Current "High Grade" (handmade) Kaywoodies?

[skaukatt]

Let's get with it Dave. We would love to have you join us at the Kaywoodie Party. You attend one of those and you won't miss another!!
Doc

Couldn't agree with you more, Doc, looking forward to seeing you and throwing back a single malt, or two with ya!

 

[joemelon]

AWESOME Joe,
That's a great Handmade Kaywoodie and I love the tortoise/amber colored stem. The Sandblast finish is spectacular, I'm sure it will prove to be one of your favorite smokers. Let us know once you break in that beauty. Congrats on a fine pipe.
:cheers: :cheers:

Thanks Doc! I'll definitely post my initial impression on it once I have it in hand and smoke the first bowl, as well as update once it's broken in. Thinking about breaking it in with McC 5100 and/or some John Patton's Quadruple Virginia that's on its way.

 

[joemelon]

Bit of a bummer update, this pipe was apparently sold before I bought it and I wont be getting it.

Really was digging the look and excited about it but oh well, time to consider alternate pipes or something.

 

[docwatson]

Sorry to hear that Joe, but like I always say, there's always another nice pipe out there. Good luck in your search.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

If you want a good pipe for less check out Mike Brissett:

http://my.execpc.com/~maddog92/pipes/home.html

 

[joemelon]

Took a gander at that link and those pipes look nice but my search is pretty specifically for a black sandblast danish freehand, preferably with an tortoise shell, cumberland or amber looking stem. What's unfortunate is that had I known this earlier last week, I would have bid on a Stanwell I saw on eBay that pretty much matches this description. But like you said, Doc, there's always another nice pipe out there. :lol:

 

[docwatson]

Bill Feuerbach had some beautiful Kaywoodie sandblasted freehand pipes like you are interested in at the Kaywoodie Christmas Party this past weekend. I'm sure some of his retailers have some in stock. These are the good sized Handmade pipes, not the machine frazed bowls. I haven't looked recently but usually cigarsandpipes.com has some in stock. Good luck in your search.

 

[joemelon]

Doc, thanks for the heads up. I'm actually thinking of contacting Kaywoodie. I see a contact link on their email page, but it's talking about wholesalers, so I don't know if they'd sale directly or if they'd take a custom order but I figure it's worth an ask. Cigarsandpipes.com is actually who was selling the above pipe. They have a couple other freehands that are beautiful, but I don't dig them the way I did the one above.

Probably just an oddball, but after getting so excited about this pipe, I feel pretty dead-set on getting a Kaywoodie Freehand. :lol:

 

[kwguy]

After lurking here for a number of years I have registered and thought I would post a reply in this thread.

I just wanted to clear up a few inaccuracies in the post below. First, it is true we have not produced a pipe of the year since the 2010 POY in the yachtsman shape. The best answer I can give on that is the Pipe of the Year series is on temporary leave. I hope for it to make a return in 2013 or 2014 at the latest. We do currently make Handmade/Freehand pipes on request, by special order or in preparation for a show that I attend, such as Chicago or Richmond. I make all of these pipes currently although in the past, Renato Cristiano has been involved in their production.

Second, all of our Pipe of the Year and Handmade pipes have acrylic stems. The only exception is the occassional magnum Handmade churchwarden which has a vulcanite stem. Doc has one of these, maybe he can post a picture. Our acrylic stems are made from stem blanks which we modify to fit the pipes shape, mostly changing the stem diameter and slope of taper stems. These acrylic stem blanks come from Maachi Serafino in Italy and are generally regarded by pipemakers as the highest quality stem blanks available.

As for the blasting, we do that in a sandblast barrel, where 150-250 bowls are blasted at once, taking 3-8 hours depending on the briars hardness. Bowls that blast quickly are removed, leaving in those needing more blasting. So I guess you could say they are blasted by machine, although all blasting is technically by machine The depth of the blast has more to do with an individual bowls overall hardness, which can vary greatly from bowl to bowl.

A quick comment on curing. We air cure all of our briar anywhere from 18-24 months, or sometimes even longer. We are currently using bowls on production grade pipes that are over 20 years old, thanks to a source in France. The mill that cuts and boils the briar has more to do with with how the briar ages than the actual aging process. If not boiled long enough, the resins may not be completely forced out of the wood. Briar blocks that are "green" or wet can not be worked as the bowl may tend to warp, crack or shrink unnaturally if it was too wet to use.

OK, so thats all for now. Glad to be here and look forward to joining in.

Bill Feuerbach

I've had two and no longer do because they didn't fit my collection, but I liked them with reservations and here are my thoughts. First, there has been no movement out of upstate NY since the 2010 POY Zulu. I don't think these will ever be produced again.

They're a good value. I picked both of mine up on eBay unsmoked for $70-80. Both of mine were Bill Feuerbach POYs.

