I recently won this on eBay for $55 and the main reason I wanted it was because I really liked the looks of it. I'd heard of Elliot Nachwalter before but knew little about him or his pipes. After doing some research, I found out that he's an interesting pipe maker that has been around since the late 60s I think. His output is rather sporadic, and he has set up camp to make pipes in 3 different places that I know about. Vermont, New York, and Florida. As near as I can tell, the stamping on this pipe puts it in the latest period of his pipe making starting about 1996 in Vermont. I am confused about the stamping on the right side that has the number 92 and a C. I was under the impression that the 92 meant the year it was made, but I didn't think he made pipes in Vermont until after 1996. I've gone through most of the posts about him on this forum, buts for some reason, they all seem to be 4-6 years old. Has he become a forgotten pipe maker? After looking at some of his designs, I think for me anyway, he is one of the best pipe makers I've seen. He seems to design the pipe around the grain in a very organic way.
This pipe is kind of a canted tulip? shape, and it needed some work to clean it up. I didn't realize it until I got the pipe that the stem wasn't vulcanite, it's actually a very dark brindle lucite. I don't think I've seen so much crusty slobber on a lucite stem before. It did clean up quite nice, but I'm on the fence about the shiny finish. It will probably dull up on it's own which I think I'll like better given its rustic looks.
Before:
After:
This pipe is kind of a canted tulip? shape, and it needed some work to clean it up. I didn't realize it until I got the pipe that the stem wasn't vulcanite, it's actually a very dark brindle lucite. I don't think I've seen so much crusty slobber on a lucite stem before. It did clean up quite nice, but I'm on the fence about the shiny finish. It will probably dull up on it's own which I think I'll like better given its rustic looks.
Before:
After: