[Pipes] Eric Paulson Billiard

If you haven’t yet heard of the name Eric Paulson, I believe you will soon enough. Eric is a maker of pipes from the Minneapolis, Minnesota area and according to hit website has been making custom pipes since sometime in 2010. Browsing his wares, he seems to be interested in various forms, but it’s his version of the Devil Anse that has garnered him a lot of attention.

In fact, I’ve seen his name crop up a lot recently on several forums, especially over at Pipes Magazine. Recently, on their Pipes Magazine Radio Show (Episode 75), two large names in the industry were interview. One, being Sykes Wilford who is the head honcho over at Laudisi Inc., which include the operations of SmokingPipes.com and Cornell & Diehl. The other being Rick Newcombe, better known as the author behind In Search of Pipe Dreams.  In this discussion on pipe makers, Newcombe name dropped the artist…which to me is a rather big deal, given his passion of the art, even to the point of having a talk dubbed Pipe Smoking in the Movies at this year’s Chicagoland International Pipe Show. He had quite a bit to say about Eric and his style and take on the Devil Anse.

Naturally, I became curious. I started to dig a little deeper on the forums to see what work Paulson has done, as well as scoped out what he has posted himself. Luckily, he had a handful of pipes available at a reasonable price. I debated and debated and eventually settled upon a rusticated/sandblasted straight billiard. I bit the bullet and added the pipe to my cart. Keep in mind this was on a Friday. On Monday, I had this beauty of a pipe waiting for me on my doorstep.

This thing is hefty! It comes at six inches and has one heck of a bowl. Normally, I’m not a fan of full-blown rusticated pipes. This one, however, I adore. It doesn’t have the chunky, tar-like finish I see time and time again. Instead it’s textured just enough to give my hands something to play with while I smoke. The stem is also quite beefy, more so than any other pipe that I own. Yet, it sits comfortably between my teeth with no complaints.

The finish of this pipe is a nice red and dark brown/black swirl. It’s honestly well put together. It fits a pipe cleaner from stem to bowl with no problems. It’s well balanced. In fact, the only issue I had with this pipe was deciding what I was going to put in it.

The bowl itself has a huge chamber…and I do mean huge. So, whatever I want to put in it would have to be something I don’t mind long smokes of. In the end, I settled on using it for my Virginia and Virginia/Perique blends. Breaking it in slowly but surely is going to be a task, as I simply want to fill it to the brim and fire it up, but it’s a virgin chamber with no carbon coating so I need to be cautious.

All-in-all, I’m impressed with his work. So much in fact, I’ve already been in contact with him about commissioning one of his Devil Anse pipes. Actually…two of his Devil Anse pipes. One for myself and one for my father. Check him out and just what he can do here: www.EricPaulsonPipes.com and see for yourself. He’s pleasant to work with and for what he does, he offers his pipes at a very decent price.

[Pipes] Nording Point Clear Freehand

I have been eyeing pieces of Erik Nording’s work for years, and I do mean years! I’ve admired his freehand carving abilities and how everything seems to flow organically and in some cases, even waxing-like in appearance.

Last Thursday (2014-02-13), thanks to the other half in my life, that need for one of his pipes became a reality as a slightly early Valentine’s gift. Upon hearing the tell-tale thunk and knock at the door of the local UPS driver, I ran expectantly to retrieve my package from Smoking Pipes. After fishing out a few accessories and tins from the box, my hands shook from anticipation as I dug this Nording Point Clear Freehand from its container.

The first thing I noticed was its apparent heft, but after gripping it and toying with it, it became obvious it was much light than it appeared. The chamber was huge compared to what I am used to. I immediately applied a rubber nib, as I do prefer to clench my pipes between my teeth.

The work on this style of pipe I find fascinating. It’s rather organic and almost mushroom-like in appearance. The ridges and grooves provide plenty of texture and days later I still find myself fiddling with it as I smoke.

As stated…it is a little larger in the chamber and it’s taking me a little to get used to. I’m used to chambers roughly 3/4 its size, but I am managing to get the knack for packing it to where it burns how it should. I still wind up with a little bit of moisture accumulation at the bottom, but part of that is a design characteristic, as most Danish pipes are made to allow for the accumulation condensation (and saliva) to drain back into the bottom of the bowl. I’ve found I can accommodate for a dryer finishing smoke by using a pipe cleaner off and on, even without hearing a gurgle.

Now, several smokes in, it burns like a dream. It’s got enough to the chamber walls to only get warm and since I’m a puffer, it’s a nice change. All and all, for a moderately priced pipe it’s a great addition to my small, but growing, collection.