Wayne Teipen Heritage Line

[peckinpahhombre]

This has probably been mentioned by someone else on here, but tonight I was cruising the web and noticed that Wayne Teipen has started a new line of economical pipes. The bowls are made from factory turned briar (hand finished by Wayne) and the stems themselves are completely handmade by Wayne from scratch. Looks like some great pricing for some fabulous pipes with handmade stems that I know will smoke well.
http://teipenpipes.com/store/#!/~/category/id=8984584&offset=0&sort=addedTimeDesc

 

[papipeguy]

I guess I'd like to know the origin of the bowls. After all, what does a hand turned stem cost?

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I would guess a hand turned stem is $35 to $50.
As to the origin of the bowls, I am sure you could ask Wayne, though for $150 all in I have a hunch this won't be a $50 or $75 piece of briar. We are in low end Savinelli/Peterson territory.

 

[edgreen]

I'm sure they will be comparatively priced with Trevor Talbert's Ligne Bretagne series ($144-$199)

 

[lonestar]

I guess I'd like to know the origin of the bowls. After all, what does a hand turned stem cost?

Well I can't answer the question for him, but I talked a little with him last year when he was getting this idea rolling.

I would say the main difference here is not the quality of briar used, but simply the selection process between laying out an individual shape to an individual block and chucking a random (high quality) block into a fraising machine and roughing out a group of set shapes.

Honestly, Wayne is doing this the hard way but the better way.

Most pipes in this price range have factory made preformed stems, and Wayne is one of the very few who will cut a hand made stem at this price point.

Assuming the briar is cured properly, these pipes will have ALL the qualities of a much more expensive hand made pipe except for arranging the grain to a particular shape and that is purely aesthetic and doesn't mean a whole lot in a sandblasted finish anyway.

 

[lostandfound]

The stummels just don't look like something Wayne would carve himself. They look kind of... elementary... No offense to Wayne, but look at what Peder Jeppesen has done with Neerup.

 

[mrenglish]

I think they look nice and should smoke really well. If I were not into Premal for the two Viprati, I would be all over that tan blast billiard.

 

[zack24]

This sort of goes back to the question I asked in the New Carvers For Cheap thread- "how can you produce a $100 pipe"...or in this case "how can I produce a $150 pipe"
He's got a good approach to this because I would argue the most important part of a good smoke is the stem. Stummels are easy- my Italian supplier can get me 1 to 25,000 accurately drilled, 95% shaped stummels for prices half what I would pay for a quality piece of plateaux briar.
Morgan has a similar approach with his briar cigars- an inexpensive smoking instrument that he can sell and make some money at while still giving him time to make higher end pipes.
Wayne makes some great artisan pipes- the only thing that would drive me crazy about this approach is that on an average pipe, the time is maybe 50/50 stem shaping/pipecarving. This would shift the equation to 70% stem shaping/30% pipe finishing...and I just don't love stem making that much...

 

[wayneteipen]

Thanks for the plug peckinpahhombre. And thanks for the kind words from others.
The bowls that I am currently using for the Heritage line are fraised by Luca Di Piazza of Luciano pipes/Neatpipes.com. I send Luca a prototype and he fraises the bowls based on my prototype. I am also using a large batch of very old stummels I purchased from my friend Russ Cook. I'm uncertain of their origin beyond that but can say that they are very, very old and very well made and drilled. If I had to guess I would say they are French and at least 30 years old. If there is a demand for the Heritage line, I intend to source quality stummels wherever I can but rest assured they will be good briar. All of the bowls I currently have are extremely lightweight and well cured.
There are several guys doing a similar thing but using premolded or machine milled stems. The value in my Heritage pipes is that the stems are handmade by me with German ebonite and Cumberland. Like zack24 points out, how well a pipe smokes is in large part (the biggest part) dependent on how well the stem is made. I have found that I can make a handmade stem as fast if not faster than I can make a premolded stem look and perform decently. Materials cost is a bit more than premolds but not enough to prohibit the use of high quality rods.
Feel free to contact me if you have questions.

 

[ocpsdan]

Wayne- I saw them at the Chicago Show; I think they came out nicely. It's a nice way (and a great price point) for guys who want to branch out from factory pipes and dabble in handmades.
As to the history of the stummels, I have some personal history with them. They were in the personal collection of a B+M owner who passed away in March of 2010 in his early 50's. He did some small amount of pipe repair, and believe that he bought them in the hopes of one day turning them into finished pipes with pre-molded stems. He must have bought them in the late 1980's or early 1990's from another private seller, and stored them in plastic totes until Russ got to them. He bought them, and passed them to Wayne. Having known and worked for the man who owned them, I don't believe he bought them from a factory.. it just wasn't his way. As far as I can trace them back, they are at least 20 years old. Hope it helps!
For those on a budget, consider these pipes. I bought a pipe from Wayne (not Heritage line, mind) last year and I love it. After seeing the stummels finished at the show, I think he did a fine job and gave them life they otherwise would not have had.

 

[wayneteipen]

Thanks for the info, Dan. BTW, PM or email me your return address so I can get your pipe back to you.

 

[elpfeife]

This line seems like a wonderful idea. I expect to benefit from it in the near future!

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I think this one is a real looker:
Pipe

 

[shaintiques]

Stem making is half of the fun. But it is work as every little scratch shows up. I think this a great idea. And some of the pipes are very nice looking. These would be great first pipes.

 

[pipedreamer]

Wayne Teipen gives a lifetime warranty on his pipes as do I. This means, He stands behind them. I know of him through a forum and can tell you, he knows his stuff. He is an innovative and helpful individual. Plus you have to admit his pipes are better than great, in all the ways that count. A stem is very important to a pipe, if its' stem is bad, it will never smoke well. I'm sure all that buy this new line will be rewarded with good smoking pleasure. The hand made stem is a win, win situation the informed will take advantage of for a new level in smoking.

 

[pipedreamer]

hand made stems 50 to 65 dollars.

 

[misterlowercase]

I can't say enough good things about Wayne,

he's great.
This silver banded Heritage recently sold for above the original $175 and it's a fine looker,

I saw a similar one on his site but it sold quickly and I missed the boat...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-UNSMOKED-WAYNE-TEIPEN-THICK-SHANKED-LIVERPOOL-AMERICAN-Estate-Pipe-MINT-/400709510271?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d4c25e47f&nma=true&si=iNUuQ9Nj0ALWwJI9dhbbBNfXKmw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
His stemwork is most excellent and very comfortable.