Custom Machined Hookah.

[zerovector]

I'm planning to build a hookah mostly from scratch, but there are a few things that I have questions about.

Basically, my plan is to buy the base part of the stem that attaches to the hoses and then machine the rest of the stem out of a stainless steal rod. The base I am looking at is here (http://www.discoverhookah.com/store/catalog/Sahara-Stem-Large-Silver-Base-p-16589.html) and has a threading on the inside to screw the rest of the stem onto. I will probably end of buying an ash tray too just because the shop I have access to doesn't have anything to extrude disks of metal.

So my question is first, has anyone else here tried to do this before and has any pointers on it. Also, what should the stems inner diameter be to make sure it isn't too hard to pull smoke through?

I'm hoping for it to be around 36 inches tall when it's done, but depending on how frustrating it is to machine the stem it may end of shorter

Any thoughts?

[cptbjorn]

I machined mine out of a couple pieces of aluminum (the main part being 3" diameter) and it has a 3/8" hole down the center and isn't restrictive at all. I suggest just buying the vase and machining everything yourself though, a 36" solid stainless hookah is going to be crazy heavy with lots of leverage against that little base. Impossible to say how sturdy that base is though without seeing and feeling it. I was able to think of a couple ways of machining the base it and the first one I tried worked really well, and my machine shop consists of a mini lathe and a drill press so I'm guessing you have better equipment

Also good luck if you are planning on doing decorative curves on a big long chunk of stainless, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach just thinking about it lol. I would rather do ANYTHING but that. Especially if the bar won't fit through the lathe headstock, that's what weekday afternoons in hell would be for me at least.

Here's a pic of mine, I still haven't gotten around to anodizing it and its due for a full breakdown and cleaning but it smokes like a beast. Zero leakage and feels more solid/sturdy than any other hookah I've ever seen/touched in person. Yeah I know it doesn't look like most hookahs but the differences are mostly superficial.

[joytron]

wow thats very impressive, def like the simple but clean design

[zerovector]

cptbjorn that is very cool.

That's a good point though about the stress on the threading though, I may have to rethink that part. Thanks for the advice. If it all works out and I actually get a working hookah out of all this I will post a picture XD

[Evilsquirrel]

it would be quite easy to create something like a HoboHookah/HoboNigelae with just a lathe. if you wanted a longer stem, that would get trickier depending on the size lathe you have.