By H. Lee Murphy When he was a pre-teen in Cub Scouts, Andrew Petersen was the kind of kid who won the local Pinewood Derby race every year. He and his stepfather devised a way to shave the plastic wheels on their pinewood car with an Exacto knife to a fine V-shaped point, thus eliminating [...]
by Stephen A. Ross; pipe photos by Thomas Looker– Teddy Knudsen studies a large briar block, which looks more like a small lump of wood in his massive hands. Knudsen occasionally mutters to himself as he inspects the briar’s grain and envisions what shapes may lurk underneath its plateau surface. After about 10 minutes [...]
by Angela Waldron Seventeenth-century Istanbul: An elegantly dressed woman sits cross-legged on a low cushion before her nargile, a Turkish water pipe handcrafted by the finest artisans in all of Istanbul. It is a beautifully decorated Beykoz crystal flacon, ornamented in silver with a long sinuous tube covered in velvet extending from it. The ceramic [...]
It was a typical Saturday. I’d been meandering through the house smoking a pipe and carrying a toolbox, trying to look like I was accomplishing something with door hinges or stair rails so my wife wouldn’t give me a real assignment, like digging out the driveway’s drainage pipe or doing battle with the Screaming Peruvian [...]
by Neill Archer Roan I thought I knew Jeff Gracik. I met him when he was still in graduate school and just starting out as a pipemaker. I’ve bought pipes from him over the years, shared meals with him and watched his development. But nearly twelve hours together convinced me I was mistaken. Not only [...]
If you’re an American pipe smoker, there’s a good chance you might not have heard Karsten Tarp’s name before. A pipemaker for almost 40 years, Tarp is one of the best-kept secrets of European pipemakers. Part of his relative anonymity stems from Tarp’s own somewhat shy and humble demeanor. The 57-year-old Dane is clearly uncomfortable [...]
Often, by way of an introduction, I like to refer to stories that have appeared in previous issues of Pipes and tobaccos magazine, especially if my essay parallels, augments or complements an earlier article with a similar theme. This is one of those occasions. “Art Pipes,” John Scotello’s illustrated article in the fall 2002 issue, [...]
If Alex Florov had been a professional boxer, he could be compared to Muhammad Ali. That’s not to say that Florov is the greatest pipemaker of all time—who could make such a claim? However, Florov’s pipes are as graceful as Ali’s boxing skills. As Ali easily glided around the boxing ring mesmerizing opponents and spectators [...]
Located in a corner of Denmark, Bisgaard Pipes provides high-quality smoking pipes to the rest of the world Stephen A. Ross Although they may be located in a remote town on the eastern shore of Denmark’s Jutland Peninsula, Aage and Margit Bisgaard provide high-quality briar pipes to pipe smokers and collectors around the world. Looking [...]
Before you begin to read, know that this is not another self-serving “how-to-get-more-fun-from-your-briar-pipe” tutorial, nor a testimonial for which pipes and tobaccos are the best buys, nor my personal opinion of that popular blog, “Take a look at this outstanding briar that I just bought on eBay!” I’ve been around this hobby for slightly more [...]
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