing one eye here, 424 00:22:08,300 --> 00:22:10,900 and what I'm doing is, as I rotate around, 425 00:22:10,900 --> 00:22:12,700 I'm kind of like interpolating. 426 00:22:14,033 --> 00:22:18,566 It's funny when I'm teaching woodworking stuff 427 00:22:18,566 --> 00:22:21,700 in other venues, 428 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,766 I emphasize not to skip grits. 429 00:22:25,766 --> 00:22:27,066 - Right, yes. (Grant laughs) 430 00:22:27,066 --> 00:22:30,133 - And then here I am going from 24 to 120. 431 00:22:40,133 --> 00:22:44,233 And now we're ready to drill it out. 432 00:22:44,233 --> 00:22:45,100 - [Charles] Let's do it. 433 00:22:45,100 --> 00:22:46,533 - Let's do it. 434 00:22:46,533 --> 00:22:51,266 So each line is very intentionally placed 435 00:22:51,266 --> 00:22:55,966 and has to intersect with its counterpart perfectly 436 00:22:55,966 --> 00:22:58,366 for the engineering that we talked about earlier 437 00:22:58,366 --> 00:22:59,766 to be spot on. 438 00:22:59,766 --> 00:23:00,833 So the first one that we're going 439 00:23:00,833 --> 00:23:02,800 to drill is called the mortise, 440 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:06,366 and it will need to be perpendicular 441 00:23:06,366 --> 00:23:08,200 to the very end of this shank, 442 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:09,966 and it also needs to be straight this way. 443 00:23:09,966 --> 00:23:14,133 You don't want some weird-angle mouthpiece coming out. 444 00:23:14,133 --> 00:23:19,100 And the mouthpiece is a friction fit into, 445 00:23:20,966 --> 00:23:24,066 this is called the stumble or the body of the pipe. 446 00:23:24,066 --> 00:23:26,733 And so, we'll first drill the mortise, 447 00:23:26,733 --> 00:23:29,400 and then we drill the airway. 448 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,733 And I really need that airway 449 00:23:31,733 --> 00:23:35,266 to be right in the center of the bottom of that mortise. 450 00:23:35,266 --> 00:23:38,100 And then it needs to be in the center of the bottom 451 00:23:38,100 --> 00:23:41,066 of the corresponding tobacco chamber. 452 00:23:41,066 --> 00:23:44,333 - To get those holes that you're gonna bore 453 00:23:44,333 --> 00:23:46,233 to all come together at the right place, 454 00:23:46,233 --> 00:23:48,333 that's a boring proposition. 455 00:23:48,333 --> 00:23:50,366 (Grant chuckles) 456 00:23:50,366 --> 00:23:52,000 - Am I boring you? 457 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:52,933 - You're gonna be boring it. 458 00:23:52,933 --> 00:23:55,000 - Okay, here we go. Let's do it. 459 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,333 (machine whirring) 460 00:23:58,333 --> 00:24:01,433 (playful upbeat music) 461 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:14,466 (playful upbeat music continues) 462 00:24:23,466 --> 00:24:25,466 (playful upbeat music continues) 463 00:24:25,466 --> 00:24:26,700 So I connected. 464 00:24:26,700 --> 00:24:28,166 That's good. 465 00:24:28,166 --> 00:24:31,000 - So it's not too long before this will be a pipe. 466 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:32,166 - Yeah, that's right. 467 00:24:32,166 --> 00:24:33,866 So I've got a little sanding to do. 468 00:24:33,866 --> 00:24:35,800 I've got some special sanding disks 469 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,666 that I've made for this next step. 470 00:24:38,666 --> 00:24:40,500 A mouthpiece I'll make. 471 00:24:40,500 --> 00:24:43,166 I'll probably put some type of adornment up here, 472 00:24:44,133 --> 00:24:45,500 but pretty long- 473 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:47,866 - It's gonna be a pipe. 474 00:24:47,866 --> 00:24:50,333 - Yeah, it's gonna be a pipe. (Charles laughs) 475 00:24:50,333 --> 00:24:52,066 - This has been wonderful. 476 00:24:52,066 --> 00:24:53,033 - Yes, it has. 477 00:24:53,033 --> 00:24:54,366 Thank you so much for coming. 478 00:24:56,900 --> 00:24:58,500 - I'm gonna be heading down the road 479 00:24:58,500 --> 00:25:01,900 to find a story of another great woodworker. 480 00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:05,066 See you next time on the "Volunteer Woodworker." 481 00:25:06,066 --> 00:25:08,466 (door slams) 482 00:25:08,466 --> 00:25:11,666 (playful upbeat music) 483 00:25:20,533 --> 00:25:24,566 (playful upbeat music continues) 484 00:25:24,566 --> 00:25:28,100 - [Announcer] "Volunteer Woodworker" is funded in part by... 485 00:25:28,100 --> 00:25:30,600 Since 1970 Whiteside Machine Company 486 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,100 has been producing industrial-grade router bits 487 00:25:33,100 --> 00:25:34,866 in Claremont, North Carolina. 488 00:25:34,866 --> 00:25:37,566 Whiteside makes carbide bits for edge-forming, 489 00:25:37,566 --> 00:25:40,100 grooving, and CNC application. 490 00:25:40,100 --> 00:25:42,900 Learn more at whitesiderouterbits.com. 491 00:25:44,066 --> 00:25:46,666 Real Milk Paint Company makes VOC-free, 492 00:25:46,666 --> 00:25:50,400 non-toxic milk paint available in 56 colors. 493 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,600 Milk paint creates a matte wood finish 494 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:54,900 that can be distressed for an antique look. 495 00:25:57,900 --> 00:26:00,133 Good Wood Nashville designs custom furniture 496 00:26:00,133 --> 00:26:02,633 and is a supplier of vintage hardwoods. 497 00:26:03,766 --> 00:26:05,966 Keri Price with Keller Williams Realty 498 00:26:05,966 --> 00:26:08,300 has been assisting Middle Tennessee home buyers 499 00:26:08,300 --> 00:26:10,966 and sellers since 2013. 500 00:26:10,966 --> 00:26:12,633 Mayfield Hardwood Lumber, 501 00:26:14,100 --> 00:26:16,766 supplying Appalachian hardwoods worldwide. 502 00:26:19,166 --> 00:26:21,333 Anna's Creative Lens, 503 00:26:21,333 --> 00:26:24,833 crafters of resin-on-wood decorative arts. 504 00:26:24,833 --> 00:26:26,966 Visit charlesbrockchairmaker.com 505 00:26:26,966 --> 00:26:29,333 for all you need to know about woodworking. 506 00:26:30,300 --> 00:26:32,066 If you'd like to learn even more, 507 00:26:32,066 --> 00:26:35,100 free classes in a variety of subjects are available 508 00:26:35,100 --> 00:26:39,033 for streaming from charlesbrockchairmaker.com. 509 00:26:39,033 --> 00:26:41,633 (gentle upbeat music) 510 00:26:43,033 --> 00:26:45,200 (upbeat music)