One of Your Favorite Artisan Carvers

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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
There are a world of pipe carvers out there, in different nations, that do a vast variety of pipes. Choose one artisan carver whose pipe or pipes you own, and explain why their work appeals to you. I'll chime in further on down the post. I think many members have heard my pitch before. Please keep it to one, so maybe more carvers will get mentioned by more members.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,621
44,832
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
I like carvers who have developed a personal esthetic, one that appeals to me, and one that is instantly recognizable as that carver's work. While I like the looks of Danish pipes , I'm unwilling to pay the high prices and I'm not interested in warmed over Danish, so that leave out a lot of American carvers. I collect Lee Von Erck, Paul Tatum, Trever Talbert, Walt Cannoy, and Tony Fillenwarth for this reason, and because their pipes smoke extremely well.

 
M

mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast

Guest
Michael Parks because his work checks all the boxes for me; classic stylized shaping, super high level of craftsmanship and engineering, and superb smoking characteristics. :puffy:

 

tschiraldi

Lifer
Dec 14, 2015
1,813
3,555
55
Ohio
As most of you already know (and are probably tired of me saying!), I LOVE Jesse Jones pipes! Classic shapes, great briar, spot on engineering and craftsmanship, comfortable bits, and they always smoke better than any other pipe I've owned! He is meticulous with his drilling and he offers cleaning/refurbishing for life on his pipes. Price also factors in. He has been asked why he doesn't double the price of his pipes. His reason? He doesn't want to put them out of range of the average buyer... like me. I'll never be able to afford a J. Allen or a Bang, but as long as Jesse's making pipes, I wouldn't want one anyway.
Tim

 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,378
70,055
60
Vegas Baby!!!
Ryan Alden!! His shaping, his sandblasting, his stem work as well as his fit and finish really flip all of my switches. When my seven day matched set arrives it will give me 15 of his glorious pipes.

 

dochudson

Lifer
May 11, 2012
1,635
12
I'll take another Tinsky anytime.. You can get what you want how you want it... Perfectly engineered without waiting forever or taking out a second mortgage.

 

sasquatch

Lifer
Jul 16, 2012
1,683
2,862
Well, I mean, Ryan's not a bad dude, but "the best of humankind"? I can't grant him that. He snores!

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,343
Bruce Weaver
He's a really great guy to talk pipes and tobacco with, has a hell of a sense of humor, I love his shaping and blasts, and his pipes are great smokers.

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sasquatch

Lifer
Jul 16, 2012
1,683
2,862
Ryan and I roomed together in Chicago a couple years back. No one else wants to be near us: too big, too drunk, too dumb, too loud. You get the picture?
The truth is, I have excellent relationships with a pile of carvers, and for the most part it's very easy to be friends with these people because they share a common goal - we all want to make pipes that make our customers happy, and we've all worked hard to manage this. There's a basic shared-value equation here that makes for fast friends. I can't really think of any carvers that I think poorly of, or that I'd say were bad people. There's a few with .... different business models than I have, and that's fine. But basically we are all playing the same very competitive game and it's all fun.

 

jefff

Lifer
May 28, 2015
1,915
6
Chicago
I have one of Todds and two of Ryans and you can't go wrong with either.
It seems to me that none of the Artisan carvers have piles of unsold pipes....good for them.

 

raevans

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 20, 2013
273
17
Mark Tinsky. Does great work, can make pretty much any shape, reasonable price and a heck of a nice guy.

 

jefff

Lifer
May 28, 2015
1,915
6
Chicago
I have a Tinsky, it's a great pipe. I asked for a vulcanite stem and he made a fine one.
I also have a Scottie Piesel that I picked up late week at the Chicago show.
I am quite enamored with it.
I am sure there are some....unpleasant pipe carvers out there, I just haven't met one yet. Carving seems to attract good people.

 
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