Written by Paul L. Allen of the Tucson Citizen
Tittled: Pip of a Pipemaker
Greg Clemons
is one of those guys who likes to run against the grain.
Or with it. Or cross-grain, for that matter, sometimes the more ways the merrier.
With briar, that is.
Briar is wood from the root ball, or burl of the heath plant, a water storage and distribution go-between separating the roots and trunk of the plant. In addition to having wonderfully patterned, convoluted grain - the aspect that makes wood beautiful - it is easily used by craftsmen who found out ages ago that it serves nicely as a material for tobacco pipes.
As old as
briar is to smoking, Clemons, a Tucsonan, is new to the art of pipemaking.
This year, he wrapped up a 21-year career as a proud enlisted infantry member
of the U.S. Marine Corps. The life change left him with a challenge not faced
in his adulthood: leisure time.
A hobby was needed, something that would prove interesting and rewarding.
As a long-time aficionado of cigars, he sometimes attended cigar and pipe shows in California, where he was posted. There, he met pipe collectors and makers.
That lit the fire.
Now, 2 1/2
years later, he's learned a lot about briar and acquired a workshop full of
nifty tools: bandsaw, drill press, metal and woodworking lathes, belt sander,
buffing wheels, sand blaster, Dremel-style grinding device and a downdraft
work table (it draws sawdust and wood dust into a filter, rather than circulating
it throughout the workshop).
He has used the tools and no small measure of elbow grease to make about 300
pipes. About 270 have sold. Of the remainder, he's opted to keep a few favorites
for himself and given others away to friends. Clemons'
taste runs toward larger pipes that require larger blocks of briar. Those,
if bought individually from domestic pipemakers, can cost $20 to -$30 each.
Clemons eliminates the middleman and economizes by purchasing bags of the
best briar blocks directly from suppliers overseas.
Not all blocks in a shipment are large enough or free enough of flaws for the style of pipes he likes to make.
Shapes, styles and finishes for pipes are almost infinite, and a matter of personal preference, leaving great leeway for creativity. Smooth finishes show off the grain best. Rustic finishes feature a rough surface, usually produced by the maker by hand or with a sand-blaster, although some of the natural, rough, exterior surface of the briar burl can be intentionally left.
Sand-blasting tends to "eat away" softer layers of the wood, exposing growth rings of the wood while retaining the grain patterns, adding yet another dimension to the eye appeal of a pipe. A variety of stains to darken or color the wood also can be used.
All Clemons'
pipes are finished with carnauba wax from Brazil, the hardest known natural
wax. It is buffed on the surface of the wood, giving it a rich glow.
He sells them - depending on size, style, beauty of grain and how happy he
is with his design and craftsmanship - for $90 to $250. The average is about
$140.
He advertises and sells his creations through his Web site: www.clemonsbriar.com.
Clemons has a collection of pipes by other makers - shapes and styles that he finds interesting or appealing - and several are displayed in a wall case at his home. A desktop pipe rack holds others.
Despite his fascination with briar smoking instruments, he smokes a pipe only about two evenings a week, he said.
He stamps
his name into the briar of each pipe, and has a four-digit numbering system
that shows the year of their creation, followed by the sequential number of
where each falls in that year's production. For example, "O4-71"
would mean it was made in 2004 and that the pipe is the 71st made that year