Such a generous and kind gentleman.
God be with you Ken.
God be with you Ken.
Ken Barnes Passed Away?
- Thread starter bluegrassbrian
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I want to add a bit more from an email Ken sent me that I think will be of general interest. His comments appear below in italics:
I am using the same saw as I used in 1979 when I first started cutting plateau. I have attached a photo of me from that time!
Ken then made, in reference to the video I posted earlier in this thread, the following remarks:
I made this video two years ago and you can see how I look for the cleanest part of the block, by cutting away flaws and cracks, whilst finding the nicest grain.
As I mentioned, many pipe makers simply draw the shape that they want on the block i.e. dictating to the briar. I don’t. I allow the briar to tell me the shape it will yield to me i.e. the briar block dictates to me. Doing it this way improves my yield of clean pipes and improves the grain on the pipes.
The black marks you see are not flaws but burn marks from the saw blade.
Using a circular saw gives me the opportunity to tilt the block when necessary, as I sometimes do, in order to find the best grain.
RIP Ken. You will be missed.
I am using the same saw as I used in 1979 when I first started cutting plateau. I have attached a photo of me from that time!
Ken then made, in reference to the video I posted earlier in this thread, the following remarks:
I made this video two years ago and you can see how I look for the cleanest part of the block, by cutting away flaws and cracks, whilst finding the nicest grain.
As I mentioned, many pipe makers simply draw the shape that they want on the block i.e. dictating to the briar. I don’t. I allow the briar to tell me the shape it will yield to me i.e. the briar block dictates to me. Doing it this way improves my yield of clean pipes and improves the grain on the pipes.
The black marks you see are not flaws but burn marks from the saw blade.
Using a circular saw gives me the opportunity to tilt the block when necessary, as I sometimes do, in order to find the best grain.
RIP Ken. You will be missed.
Ken was so kind to respond to PMs and posts. I benefitted from his wisdom and will miss his presence here. Best to his family.
He was very kind and communicative. I really appreciated that about him. More so than anyone else I've encountered, he was one of the most gifted briar block readers, always finding amazing grain.
That was an insane video - using a circular saw without hand protection and just "using his eye" as a guide.
The fact that he had all fingers and thumbs intact speaks of his consummate skill. And not least, steady hands.
The fact that he had all fingers and thumbs intact speaks of his consummate skill. And not least, steady hands.
Ken and I shared a lively correspondence for many years. This is my last email from him, dated 3/29/2021. I wrote to him several times but received no response.
Hi Jesse
I hope that you are keeping safe, well and happy!
Thank you for your email, I do apologise for not replying earlier. I am glad that you are trying to get a healthy balance between work and relaxation!
I became unwell at the beginning of November - I thought I may have had a stomach ulcer. After many tests, scans and diagnostic surgery it became clear that I have cancer and it is not looking good.
During this time, I have been in and out of hospital more times than I can remember – ugh!
Mentally, I am up for the challenge although physically I have not felt well for months although lately I have been prescribed some more effective anti-sickness medication and pain killers which are helping a little.
I had my first consultation with a cancer specialist in December and I started intravenous Immunotherapy two months ago. This week, I saw him again and, regrettably, my body has not responded to the Immunotherapy and he said that in the past eight weeks the cancer has spread quite considerably, coupled with some internal bleeding which is also concerning.
I will be having my first session of Chemotherapy in the hope that it may help me feel a bit better.
This has been a great opportunity for me to take each precious day as it comes and I am grateful for all the support I have received from friends, specialists and so on.
I really hope that I may have a period of time of feeling better so I could finish the pipes I am currently working on.
I hope this email does not leave you feeling too low, but I felt I needed to let you know.
Speak soon,
Ken
I can't begin to express how utterly sad this news leaves me. Ken was a great spirit and a one of the kindest and most genial people it has been my good fortune to know.
He was certainly the greatest cutter of his generation and a supreme craftsman.
Rest In Peace
Hi Jesse
I hope that you are keeping safe, well and happy!
