Where Do You Buy Artisans?

[alan73]

the retailers have nice pipes, I've bought from most of them...but the prices are by definition retail...pipestud, coopersark, treasurepipes, and greatestate pipes on ebay are 4 sellers I have done a lot of business with...all honest guys with a wide variety of merchandise week to week.
i'll second mkelaw a regular poster, bought some pipes from him too.
direct from carver is definitely full price in my experience, but fun! you can communicate with them, I had to send an expensive pipe back to Ukraine to a well known maker, a little scary with no insurance and stuff, but the pipe made it back to me in a month or so with a new stem.

 

[mso489]

I encountered Bob Hayes at a couple TAPS pipe shows in N.C. where he lives, loved his work, but didn't feel I could meet his price. The second or third show, he saw me admiring his work and made me an offer on a pipe I couldn't refuse. It was the quickest deliberation and pipe sale I've been a party too; usually I deliberate for hours...or weeks. Or longer. This is a beautiful rusticated bamboo shank straight Dublin. One of my treasures.

 

[alan73]

Mso ... picture?

 

[tschiraldi]

Jesse Jones! Blue Room Briars! Fantastic pipes, handmade from bowl to button, perfectly engineered, and great prices for an excellent artisan! I am working toward a 7 day set. He loves doing commissions! Lifetime guarantee and you can send your pipe back to him once a year for a cleaning... free. Current JJ pipes: Bent Brandy, Bent Dublin, Bent Billiard. Still to come: Pencil Shank Billiard, Prince, Bulldog, Apple!

Tim

 

[ssjones]

Site sponsor Pipes2Smoke is a great vendor with some interesting lines, with great service and pricing from Maxim.

 

[ophiuchus]

The title begged for a smart-ass answer; others have beaten me to it.

 

[sparrowhawk]

I've been trying to contact Terri Neilsen for a couple of years now, to no avail. He doesn't seem to look at messages page--would anyone happen to have his email? If you know of one, PM me, please!

 

[jpmcwjr]

I've rented-in a sense- an artisan's time and skill. Ryan Alden and Scotty Piersal are two American carvers I admire, and there are tons more here and around the world.