Let's Talk American Pipes

[sisyphus]

so I am kind of enamored with American made pipes right now. It started with some recent production hand made Kaywoodies, and began to spiral out of control when I recently acquired a NOS Custombilt.

So Kaywoodie/Yellobole/Medico and Grabow are pretty much the same as they've ever been. If you get one of the hand made Kaywoodies they take a drastic leap in quality of briar and finishing, and the mouthpieces are worlds apart from the traditional lines.

This Custombilt I got I am guessing was made during the Wally Frank era before production moved to Butz Choquin in France. I _think_ those pipes were made at the Weber factory. I just can't fault anything about this Wally Frank era Custombilt. Like the newer hand made Kaywoodies, it's just an excellent pipe in every regard.

So American made from the heyday of pipe smoking. Companies that actually had factories and made pipes vs putting their names on someone else's pipes like Mastercraft and Jobey did. Besides Kaywoodie, Grabow and Custombilt, who are the companies to look at for fine quality pipes?

Marxman?
Briarcraft?
Weber?
WDC?
Ehrlich?
Bertram?

If you have past or current experience with any of these, or would like to add names I didn't list above, I would love to hear from you.

[AndreRitter]

Oh great. Five minutes on eBay armed with those names and my watch list has expanded again.

Some of the Ehrlich offerings are a tad clumsy IMO.

[sisyphus]

Oh great. Five minutes on eBay armed with those names and my watch list has expanded again.

Some of the Ehrlich offerings are a tad clumsy IMO.

yeah I have very little knowledge of the American brands other than what I got from an hour on Pipedia. My focus has always been London Made. This is all new to me.

[Middle Earth]

I like Briar Works/Moonshine

[Ellis You]

The new Kaywoodies are nice looking, quality pipes.

[Mr Beardsley]

I had a marxman that was a great little smoker (it has since been sent to Padre and I still see it so I assume he likes it enough to stay in rotation) There's currently a briarcraft in my collection too. Another decent smoker I just don't get a lot of time to enjoy it often.

If I'm not mistaken there's a briarcraft production period that was handled by grabow so their quality speaks for itself

[Tsal]

[mention]Fr_Tom[/mention] to the white courtesy telephone. We have questions about Webers.

[Ruffinogold]

Marxman were good pipes and it was possible to get s great one, as far as smoking, but if you were after " nice " or better grain ( or even good grain ) , you'd be hard pressed to find one. Their figurals were quite nice and , imho , their best work

Probably one of the best makers was a shop in NYC .. Connoisseur . I forget the guys name ( ed burak?) and he didn't make them but he designed them and contracted the designs out . They were pretty damn stellar in all regards . If i were after older american pipes , those would be first or damn near first

Owl club was a shop up north , and I forget where exactly ( Connecticut , vermont ? ) , and they had pipes stamped for them from various sources possibly . I can't remember specifics so much anymore . Some were made in the USA possibly and other across the pond ... the reason I bring them up , though they dont go along so much with the op , is that they were lightweight , made well and smoked well .

[rlucas]

Ok,usually only smoke Cobs. On occasion I'll get my Dr. G but its not an old pipe. Bought it about 6 yrs ago.

[Fr_Tom]

so I am kind of enamored with American made pipes right now. It started with some recent production hand made Kaywoodies, and began to spiral out of control when I recently acquired a NOS Custombilt.

So Kaywoodie/Yellobole/Medico and Grabow are pretty much the same as they've ever been. If you get one of the hand made Kaywoodies they take a drastic leap in quality of briar and finishing, and the mouthpieces are worlds apart from the traditional lines.

This Custombilt I got I am guessing was made during the Wally Frank era before production moved to Butz Choquin in France. I _think_ those pipes were made at the Weber factory. I just can't fault anything about this Wally Frank era Custombilt. Like the newer hand made Kaywoodies, it's just an excellent pipe in every regard.

So American made from the heyday of pipe smoking. Companies that actually had factories and made pipes vs putting their names on someone else's pipes like Mastercraft and Jobey did. Besides Kaywoodie, Grabow and Custombilt, who are the companies to look at for fine quality pipes?

Marxman?
Briarcraft?
Weber?
WDC?
Ehrlich?
Bertram?

If you have past or current experience with any of these, or would like to add names I didn't list above, I would love to hear from you.

I have had several Ehrlichs. They have all been excellent pipes. The best of the bunch was a pot that I gave to my brother when he said he wanted to give pipe smoking another try.

I have one WDC, and it is a remarkably good smoker. I am not sure of the vintage, but it has an old school button that is wider and more rounded. It works quite well.

I have two Marxman pipes. One is all original and is a stellar pipe. The other was a parts box salvage with an aftermarket stem glued in and some spot rustication. The original one speaks to a solid company.

I have a National, and it is a good pipe but nothing to distinguish it from other perfectly good pipes.

I can speak to Weber for certain. I have an undetermined (but large) number of them. They are an extraordinarily good value as a rule, and I have snapped up various models (Walnut, Deep Grain, etc.) for $8.99 or something with an opening bid. I am a sucker for banded pipes, and have several of the Royal Band models. The Webers have good bits for a factory pipe that work well for me. These are solid, well-made pipes, but they are more in the utility+ category. They typically have decent but uninspiring grain and I am reasonably certain none of mine have fills.