Thank you for your email, I do apologise for not replying earlier. I am glad that you are trying to get a healthy balance between work and relaxation!
I became unwell at the beginning of November - I thought I may have had a stomach ulcer. After many tests, scans and diagnostic surgery it became clear that I have cancer and it is not looking good.
During this time, I have been in and out of hospital more times than I can remember – ugh!
Mentally, I am up for the challenge although physically I have not felt well for months although lately I have been prescribed some more effective anti-sickness medication and pain killers which are helping a little.
I had my first consultation with a cancer specialist in December and I started intravenous Immunotherapy two months ago. This week, I saw him again and, regrettably, my body has not responded to the Immunotherapy and he said that in the past eight weeks the cancer has spread quite considerably, coupled with some internal bleeding which is also concerning.
I will be having my first session of Chemotherapy in the hope that it may help me feel a bit better.
This has been a great opportunity for me to take each precious day as it comes and I am grateful for all the support I have received from friends, specialists and so on.
I really hope that I may have a period of time of feeling better so I could finish the pipes I am currently working on.
I hope this email does not leave you feeling too low, but I felt I needed to let you know.
Speak soon,
Ken
I can't begin to express how utterly sad this news leaves me. Ken was a great spirit and a one of the kindest and most genial people it has been my good fortune to know.
He was certainly the greatest cutter of his generation and a supreme craftsman.
Rest In Peace
Jesse,
Thanks for sharing.
A sad end to a very fine and talented person.
Only consoling thought is that he did not suffer long.
Ray
Such a sad loss. RIP Mr. Ken Barnes, pipemaker extraordinaire.
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I never had the opportunity to interact with him directly, but I, too, found every post he made here of great interest and value.
Condolences and comfort to his friends and family.
Condolences and comfort to his friends and family.
Ken's last letter to Jesse is one of the most inspiring things I've ever read.
He is known as probably the best briar "reader" in PipeWorld history---he produced smooths over 80% of the time, and over half of them angel hair straight grains from the same wood that everyone else uses; but the man HIMSELF is the amazing part. Generous, helpful, eager to share, funny, you name it. The Real Deal. A true man's man to the end. Even in the face of near-certain imminent death, nothing about his essential nature changed a bit.
Just wow.
Thanks for setting the bar so high, Ken. You made the world a better place, and will never, ever be forgotten.
He is known as probably the best briar "reader" in PipeWorld history---he produced smooths over 80% of the time, and over half of them angel hair straight grains from the same wood that everyone else uses; but the man HIMSELF is the amazing part. Generous, helpful, eager to share, funny, you name it. The Real Deal. A true man's man to the end. Even in the face of near-certain imminent death, nothing about his essential nature changed a bit.
Just wow.
Thanks for setting the bar so high, Ken. You made the world a better place, and will never, ever be forgotten.
He was good people. The loss on that level is more than a loss. The departure of his knowledge and experience in our common hobby is inestimable. When someone like this passes, I end up acknowledging my selfishness due the hole he'll leave in the conversation. He takes with him irreplaceable insight in an art and industry that's dissipating from cultural relevance.
Thank you, Ken.
Thank you, Ken.
Ken and I spent a lot of time together in my workshop. During his short reemergence making "Ken Barnes" pipes, he was using one side of my workshop two days a week while he was putting together his own workshop further down in Cornwall. Ken was an addictions therapist for 30 years. We talked about his experiences within the depths of other peoples minds and it was all very fascinating. He know A LOT about how people tick. It was our time together that convinced me to finish my schooling in Psychotherapy.
Ken was a good laugh and had a very bubbly personality. My favourite stories were about the pipe making industry in the 70's and 80's. It was a cut throat industry full of alcohol fuelled wheeling and dealing. I never thought of pipe sales having a Wolf of Wall Street feel about it...but Ken could spin it that way. He bought in a lot of estate pipes to clean up and his knowledge about the pipes and their makers was very impressive. Yeah...Ken loved to talk and they way he told stories was both informative and fun to listen to.
