I hand craft all of my pipes in in Monongahela, Pennsylvania.
I live there with my wife, Pat,
and our two dogs. We have two grown sons. My full-time job is as a millwright
for a major
steelmaker in the Pittsburgh area. I’ve been carving pipes for
about two years.
I started smoking a pipe about 25 years ago and always
enjoyed the tranquility I experienced
from a good briar and tobacco. While on a fly-fishing trip a few years
ago, a friend and fellow
pipe smoker suggested that I try making my own pipe. I already owned a
few woodworking
tools (a Shopsmith Mark V, belt sander, band saw, and various files and
rasps) and decided
that carving a pipe would be a nice winter project.
Some Internet searching turned up Mark Tinsky, of American
Smoking Pipe, and I quickly
ordered a pre-bored plateaux kit from him. I wanted to carve a Danish
style freehand but
didn't want to just start cutting and filing on that beautiful block of
briar. I knew in my mind
what I wanted to create but just couldn't figure out how to go about it.
Then I discovered
Trever Talbert's old Website with all the wonderful step by step instuctions
on pipe carving.
His site was my guide as I carefully worked that piece of briar into my
very own pipe.
I bought more tools along the way and finally ended with
a beautiful and very smokeable
Danish freehand that I still enjoy today. When I displayed my creation
to my fishing partner,
he asked if I could carve him a pipe — a bent apple. I told him
I didn't know if I could find
the time, but I’d already planned to do this as a Christmas gift
for him. Then I ordered even
more tools, as well as a few plateaux blocks and stems from Pimo. Armed
with the new tools,
supplies, and knowledge from Trever's site, I dove into my new passion.
When I finished the
bent apple, I couldn't wait until Christmas to give it to my friend. I
drove to his house in August.
He was very pleased with the new briar and suggested I should carve pipes
for sale.
I continued carving pipes and selling a few to fellows
I worked with. They all encouraged me to
sell my pipes on a larger scale. It has been guite a journey and, as on
any journey, you meet a
lot of people. I have been very fortunate to meet and make friends with
some great people in the
pipe-carving community. They have all been extreamlly helpful and supportive.
I would like to
thank Tyler Beard, Brian Ruthenberg, and Lee Erck for sharing tools and
techniques, as well as
Greg Clemons and Keene Bridgeman for their support. The journey continues,
and I hope to meet
you along the way.
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