Quality Briar!

I was able to obtain a couple of new pipes this summer from Nick Miller at Quality Briar. Considering Nick is a Yankee and speaks with a funny accent, he is still a great guy to buy pipes from. He's knowledgeable and has a good eye for quality workmanship and distinctive style. He carries the work of some of the best pipe makers from all parts of the globe, including two of my personal favorites; Vollmer & Nilsson and Gregor Lobnik.

The two pipes I got are from the Swedish duo, Vollmer & Nilsson. The 1st is a very lightweight (25 g) poker. It has a small bowl that seems to bring out flavors in my constant companion, Sam Gawith's Best Brown Flake, that I have never noticed before. A true pleasure to smoke. It makes for a minor dilemma. The pipe is light and comfortable to clinch and smoke while I work, but it is such a flavorful smoke that I find myself sitting in my rocker just wanting to enjoy.

The 2nd pipe is a bent sandblast that is a great pipe for working or walking in the woods. It has a narrow but deep tobacco chamber that makes for a long uninterrupted smoke. And the weight distribution makes it easy to clinch and carry on with the task at hand.

I couldn't be more pleased with my two new pipes or the quick and friendly service Nick provided. Take a look at Nick's website and give him a call. I think you'll be pleased also. -T

We need a rut

The past year to year and a half have been tough for the cousins. Maybe "tough" isn't totally apt. Disruptive might sum it up better. There have been births and deaths, family illness and operations, and plenty of day job work. It's made this little pipe making enterprise take a back seat. We hope that as fall arrives, maybe we can get back to a semi-normal routine. Mark and I are both eagerly anticipating our yearly camping weekend and as usual, we have already said "WE NEED TO GO CAMPING MORE THIS YEAR". I hope this year we will. I bought new hiking boots yesterday and broke them in this morning over at the Wolf River. In the past, I walked there at least five mornings a week. I need to get back in the habit. It's time to get our boring repetitve lives back. -T

Another Ready to Ship

Mark just finished this rack, which was a sort of "custom" job. It's based on the "Baker Road" with a stained finish and an extra row of pipes to hold 33 instead of the 22 on the original. He's calling it the "Baker Road Extended". Now it's on to the next order!! -T

Damn Day Jobs

Mark is in Atlanta for the week working hard @ his day job, so he may be a bit slow answering emails. I can only imagine what kind of pipe rack empire we might be able to create if only we had the time. Sigh ... -T

Opening Tonight

If anyone is in the Memphis area tonight, please stop by David Lusk Gallery for the opening reception of my show there. You can see what I do when I'm not making pipe racks. -T

Death of a Table Saw

I was working away yesterday, cutting wood when the surge protector tripped and my saw and fan quit working. I reset the protector and the fan started working, but not my table saw. Up until that moment, I loved this table saw. It's a portable Rigid and it does (or did) everything I need a saw to do. I bought it less than a year ago and it hasn't had a hard life. Now I have to see just how good the "Lifetime Warranty" is. -T

7/9 - Turns out "Lifetime Warranty" means Lifetime Warrany. There is a service center 2 miles from my house and they say I'll have my saw back in a week to 10 days. Pretty cool. I would have preferred it back sooner, or even better that it hadn't quit working at all, but I guess this will do.-T

7/19 Part on order- still waiting ....

8/31 Part on back order (so they say)- still waiting ....