ABOUT SMALL INTRUSION IN THE BRIAR: HIDE THEM OR LEAVE THEM EXPOSED?

The Erica arborea briar, from which we build our pipes, is one of the most imaginable chaotic expressions of nature. Starting from its structure, the result of millennia of evolution, designed to ensure the regrowth of buds after a fire. Its vehement underground growth, capable of incorporating anything around it like a Blob, makes it a particular botanical subject.

We who make pipes, know well what it means to discover a deep intrusion when the pipe is almost finished, perhaps at the meeting point between the stem and the smoke chamber, where we have no possibility of trying to change shape and save the pipe.

In this regard, ancient pipe legends tell of unspeakable blasphemies that could bring down the walls of the workshops, or of mad pipe makers who ended their days wandering through the heather woods, screaming incessantly: why? Why did you do this to me?

But what are these intrusions? Generally, they are tiny stones, mineral aggregates, ash from fires, mineralized organic matter, etc. The real problem is the deep internal cracks that significantly compromise the shape that was intended to be given to the pipe or, even, through cracks, for example in the head or in the stem, that reach all the way to the internal holes.

The Danes have always tried to overcome the problem by working on the shape of the pipe before making the holes. In this way, it is possible to change the shape during the work and avoid losing the work done. It should be emphasized that this trick is the result of an adaptation to the poor quality of briar that, at one time, arrived in Denmark. On the contrary, in Italy one could afford to throw away a piece that promised well in order to save time by drilling before creating the shape.

The technique used by manufacturers for smooth pipes is very simple and dictated by the need for large numbers: the intrusion is removed and replaced with putty. Unfortunately, with the use of the pipe the plaster patch is easily highlighted, but this does not compromise the proper functioning of the pipe at all.

Other methods are rustication, sandblasting and color contrast, depending on the severity of the intrusion.

Today, craftsmen prefer to change the shape of the pipe during the work (sometimes with surprising results compared to the initial design) or use sandblasting or, in smooth pipes, color contrast.

I have always preferred forests and woods to gardens cared for by man. From the beginning of my pipe-making activity, I was taught to have respect for that piece of briar that took at least thirty years to grow. For this reason, I decided right away not to use color but only a little oil to make the flame stand out, not to sandblast or rusticate so as not to mortify the surface (even if today, on pieces that have the right characteristics, wonderful sandblasting is done that even highlights the grain), but above all I decided to leave the small intrusions visible if they are not susceptible to negative evolutions during smoking.

It was not easy to convince my dealers and, even today, if there is a small intrusion, sometimes I have to lower the price a little, but now everyone has come to terms with it: my pipes can have small intrusions, because for me intrusions are part of the nature of the briar.

Perhaps it would be time to start working culturally on buyers, convincing them that a filled pipe is not more natural than a pipe with a small intrusion, on the contrary. As long as, let’s be clear, that intrusion always remains as it is, from the first smoke to the last, like a mole on a beautiful face.