Portable Tobacco Pipe Box

[Jose Kilpatrick]

I have a friend that I would like to build something special for. He's a pipe tobacco afficianado and generally carried a pipe and a pouch of tobacco where ever he goes. Generally, he just carried his pipe in his tobacco pouch and I had an idea that I could create a sort of box or case that would snugly fit his pipe, and fashion it so that it would be comfortalbe in a pants pocket.

I would want the box to close snug and tight and also limit the amount of amount of cuts and joints to as few as possible.

I have some 3" thich mohagany (phillipine mahogany) that would be a good candidate for this project. The planks are all stabilized and at least 22 years old and this stuf is a breeze to work with.

It seems the easiest method would be to use a bandsaw with bandsaw box making techniques. However, I would really like to accomplish this with hand tools only. Would there be a technique available that I could follow to get bandsaw box type results with hand tools such as a coping saw, dovetail saw, chisels, etc?

[Steve Flinchum]

Sounds like a unique gift, I like it.
I have a friend who carves treenware and uses reguler gouges, but for the deeper ladles and such he uses bent gouges and such. Then varying grits of very flexable sandpaper with rounded dowles or thumb pressure to smooth and finish it out. I just thought I would mention this in case it might help.
I am a ciger smoker, so I may modify your idea to make custom cigar holders. I bet those would sell well at craft shows and would be easy to make on the router table.
Thanks for sharing your great idea.

Steve

[Jose Kilpatrick]

You're very welcome..
Since it's a gift, I may carve it. I generally put more work into gifts and sentimental pieces. Thanks for the advice.
I also like the idea of a cigar holder. Would be great gift for any cigar smoker. I'm not really a cigar smoker myself, but on occasions, I will purchase one. Like for camping, or a fishing trip, or hiking. Which in all cases, I could definitley use one. Just an idea, but if I were to prefer one, I think it would be extra handy to have a place where a carabiner could be attached to it.