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...