Creation of Heinemann Freehand Pipes
There are several approaches to create outstanding tobacco pipes.
Let me show you how I make them.
The Ingredients
It all starts with selecting high-quality materials
Aged briar
I get my briar plateaus directly from briar cutters from Italy, Spain or Greece.
High quality stem and application materials
All my stems are hand made of German Ebonite. For applications and inlays I use beautiful woods, bone or horn. Mostly, I add fine detailed spacer made of different layers of veneer.
Outlining the design
Often, I draw quick sketches to develop my design ideas. Also, each Heinemann Pipe is shipped with a sealed drawing of the final pipe's design.
Briar bowl & shank
Carving out the pipe's wooden body from the briar ebauchon. Starting point is the design sketch, but the final shape follows the character of the wood to bring out the beauty of the grain as clearly as possible.
After roughly sketching the shape on the ebauchon, I use an old band saw for first cutting
…a very old band saw, indeed
Further shaping on a self-made grinder
This step is quite fast, but you have to be careful not to ruin the shape
The shape is slowly braking out of the briar ebauchon
Further shaping is done with a belt sander
…allowing for more detailed work
Now you see the briar’s quality and grain
Next step is to prepare for drilling
…using cutting-edge “laser” technology đŸ™‚
Ready for drilling. Maybe I should call this shape “little dragon”?
I use a seasoned but accurate turning lathe for drilling
If you want to see the whole process in motion, please watch the video on the homepage:
Handmade stem
All stems are handmade from high-quality German ebonite. I spend a lot of time and effort to get smooth transition from briar to stem, good smoking characteristics and a pleasant feeling to the mouth.
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Staining and finish
Pipes with perfect or near-perfect wood receive a smooth and polished, high-contrast finish. Other pipes are sandblast, with a beautiful feeling to the hands.
Contact
Want to learn more, got a question or need service for your Heinemann Pipe?
I’m looking forward to get in touch with you!