Ok y'all, PAD is never going to quit flaring up and frankly, f%@! it, i don't really care anymore. I bought a few pipes over the past week or two and two out of the three are in my possession as of now. They are the current pipe i am writing about and a new Tinsky Ukulele that i will create a thread about next, after this one. The only one i am waiting on is an estate Castello Sea Rock Virgin kk billiard, which is en route from Italy as i type. A review with some pics will be posted when that one arrives as well.
This first pipe is made by a wonderful gentleman out of Houston, Missouri named R. Saul Wopschall. He has been making pipes for friends, family and acquantances for a number of years, but just recently started shaping them to sell online. This one i purchased, i think, was the first one he sold. I saw it and loved the look and wonderful straight grain and birdseye on it as well as the cumberland german ebonite stem. I placed a reasonable offer and bought the pipe. I have been in contact with Mr. Wopschall ever since talking shop and talking about life in general. He is a great guy with a lot of knowledge on pipes and life in general and i have really enjoyed conversing with him via email. I look forward to doing business in the future with him and honestly, now consider him a friend. He actually just joined here on the forums as a new member and i think he has a lot to offer all of us in terms of pipe knowledge and history, as his grandfather made pipes, so it runs in the family!
Anyways, i received the pipe promptly and was very impressed with it. I'll let the pics i took do the talking, but it was worth every penny. Mr. Wopschall got this piece of briar from Mark Tinsky and the straight grain he brought out is stunning. The birdseye on the rim and at the end of the briar part of the shank are also easy on the eyes. The other part of the shank is comprised of Missouri wild cherry burl, followed by a band of California manzanita burl and a ring of bone. The stem is hand cut from highest grade German red and black Cumberland vulcanite, with an oval funnel at the bit to produce the smoothest possible airflow. I love the odd shape it takes and how the bowl has a sort of wavy type look and feel to it, which was done on purpose to follow the flow of the straight grain and to bring out the best birdseye possible. The drilling is SPOT ON though and perfectly straight to the bottom of the bowl and passes a pipe cleaner with ease.
I threw on a rubber bit and packed this puppy up with some ol' Irish Flake and got to puff-puff-puffin'. I have smoked 3 or 4 bowls in it so far, and i can honestly say that out of my nearly 30 pipes, it is one of my best smokers. I told Mr. Wopschall, i'll call him by his first name from now on, Reuven, that i would be brutally honest with him and give him my honesty and unbiased feedback, which i did. This thing really smokes like a dream. The draw is wide open and the smoke remains consistently cool all the way through the bowl to the fine gray ash that was left over at the end. The briar imparts a great subtle sweetness and stays cool throughout, as it has some thickness to it. It proved the same experience for the next 3 bowls i smoked in it. It is a hefty pipe, but is comfortable and feels good in the hand. It's one of those pipes that you do not want to put down, if that makes any sense. It is truly a unique pipe from a pipe maker who is just starting to sell his pipes and is not well known. You gotta start somewhere and anything i can do to help Reuven get his name out there so others can experience his superior customer service and excellent pipe making abilities, i am happy to do.
He was kind enough to make me a custom tamper as well and include a pipe sock that did not originally come with the pipe. Do not quote me on this, but i believe he might be including a tamper and sock with future pipe purchases, but he can comment on that. I just got the tamper and sock today and i haven't used the tamper, but will break it in tonight.
Check Reuven out on Ebay, his ebay name is pondercreekstudio, if you are looking for a good value on a lesser known pipe maker whith a quality product and DEFINITELY quality customer service and just a genuine guy in general.
Reuven, thank you brother for everything, i surely appreciate it. You can never have too many friends and I am thankful that i took a chance on your pipe and scored, while gaining a new friend in the process. Congrats again on your new Grandson and the tamper looks great, im looking forward to trying it out tonight!
Here are some pics, let me/Reuven know what you guys think!
This first pipe is made by a wonderful gentleman out of Houston, Missouri named R. Saul Wopschall. He has been making pipes for friends, family and acquantances for a number of years, but just recently started shaping them to sell online. This one i purchased, i think, was the first one he sold. I saw it and loved the look and wonderful straight grain and birdseye on it as well as the cumberland german ebonite stem. I placed a reasonable offer and bought the pipe. I have been in contact with Mr. Wopschall ever since talking shop and talking about life in general. He is a great guy with a lot of knowledge on pipes and life in general and i have really enjoyed conversing with him via email. I look forward to doing business in the future with him and honestly, now consider him a friend. He actually just joined here on the forums as a new member and i think he has a lot to offer all of us in terms of pipe knowledge and history, as his grandfather made pipes, so it runs in the family!
Anyways, i received the pipe promptly and was very impressed with it. I'll let the pics i took do the talking, but it was worth every penny. Mr. Wopschall got this piece of briar from Mark Tinsky and the straight grain he brought out is stunning. The birdseye on the rim and at the end of the briar part of the shank are also easy on the eyes. The other part of the shank is comprised of Missouri wild cherry burl, followed by a band of California manzanita burl and a ring of bone. The stem is hand cut from highest grade German red and black Cumberland vulcanite, with an oval funnel at the bit to produce the smoothest possible airflow. I love the odd shape it takes and how the bowl has a sort of wavy type look and feel to it, which was done on purpose to follow the flow of the straight grain and to bring out the best birdseye possible. The drilling is SPOT ON though and perfectly straight to the bottom of the bowl and passes a pipe cleaner with ease.
I threw on a rubber bit and packed this puppy up with some ol' Irish Flake and got to puff-puff-puffin'. I have smoked 3 or 4 bowls in it so far, and i can honestly say that out of my nearly 30 pipes, it is one of my best smokers. I told Mr. Wopschall, i'll call him by his first name from now on, Reuven, that i would be brutally honest with him and give him my honesty and unbiased feedback, which i did. This thing really smokes like a dream. The draw is wide open and the smoke remains consistently cool all the way through the bowl to the fine gray ash that was left over at the end. The briar imparts a great subtle sweetness and stays cool throughout, as it has some thickness to it. It proved the same experience for the next 3 bowls i smoked in it. It is a hefty pipe, but is comfortable and feels good in the hand. It's one of those pipes that you do not want to put down, if that makes any sense. It is truly a unique pipe from a pipe maker who is just starting to sell his pipes and is not well known. You gotta start somewhere and anything i can do to help Reuven get his name out there so others can experience his superior customer service and excellent pipe making abilities, i am happy to do.
He was kind enough to make me a custom tamper as well and include a pipe sock that did not originally come with the pipe. Do not quote me on this, but i believe he might be including a tamper and sock with future pipe purchases, but he can comment on that. I just got the tamper and sock today and i haven't used the tamper, but will break it in tonight.
Check Reuven out on Ebay, his ebay name is pondercreekstudio, if you are looking for a good value on a lesser known pipe maker whith a quality product and DEFINITELY quality customer service and just a genuine guy in general.
Reuven, thank you brother for everything, i surely appreciate it. You can never have too many friends and I am thankful that i took a chance on your pipe and scored, while gaining a new friend in the process. Congrats again on your new Grandson and the tamper looks great, im looking forward to trying it out tonight!
Here are some pics, let me/Reuven know what you guys think!
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