Lid Closed
This is a webpage about the pipe cabinet that I built a couple of years ago.
I'm not trying to sell it or to generate orders for cabinets like it, I've put this page up merely to give anyone who is considering building something similar a few ideas, thanks!My goals were...
one: to build something that would hold a fair number of pipes
two: display the pipes from the side
three: be wall mountedI think the design I came up with meets these goals, this cabinet can hold up to 32 normal size pipes, the pipes can be displayed from the side, from the front and in the case of my Bulldogs at an angle.
In addition to being wall mounted, the cabinet also has a glass lid that is lockable, this feature comes in handy in households like mine where there are inquisitive grandchildren about! :-)
The glass lid also protects those pipes that are only smoked occasionally from dust.
I made this cabinet from oak, both as a cost saving measure and because I thought that with a light stain it would not detract from the pipes.
The dimensions are 21 inchs wide, 17 inchs tall and 3 1/2 inchs deep. The compact size is achieved by over-lapping the three shelves. The stems of the shelf below come up through the shelf above behind the bowls of the pipes on that shelf. Each shelf has a shallow channel that runs the length of the shelf that the bowls sit in. this puts the bowls at a slight angle forward and allows them to lean on their stems for support.
One nice feature of my cabinet is it's ability to display those odd-ball sized pipes that don't fit normal pipe stands. In the pictures below you'll see that my Viprati Oliphant fits nicely on a shelf ( it does however hog three spaces! ). Likewise the Savinelli Autograph next to it. On the bottom shelf you can see that it's even possible to display pipes sideways if they can't fit a normal slot, such as my Meers which are too long and my Savinelli Lollo which is too short.
On the whole I'm fairly pleased with it, were I to do it again I think I'd make it a little deeper, say 4 1/2 inchs and I might make the lid in 2 pieces that opens from the side to eliminate the prop stick needed for this design.
I'd be happy to answer any questions about this cabinet, however I don't have a blueprint available for it. ( I'm sort of a build by the seat of my pants carpenter, to use the term carpenter loosely... :-)
Here's the pics...
Return to the Bulldogs and Billiards pipe page.
Jerry Hanna (jhanna@ionet.net)