My First Commissioned Pipe - Sandahl Pipe

[pruss]

Hey there gang.
In the spring I participated in a contest which required me to visit 20(ish) websites of artisan pipe makers in an effort to find a code buried on their individual websites. An ingenious way of sending me, and others, to scour the web pages of up and coming pipe makers. It was during this contest that I ran across the work of Jeremiah Sandahl. I really enjoyed Jeremiah's work, and watching his progression as a pipe maker.
Two of my favourite shapes are the egg, and the cutty, and Jeremiah had three in his gallery of pipes which I thought were wonderful. One of which was a lovely two-stem cutty, allowing the pipe to be smoked at normal length, but also as a Churchwarden. I enjoy smoking a warden around the campfire, but I also love the up-close and personal of a standard length pipe for every day smoking.
After chatting with Jeremiah back and forth over email, I commissioned a two-stem smooth cutty from him. The pipe was finished this week. It's not your standard cutty (given the cant on the bowl), it's more in the egg family, but I love its lines, balance and think the contrast stain hits.
What do you think?
Here are a couple pics of the pipe (re-posted here with permission):





Jeremiah was easy to work with, very communicative throughout the process, and I couldn't be more happy with the finished result.
Here is a link to Jeremiah's website with a full gallery of this pipe: http://sandahlpipe.com/pipe-gallery/?id=387879461335374
-- Pat

 

[smokeybear]

Pat that is one amazing looking pipe its absolutely gorgeous. Worth every penny no doubt. Cant wait to see it in person. Congrats buddy smoke her proudly.

 

[pruss]

Haha, they got me on that contest also.

Which maker did you end up connecting with Sam?

smoke her proudly.

I plan to Smokey... I plan to. Going to fire up the first bowl at the next Smokestacks' meeting.
-- Pat

 

[petes03]

Very nice!

 

[phred]

Oh, that's nice....

 

[peckinpahhombre]

That is a sweet pipe. I am no churchwarden fan, but I like the versatility of having a short and a long stem. I don't believe I have ever seen a cumberland stem that long before.

 

[brdavidson]

Beautiful pipe Pat. If you keep going at this rate you'll be catching up to me with the number of pipes! (albeit with a higher quality of fare)

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

That is beautiful. I like it with the short and the long stem, and the cumberland really goes well it. Truly stunning pipe. Happy puffin

 

[uberam3rica]

Beautiful pipe!

 

[brian64]

Gorgeous pipe...congrats...enjoy every puff.

 

[pruss]

Thanks for the comments gang. I am truly stoked to fire up the first bowl.

I don't believe I have ever seen a cumberland stem that long before.

Me either Peck. Jeremiah said it was the longest piece of cumberland rod stock he had.

If you keep going at this rate you'll be catching up to me with the number of pipes! (albeit with a higher quality of fare)

I dunno about either of those claims Brian. The calibre of your briar is excellent, and you have a PAD assistant in training to aid your purchase. Mine just tend to come in spurts. Once you get your commission underway you'll have both quantity and quality nailed again.

Checking Jeremiah's other pipes at his website, though I am drawn to the deep sandblasts, his "subtle" blast is wonderfully nuanced in such an appealing way.

I agree entirely Roth. I was hard-pressed not to ask for a sandblast. I really enjoy Jeremiah's style of sandblast. Especially on this pipe: http://sandahlpipe.com/pipe-gallery/?id=351742784949042 The stem colour isn't my thing, but I love the blast and shape of this pipe.
Thanks again for your comments gang. I'll post thoughts after the first smoke through both the standard stem and the warden.
-- Pat

 

[igloo]

Simply amazing work and you were smart enough to get two stems . :worship:

 

[papipeguy]

Beautiful pipe. Enjoy many happy smoke rings.

 

[sallow]

That is one hell of a pipe.

 

[cigrmaster]

That is a very nice looking pipe, I hope it smokes great for you.
Now if you are friendly with the artisan I have some suggestions for you to relay to him. I am coming from a prospective buyer of artisan pipes so I hope this is taken in the spirit of constructive criticism.
He needs to have all of the dimensions of the pipes, i.e length, bowl height, bowl width, bowl depth and exact weight to the gram. Maybe I am blind but I cannot find any info on any of his pipes in this regard.
If you look at his Dublin with Ivory, you can clearly see where the stem is a mess, I cannot tell if it is just over spray or if the stem does not fit cleanly. That should never be seen on a artisan pipe, no matter what the price.
If you look at the Elephant Foot, again the stem is a mess as is the bamboo.
If he is going to be a serious artisan, he cannot show pipes with these kinds of defects, those two pipe I mentioned should be perfectly clean. I also saw on a couple of other pipes where the stem is not flush with the shank, that is extremely important in my opinion. I think he certainly has potential, but he needs to pay much more attention to detail in my opinion.

 

[bigriggers01]

That's a beautiful pipe...nice one !

 

[andypandy]

A beautiful pipe, and a sound idea to get those two different stems.

 

[pruss]

Well, my new pipe arrived last Friday. Jeremiah packaged the pipe well by cutting out the shape of the pipe and stem from stiff foam, then inserting a velveteen cloth and finally placing the pipe and stem into the cut-out and under a second layer of velveteen. The whole kit was packaged in a pine box with a pine lid.
I haven't smoked the pipe with the Warden stem yet, that will be on Thursday at the next meeting of the Smokestacks. I did, however, break the pipe in with Esoterica's Margate. I (no surprise given my enjoyment of Oriental leaf and English Blends) really enjoyed the Margate. It was thick and creamy, with a nice hint of pepper and spice withour being overpowering... think white pepper/sarawak vs. black pepper.
The pipe drew very well. The stem fit like a glove, I found I really enjoyed the crescent shaped button and the thickness of the stem at the button. I did need to watch my cadence towards the bottom of the bowl, where the material narrows to accommodate the egg shape and the curve in the shank.
Here is a pic of the first smoke:


@ Harris - I truly appreciate your observations and comments Harris, and share them. I've invited Jeremiah to take a look at this thread, and the rest of the forum. As with any skill/art-form practice and continued feedback combined with an internal drive to get better helps separate the wheat from the chaff. I think Jeremiah, as you say, has great potential.
More after I've burned the pipe with the Warden stem.
Cheers,
-- Pat

 

[cigrmaster]

pat, glad to hear you love your new pipe, it really is pretty. Hopefully Jeremiah will take my comments as they were intended and continues to progress as an artisan pipe maker.

 

[mso489]

These are real works of art. It's a good deed and well as a pleasure to support these artists. The grain

on that two-stem pipe is a prize. And I like the merging of several different shapes.