Forerunners of spring

I don't know what they are called in English but a straight translation from Swedish would be "snowdrops". They carry the happy message that soon, really soon now the winter is over, and spring is coming.

I spotted this little bunch today on my daily walk with Rufus, the Swedish vallhund, and had to share it with you!

After the walk I made a cuppa and went out on our south-facing balcony. Brought out a wicker chair and stuffed my Boswell Prince with a Balkan (which one it is in my little tin can, I have now forgotten, but I am guessing it is Erinmore...) and sat down with Rufus happy by my side.

I had almost forgotten how lovely it is to just sit in the sun, drink some hot coffee and smoke a bowl as an hour passes by - bliss!

Handmade pipe #4 - Bjarne Nielsen

This pipe I bought at my B&M when Bjarne was there on a visit to show his pipes and tobaccos - and to meet his customers! I had a nice chat with him and bought this pipe from him because of the shape and the grain which I think is extraordinary!

It is a Prince (of sorts) and apart from the lovely grain it also has a partial rustication underneath, at the heel of the bowl. It is a great smoker even though the bowl is about as big as I can stand them. I use it for Balkans and Englishs.

I don't think that Bjarne has done this pipe himself (in his last years he didn't do too many pipes from what I have heard) but rather he has designed it - in principal - and let someone from his team of excellent pipemakers and -designers do it. That's OK by me - it is still a handmade...

Handmade pipe #3 - Mastro de Paja

This pipe I found in a candy store that had just changed owners. The pipe had been on display in a three-pipe stand for quite some time and no-one had bought it from the former owner. He had probably sighed, shrugged his shoulders and stowed it away, and over time forgotten about its existence until it was time to sell the store. The chaps that bought the store didn't intend to continue selling pipes, at least not expensive ones.

It had been sun bleached on one side of the rim and there was a small nick in the rim so I got it quite cheap. I dusted it off, cleaned it and gave it a good rub with some Carnauba wax before I smoked it the first time. These actions all restored it to its former glory (apart from the nick in the rim).

It is a very typical MdeP in shape, and it is a 3C with a Sun stamp. It has a golden spot in the stem and a gold ring. It is one of the straightest grains that I own (together with the Burak below).

Handmade pipe #2 - Ed Burak

This pipe I bought straight from the man himself, in Ed Burak's Connoisseur Shop in New York, on my birthday, as a gift to myself. I spent a good two hours chatting with this very knowledgeable and charming man, about pipes, shapes, making, tools and later about tobacco blending (came out of his shop carrying not only the pipe but 2 lbs of different bulk tobaccos of his own blending).

Mr Buraks pipes are well known in the pipe community and he is also represented in art museums etc with his work. One thing that does set him apart from other makers (other than his extraordinary craftsmanship) is the fact that he never stains his pipes, and that he does not care about sand pits and other "flaws" in the wood as long as they don't disturb the smoking qualities.

That is not the same as to say that ALL his pipes have pits etc, but it does give the more "ordinary" collector (such as myself) a chance of smoking a really well-engineered pipe from a truly great pipe maker at a fraction of the price his "flawless" pipes demand.

My pipe is a Prince made of really old and hard briar, so hard in fact that the end of the tenon turned black when Ed was drilling it. It also has a colour shift from light to dark on the outside of the bowl which Ed explained came from the briar being so old. He also pointed out certain features that made the Prince shape such a beautiful shape, things I hadn't thought of before but which I now collate on every Prince pipe I stumble upon...

Handmade Pipe #1 - Ronny Thunér

This pipe I acquired in a trade with a fellow member on Smokers Forums. It is an early pipe from Ronny, and I have discussed it briefly with him by mail after I got it.

As any artisan looking at his early work, Ronny said that he wasn't totally pleased with the way it came out, if he had done it today he would hav made it different etc, but to me it is a real beauty.

Ronny also offered to "spiff it up" at no extra cost, as the real gentleman he is, if I would send it to him but I declined. I think it looks just great the way it is, and as with any work of art, you shouldn't really mess with it once it is finished, even if it is the artisan himself who does the "messing" ;)

Handmade pipes Pt1

I just wanted to show you some of the handmade pipes I have in my collection. Very few pipes are actually 100% handmade, depending on what you put into that definition. Most makers do use a drill, sander, and some other macines, some use a lathe, others again use milling machines etc etc.

I think of handmades as opposed to machine-made pipes, where NC or other computerised/mechanic machines form a pipe out of a piece of briar wood, disregarding the wood's structure, grain etc.

Instead my handmades are made by a person, the maker, who has chosen a shape for that specific piece of briar, worked it to find flaws, oddities like sand pits etc and maybe had to discard one or more pieces until a pipe bowl appeared as the maker had intended it from that piece of wood.

Probably the maker also made the stem, maybe from a rod of some plastic material that was formed using whatever tools/machinery necessary to create just the stem to fit that stummel that would then cohese into a truly handmade pipe.

There is a lot more work involved in creating a handmade pipe, such as staining, sanding, possibly sandblasting and/or rusticating etc etc, but these are the basics that go into what I call a handmade pipe.

Paraphernalia aquisition

I bid on this Laguiole pipe lighter and won it. It came in a belt holster (which I find too geeky to use) and it is absolutely gorgeous!
I have some problems keeping the gas in (the lighter, that is), and it tends to leak a little bit from the bottom every time I light it up, but what the heck, I'll live with that now that I got such a stately lighter to adorn the pipe desk in my ManCave!

Back by popular demand

Sorry if I haven't been blogging lately, life tends to have a way of getting in between me and my pipe blogging.
I have made a few new aqusitions, a Pete Meer (more with pix later), a bunch of tobaccos ffom different sources (l8r) and some other stuff.
Today though this is just a life sign and a few random pipe shots for your enjoyment...