Talking Shop
Friday, February 15, 2013 at 11:05AM | Neill Archer Roan | Permalink tagged Richard Friedman, Tonni Nielsen | in People, Pipe Tales, Pipe Travels, Pipes 
A week ago today I found myself visiting Richard Friedman’s shop in Bellingham, Washington where we spent a couple of days immersed in all things pipe. Our days together included pipe restoration, pipe-making, pipe-smoking, and a drive north to Vancouver, BC where we spent last Sunday afternoon with the Vancouver Pipe Club.
Richard Friedman concentrating on a pipemaking operation.Since I first planned my trip to the Northwest, I have looked forward to visiting Richard’s new shop. He is the first of my friends to have begun a journey from pipe collector to pipe maker. Although I am not surprised that he is enjoying his journey so much, the rate at which he has progressed surprises even me, and I know better than many people how skilled Richard is working with his hands and how relentlessly he applies himself to his interests.
Richard’s work as a charter yacht captain in Southeast Alaska requires a dizzying array of technical and mechanical skills. If something goes awry with the engines or equipment aboard the Alaskan Song, it is up to him to set things right, and it is not just the comfort of his passengers and crew that are at stake, but their lives, as well since the setting for such an event is the wild and remote Alaskan maritime wilderness. So, I was not at all surprised to discover a well-planned and thoroughly equipped shop replete with a wonderful array of vintage tobaccos, Northwest art, and every manner of tool both imagineable and unimagineable.
Most journeys succeed in planning and preparation. Richard’s foray into pipemaking is no exception. Not long over a year ago, Richard was invited by Tonni Nielsen to come to his shop to learn pipemaking. After this past November’s Las Vegas show, Richard accompanied Tonni and Barbara back to Kentucky where he spent two weeks being schooled by Tonni.
It is hard to imagine a better, more skilled mentor than Tonni Nielsen, a man who has been making pipes since his teens and who took over the leadership of the Larsen artisanal pipe-making division from no less than Teddy Knudsen. Richard describes his time with Tonni as two of the best weeks of his life. “Tonni is not only one of the greats of pipemaking, he is every bit as great a teacher,” Richard said.
A dublin is envisioned from a block of briar.I’ve visited quite a few pipemakers’ shops over the years. I never tire of watching pipes being made. Every pipemaker employs unique processes in the course of their work. I have observed that tools, work flow, materials, and strategies differ from one pipemaker to another, and that these things can be seen in pipes, themselves, if one knows how to look for them. Because these strategies and processes are proprietary, I have repeatedly been asked to be discreet, so some of the more interesting operations must remain undescribed here.
Richard shaping the stummel at the sanding disc.One thing I’ve never done, however, is watch a pipe being made from start to finish. This made my visit to Richard’s shop unique. While pipemaking may not be rocket science, it is far more complicated and much trickier than most pipe-smokers might assume. Some operations–like freehand shaping at the sanding disc–confound the imagination. After watching Richard’s painstaking efforts at achieving as much symmetry as possible, I cannot help but be astonished at his reports of Tonni’s seemingly effortless skills in shaping pipes in what amounts to an infinitesimal fraction of the time Richard took. Such skills can only be borne of experience; Tonni certainly has plenty of that.
Stummel and amber-acrylic stem rod ready for shaping.L
Rough shaping the stem at the belt sander.ikewise, achieving a precise stem taper seemed nearly impossible to me. How does one accomplish this with sanding belts and files? There is so much opportunity to remove just a smidgeon too much material. Once the material is gone, there’s no putting it back.
Richard’s humility was evident throughout our two days together making the pipe. Hiccups and glitches were accompanied by ready admissions: “Well, I screwed that up.” Still, he managed to repeatedly adjust and recover, something he told me is a critical skill for anyone making pipes.
If there isn’t enough to worry about, the briar, itself, can betray you. Things will be going along swimmingly when a flaw or pit will emerge. I was so glad it wasn’t me cajoling the pipe from the block since I can only imagine the gut-twisting sensation one must feel when a great looking pipe manifests the equivalent of a pus-filled pimple.
The sweetest moment of our two days in the shop came late Saturday afternoon. As I watched the pipe take shape, I started developing a serious case of “I-want-that-pipe.” The feeling became especially acute when the finish sanding was complete and Richard started applying stain. Beautiful straight grain popped out all around the bowl. Birdseye grain figures marbled the pipe’s base.
Richard started the final polishing and waxing operation. The piece glowed as the late afternoon light spilled through the shop window onto the newly made smoking instrument. Richard held it up, rolled it through his fingers examining it closely, then extended it toward me.
“Here’s your pipe, Neill.”
I waited until Sunday afternoon’s Vancouver Pipe Club meeting to give the pipe its first smoke. I smoked three bowls that afternoon. Each of the last two was better than the one before. The draw was smooth and easy. The mouthpiece rested snugly and comfortably in my teeth. The bowl warmed only slightly with the first embers. With its rotund, curvilinear lines, the bowl rested in my hand like something long familiar.
I will always feel a special bond with this pipe. Having spent two days watching it emerge from a bark-clad block, I know its origins. I know what it might have been and what it is. There is also the knowledge that this pipe represents two days of great conversation, laughter, myriad questions, and quite a few insights, too – all with a good and cherished friend.
Sometime a pipe is more than a pipe.
Reader Comments (6)
This pipe is more than a pipe!