Most and Least Favourite Carvers and Why

[hoosierpipeguy]

Favorites are Jose Rubio, Rad Davis, Larrysson, Ryan Alden and Martin Cermak. Alexander Hasty is almost there.

 

[autumnfog]

Favourites
Bo Nordh - genius.
The Ivarssons - what is there not to like?
Dunhill - the understated elegance.
Hiroyuki Tokutomi - his rounder shapes.
Lee Von Erck - originality and personality.
Asami Kikuchi of Tsuge - rounded, well proportioned shapes.

Least
Roger Wallenstein - you google on your own risk.
I will not be held responsible for your mental health.

 

[railman]

Most favorite:

Larry Roush - First and foremost his pipes smoke absolutely fabulous and the draw is open, WIDE open which I like. And considering the amount of wood in some of his pipes they are still relatively light. I also love is unique shaping, there’s only a few of his shapes I don’t care for. His work with Bakelite stems is fantastic as well.

Peter Heeschen - It’s unfortunate he is no longer with us but it’s still possible to find his pipes on the estate market at reasonable prices. His shaping isn’t crazy however it’s unique enough that it’s usually easy to identify a Heeschen. I like his stem work as well. I haven’t had a bad smoke from a Heeschen yet, in fact one of his I own I think I could smoke corn husks out of and the pipe would still somehow make them taste good.

Clark Layton - I own two of his, both unique to his style and both smoke great. And, for the time being, they’re priced reasonably.

As for least favorites I can’t name any artisan pipes off the top of my head, but I haven’t really been impressed with Dunhill. I didn’t find anything so spectacular about them to warrant the price tag, though I do think it’s pretty neat you can date them.

 

[sablebrush52]

Got a pic of it Sable? Sounds interesting!

Well, I didn't when you asked 4 years ago, but I do now:

 

[peregrinus]

Trever Talbert - Once again I like a carver with attitude and chops. Trever can execute any traditional shape in the canon, but he has developed his own esthetic combined with exquisite engineering. Yeah, I know that a lot of people find his work off putting. I don't care. I like it.

Sable, I realize this is an old thread but I remember Trever Talbert when he was just starting out from the ASP’s days. Even then, especially then, his designs were thought provoking and anything but run of the mill and perhaps, even an acquired taste. But, I enjoyed them, and him. He was also a meticulous researcher of pipe construction and a generous sharer.
Last I heard he had hit a rough spot and was doing much less work in order to attend to his family. To your knowledge, is he back up and running full or part time?

 

[tenton]

Have only had a few artisan pipes, but here goes.

J T Cooke - Sandblasted Billiard purchased 20 years ago or so as a Pipes Magazine pipe of the year or whatever it was called. Excellent pipe for sure. Only thing I didn't like was the Yin-Yan logo was crudely done. Hey, when I'm spending that kind of money I have a right to be picky,

Jerry Crawford - Excellent pipe, however the stem work was not up to par. Could hear turbulence when drawing air through the stem and the stem was slightly loose fitting in the stummel. Never smoked it, returned it.

Jesse Jones - Purchased a Billiard and later a Zulu. Both excellent pipes, but for whatever reason the Zulu smoked better for me. Super dry smoke, I love it.

 

[sablebrush52]

Sable, I realize this is an old thread but I remember Trever Talbert when he was just starting out from the ASP’s days. Even then, especially then, his designs were thought provoking and anything but run of the mill and perhaps, even an acquired taste. But, I enjoyed them, and him. He was also a meticulous researcher of pipe construction and a generous sharer.
Last I heard he had hit a rough spot and was doing much less work in order to attend to his family. To your knowledge, is he back up and running full or part time?

As far as I know, he's back up and running. That's the impression I got from his last newsletter.