I'll always remember best his love for straight grain. Ken was all about the grain. He could stare at blocks all day long...but he had a gross habit...Ken liked to lick the briar to expose the grain. I couldn't get the guy to use a wet sponge. No, Ken wanted to lick that briar! I was actually half way accepting of it until he started to lick my blocks. Anyway, it became a standing joke and I think he did it to annoy me because it was always done with a sly smile.
Another standing joke is that Ken was all about smooth pipes, and I was mostly about sandblasts. I looked at his straight grains and immediately declared what a great blast it would make, and always suggested we blast it. I always got a good rise out of him...revenge for licking my blocks!
Here's a pipe to your remembrance, Ken.
Ken was a good laugh and had a very bubbly personality. My favourite stories were about the pipe making industry in the 70's and 80's. It was a cut throat industry full of alcohol fuelled wheeling and dealing. I never thought of pipe sales having a Wolf of Wall Street feel about it...but Ken could spin it that way. He bought in a lot of estate pipes to clean up and his knowledge about the pipes and their makers was very impressive. Yeah...Ken loved to talk and they way he told stories was both informative and fun to listen to.
I'll always remember best his love for straight grain. Ken was all about the grain. He could stare at blocks all day long...but he had a gross habit...Ken liked to lick the briar to expose the grain. I couldn't get the guy to use a wet sponge. No, Ken wanted to lick that briar! I was actually half way accepting of it until he started to lick my blocks. Anyway, it became a standing joke and I think he did it to annoy me because it was always done with a sly smile.
Another standing joke is that Ken was all about smooth pipes, and I was mostly about sandblasts. I looked at his straight grains and immediately declared what a great blast it would make, and always suggested we blast it. I always got a good rise out of him...revenge for licking my blocks!
Here's a pipe to your remembrance, Ken.
I am sorry to hear this news, RIP Ken.
I just liked how AUTHENTIC Ken was within this pipe context...the internet can produce a lot of armchair experts, but here was a man who knew his briar.
Isaac.
I just liked how AUTHENTIC Ken was within this pipe context...the internet can produce a lot of armchair experts, but here was a man who knew his briar.
Isaac.
Paul thank you for adding that. How could I possibly have forgotten? I participate in a weekly Zoom with 6-8 other guys and last November Ken joined us for a few hours. He was gregarious, knowledgeable, effervescent, and infectiously enthusiastic. None of which surprised me since all those qualities were abundantly clear in the emails we had exchanged over the years. What did surprise me was this: about halfway through our conversation Ken pulled out a few stummels that were almost finished and casually licked them to highlight the grain before holding them up to the camera. I didn't want to seem like an idiot so I didn't let on that I thought this was in any way strange. Neither did the other guys on the call. I think we probably assumed it was a Charatan tradition, with Ken being the latest in a long line of lickers that started with Frederick Charatan and was passed down through Reuben to Ken's generation at the company. In any case it was a mini highlight of the Zoom, and I've never looked at straight grains quite the same way again.
That's terrible news. We lost a legend in the hobby. Like many others, I found Ken always so helpful in communicating and sharing his observations about any Upshall or Charatan that I owned. You could tell from the tone of those emails that he genuinely took pleasure in sharing his knowledge and the superior products that had his association. RIP Ken.
English pipes weren't my area, but I did always enjoy reading threads where he was conveying his knowledge.
He will be missed.
He will be missed.
I didn't know Ken well but through you folks and his presence in the pipe community it became obvious he was a great man. We conversed a bit on email last year over a commission pipe. During the discussions his health issues began and from one thing he said you can see what he was looking forward to doing... "I will take care as I want to make all these gorgeous plateau blocks into lovely pipes and, additionally, I start receiving my State Pension in 5 months after paying the National insurance stamps for 30 years!!!" This was November 2020. He left a huge void in our community and the world at large.
Very sad indeed. I always enjoyed reading his posts and responses. The pipe world has lost a not only a skilled pipe maker, but a knowledgeable resource…
May he Rest In Peace.
May he Rest In Peace.
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