The stem. I'm not sure what they say the stem material is. It's not acrylic but it also doesn't feel like any vulcanite I ever smoked and every pipe I own that isn't a Castello has a vulcanite stem. I suspect they're using polyester rod for the stems and they may be molded as well. On the plus side, it's not rock hard like acrylic. On the downside, it feels like plastic. It also doesn't get a high shine after polishing the way vulcanite does. I always noticed the stem when I smoked these, and not in a good way. Still, better than acrylic IMO.

The blasts were deep and craggy, but appeared to be rushed or done via automation, like they were doing multiple pipes at once. One of mine had a nice craggy ring blast, but the other just looked like a machine did it. Sloppy looking.

They're big, at least the POYs are. Group 6 to ODA depending on shape.

I suspect the briar they used was green or improperly cured. Both of these Kaywoodie POYs had the quality of muting the flavor of what you were smoking, similar to what a dirty pipe does. Neither broke out of that while I owned them, and I took to smoking strong tobaccos in them to compensate.

For $80 like I spent I would wholeheartedly recommend these, as they're much nicer than anything at that price. At their intended selling price of $150-200 there are much nicer pipes to be had from the many fine Italian midgrade producers like Amorelli and Il Ceppo. Heck you can get a Ferndown for around $200, which is an excellent smoking pipe, and for $157 or so you could have a Trever Talbert Ligne Bretagne, which are probably the single best value under $300 right now. Also, think of the killer estate pipes that sell in that price range.

So overall grade from me is a good pipe at under $100, but over that and I think you can do better elsewhere. Hope this helps.

 

[docwatson]

Welcome Bill and thanks for the clarification concerning your excellent pipes. I'll be happy to post some photos of the two Magnum Handmade Kaywoodie pipes that I got from you. Hopefully by early next week. They are treasures to me.
Andy

 

[docwatson]

As a matter of fact, the pipe I am smoking in my avatar is one of your Kaywoodie Magnums!!!! It's an incredible masterpiece.

 

[kwguy]

Andy,

I was just looking at your picture and thought I recognized the pipe as one of "Chubbwardens" I believe I have only made about 10 of them so far.

 

[riff raff]

I've been to Park Lane in Albany twice, and held this Chubby Sandblast Rhodesian on each visit. I was very impressed. It sure looks like a fine pipe for $165, I can't believe they still have it on their site. The only thing that gives me pause is that it is huge (Group 6+ @ 86 grams). The stem work is perfect. I'm due for a trip up there in a few weeks....

http://cigarsandpipes.com/pipes/pipes-a-m/kaywoodie/kaywoodie-sandblast-rhodesian.html

One NYC Pipe Club member had the contest pipe on Tuesday evening. It looked equally as a nice, but significantly smaller. This gentleman has a number of high grade pipes and seemed quite pleased with this one. (note to self: I have to make it up to the holiday gathering/contest next year!)

 

[docwatson]

Al,
I gave one of those Chubby Rhodesians in a sandblast that is a phenomenal smoker. The pipe is a handful of fantastic briar and the tobacco chamber is very moderate in size and not too large. It's one of my favs. I also have been viewing the one at Park Lane, it also has some fantastic grain.

 

[docwatson]

Andy,

I was just looking at your picture and thought I recognized the pipe as one of "Chubbwardens" I believe I have only made about 10 of them so far.

Bill,
I like the designation "Chubbwarden". A new original shape term from you. That pipe is just a great handful of magnificent briar. One of only 10 made eh? It's nice to have an exclusive.

 

[kwguy]

Andy,

Given the large size of the pipes and the 1 inch diameter of the stems, the term chubbwarden just seems appropriate

Bill

 

[kwguy]

Hey Joe, you got mail Two new Kaywoodies similar to the one you were looking for

Well, I finally bit and placed the order. Can't wait to have this in my hand with fire burning:

Sorry I didn't message you any questions, Dover. I kept thinking about what I wanted to ask and realized quickly that none of them were really worth asking since they were so subjective.

 

[joemelon]

Hey Joe, you got mail Two new Kaywoodies similar to the one you were looking for

Well, I finally bit and placed the order. Can't wait to have this in my hand with fire burning:

Sorry I didn't message you any questions, Dover. I kept thinking about what I wanted to ask and realized quickly that none of them were really worth asking since they were so subjective.

This kind of mail is where I really miss the "you got mail" AOL days. Beautiful pipes, I have to think on this one a bit.

 

[joemelon]

Figured I'd give an update.

Since around late January I've added six Kaywoodies to my collection, 4 military mounts and a fantastic little old 1940-ish pear with stylings similar to the Signet Kaywoodies. Then there's this:

Came in today and I've just put it through its first bowl. Picked it up off the bay for a great price and have been really excited to get it in. Love the whole look from the stem material to the sandblast.

Really looking forward to adding more of these handmades into my collection.

 

[riff raff]

Nice, that is a great blast and shape. Park Lane still has that POY Rhodesian in a natural blast. I keep looking at it, but it is close to 100 grams, which is too big for my use. It just looks so awesome. (And still on sale)

what is the weight range of your four?