Handmade by Erik Nording?

[andya27]

Today was Erik Nording day for me. Early in the morning I ordered a Signature. And so I decided to smoke my two Nordings today in honor of their soon to arrive sibling.
I may be taking a hiatus from smoking for ten days or so, as I have a hectic work schedule this coming week, and then an out of town family reunion next weekend. So I smoked a couple of my favorite tobaccos today.
Getting back to the Nordings: one thing I'm a bit uncertain of, and perhaps someone on the Forum can explain. My Valhalla is stamped "Handmade by Erik Nording." This is a $73 pipe. Does Handmade by Erik Nording mean Handmade by Erik Nording? Or is that code for "This is mass produced by someone in Poland?" Just seems to me that if a pipe is stamped handmade, then it ought to be handmade. And I wouldn't expect this pipe to be handmade.
Anyway, both my inexpensive Nordings are fine smokers, and I couldn't care less if they are or are not handmade. It's just that stamping that has me wondering.

 

[metarzan]

I would guess "Handmade" by the Erik Nording Company and not by the man himself, but I have been wrong once before, so don't go to La Concha beach in Puerto Rico if you are unprepared. Nice pipes.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

If you look at Erik's tour schedule, he hasn't touched a pipe in years. He stamps everything handmade. I almost have the whole Valhalla line, and if you take two of any of the same line and set them next to each other, you'll find that even the rustication is absolutely exact. These are machine made. I think that in the pipe world if hands touch the pipe anywhere in the process it can be legitimately labelled handmade. Probably in putting the inject molded stems into the stummel makes them qualify.

That said, I love all of my Nordings, but the man himself has never touched any of my pipes. He's a great guy, but he came to pipemaking from the machinist's side of things.

 

[natibo]

Is it "hand made" if you use a tool? I can't imagine any pipe is truly "hand made".

 

[voorhees]

Mr.Nording may not have made my have made my King or private reserve set personally, but he has had both in his hands. I bought the king during a Nording event at the briary and I won the other at the same event.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Whether they are or not, I like to believe my pipes are hand made my Erik Nording. And if they're not, they're still great pipes all around, from my Nording Signature freehand, to my Royal Flush Ace, to my grade 13 (gifted to me my Peck and a wonderful smoker it is). I love them all and hope to own many more Nordings in the future.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I totally agree. I'm about to make another Nording purchase also. The Valhallas are my favorites in rotation. Machine made or handmade, they are very well designed pipes. They have a certain Barbaric yawp to them that you don't find from any of the other counties. Plus, they're very affordable. I was just responding to the "hand made part."

 

[vlodko]

Hello,
does anyone knows when the grading system was changed by Nording? I am afraid that's the only way to evaluate the age of pipes from 200-600 series.
Thanks for any directions!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Graded? I may be misunderstanding you, but how can the 200-600 series be graded when each one is identical to the next? And, is the 100 series exempt? Or, were the designs on older 200-600 pipes different than they are today? I'm just trying to grasp the question.

 

[disinformatique]

Anything personally made by Erik Nording would start at around 500 Euros or so.

 

[vlodko]

There was no 100 series.
Please check here
"...We produced a series 200-300-400-500 and 600,

200 being the poorest quality, eg 412 was quality 400, model 12..."
But this system has been changed. The question is when this change occured?

 

[wyfbane]

He used to grade his freehands up to 20 with 20 being best, but I heard that changed as well.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

This is the new way to grade Nording pipes....
Awesome

More Awesome

And Even More Awesome

More Awesome Than And Even More Awesome.

 

[gatorlope]

Sounds good!
I just bought a lot of five unused Nording free hands off eBay and they’re just as pretty as they were in the picture! Two are signed and stamped “handmade by Erik Nording” and I was wondering whether I should keep them in the pristine condition that they are in, but given the feedback above, that hardly seems necessary.
So I have five virgins on my hands and intend to enjoy every one of them,

 

[p40warhawk]

I have alot of Pipes, very few collectibles with ONE glaring exception... I have a very old, but in almost new condition that WAS built by Erik Nording. It was given to me by a dear old friend that had his own Pipe Shop before he passed from ALS. I don't have the heart to smoke it! Its a beautiful old smooth Nording Dublin with lots of Sterling Silver and a sterling silver "N" in the stem. I treasure this pipe and it will go to my son one of these days...

 

[mso489]

Nording makes way too many pipes for any one person to hand carve. Even some of the higher end pipes, in terms of price, are specifically described as not artisan. I think the man himself is an engineer and businessman, and is ardent about keeping his pipes near top quality.

 

[ormazd]

I have three estate Nordings - all purchased from fine folks on this forum. They are all great smokers.

 

[didimauw]

Closing this one as per the bosses wishes! Too old.