Pipe Tomahawk Construction

The following three pictures show some of the parts that make up one of my pipe tomahawks. Photo one on the left is a partial cutaway of the head and haft revealing completed assembly. Here you see the titanium e-nut at the top of the haft. This e-nut is threaded inside and outside enabling it to secure the end cap onto the haft and head permanently but also ensures the user ease of access for cleaning the tube by simply unscrewing the threaded pipe plug. Also, in this cutaway you can see the threaded and drilled pewter smoke insert that runs from the inside shoulder of the head through the haft to the titanium smoke tube. This insert ensures that no burning material will get trapped next to the wood, eventually causing a burning-out of the haft. Photo two center simply shows this assembly without the haft. Photo three on the right, shows the threaded mouthpiece over the tube and end cap which is screwed into the wooden haft.

The next two photos are of the collar and the plug. The collar is very simple looking yet this simple collar can be one of the most time-consuming pieces of furniture on the tomahawk. On the right is the plug. I make several entirely different looking pipe plugs; but no matter what they resemble they all serve the same purpose, easy access to the pipe tube for cleaning. They are threaded so they are much less likely to become lost when the tomahawk is used in chopping. (NOTE, after smoking any material in these pipe tomahawks deposits can build up in smoke’s path including the threads of this plug and the threads of the e-nut. The threads of the pipe plug and those of the e-nut SHOULD be wiped clean after each use.