tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176533832012-01-19T17:06:31.610-05:00A Blog devoted to news of the Talbert Pipes workshop, our pipes, and the craft of pipemakingTrever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comBlogger3331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-27675358022850793322011-12-18T23:47:00.001-05:002011-12-19T22:20:32.613-05:00

The following is a true story from our last Christmas in France. Christmas for expats is the loneliest time of the year.  You're far from home, no family, few friends...  I'm not a very social person by nature, but the feeling of being locked out in the cold is inescapable.  It's Christmas Eve night, 2008, and we're going out for a midnight walk through our small village of Herbignac.  Around

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-6247201331622111072011-12-01T16:53:00.001-05:002011-12-01T16:58:41.228-05:00

I recently did a repair job on one of our Ligne Bretagne tenons, replacing one that the owner had melted with a new one, and I thought it might be worth photographing to show the process involved in even such a simple repair as a tenon replacement.  This is an excellent explanation for why $50 factory pipes aren't worth the labor costs to repair, not compared to the replacement cost, unless

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-83668808137443517582011-11-17T23:28:00.001-05:002011-11-18T21:13:11.363-05:00

Yep, that's a movie poster, but have no fear, you haven't accidentally wandered into our "other" blog, Kentucky Fried Popcorn - Instead, it's a reference to what I want to write about today, which is not pipes but the pipe community and our community of fellow humans in general.  I was thinking about this after spending some time writing a long letter to our French friend Claudie, trying to sum

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-40978514907660145062011-11-03T17:26:00.000-04:002011-11-03T17:26:02.546-04:00

The pic to the left is an oldie from the year 2000, the last year that we made a Talbert Yule pipe.  After the move to France, we just found ourselves with too much to do to tackle the complexity of a full-scale handmade Talbert Yule pipe, though we did do a Ligne Bretagne Yule series for two years before quitting the Christmas season pipes altogether.  It was a pain in the ass coming on the

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-7581811061758949702011-10-20T17:23:00.000-04:002011-10-20T17:23:42.785-04:00

Today's photo is a quick snap of what's on the workbench at the moment.  Today's topic is one that's come up often, that every pipemaker has to deal with eventually - How to deal with the pipe beggars.   They're out there!  These are the folks who come up with some of the most original, twisted, and occasionally downright ludicrous reasons to try and talk you into sending them a free pipe,

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-26860143444129440822011-10-12T22:18:00.002-04:002011-10-12T22:18:54.696-04:00

Here's a useful trick to know.  I found myself in the annoying position of having to change the grade of a pipe yesterday.  This is not something that I have ever done before, but I felt it was warranted.  There have been a number of times in the past when I've looked at something and thought, "You know, I really could have marked that a grade higher."  This time, however, it was something I

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-74992133384266678062011-09-22T20:49:00.000-04:002011-09-22T20:49:02.760-04:00

I've posted about this pipe on G+ and Facebook recently, but thought it was worth a proper blog posting because it is a finish that raises a variety of issues.  This is a pipe finish that I've been working on for a while, which I've informally been referring to as bleached bone - It isn't a stain, but rather a leeching of color from the outer wood to leave it as pale as possible.  It's a

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-47193899401086356282011-09-11T20:52:00.000-04:002011-09-11T22:47:37.025-04:00

It seems like there's been a round of late-summer flamewars on various pipe forums over the usual suspects.  I don't know what it is about these topics that makes it impossible to ever have a rational public discussion about them, but in my 18+ years in online pipe forums, I can't recall any conversations about these things that ever didn't degenerate into arguments and name-calling.  And while

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-29028755086942410752011-09-01T21:48:00.000-04:002011-09-01T21:49:03.006-04:00

Back in October of last year, I wrote a blog piece about the new subsection of the smoking hobby, the increasing popularity of e-cigs.  To recap, a typical e-cig is something roughly like the diagram to the left - A battery, an atomizer, and some sort of cartridge to hold the flavored liquids that replace tobacco as the "smoke".  There are a thousand varieties of these devices now, and all

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-27072783347517087552011-08-20T22:45:00.000-04:002011-08-20T22:45:15.752-04:00

For several days now, I've had in my To-Do list the nagging, unchecked reminder that the Pipe Blog is due for a new article (Yes, I now have reminders scheduled into my To Dos, to be sure that the blog is updated regularly and avoid those 6 month long desert periods when I used to forget it existed).  But I've been stumped for a subject.  When a blog about pipes has run for as many years as this

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-30143008447978715022011-08-01T22:15:00.001-04:002011-08-01T22:15:47.613-04:00

Here's a bit of news - Our local pipes & tobaccos & beer & cigars & wine shop now has their website open and stocked with available pipes.  They even have one of mine, a Talbert ring grain sandblasted freehand from 2007, probably our best year in France (It was a bit odd to see our old "Faite en Bretagne" stamp on one again).  Sharp-eyed folks may notice I've included their logo and a link to

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-87489985656751616712011-07-21T17:17:00.000-04:002011-07-21T17:17:14.970-04:00

Ten years ago, before we moved to France, I made this silver-banded morta pipe.  It was during the year prior to our move, when we were working out the detail of the workshop purchase.  I asked for some scrap morta to be mailed over, so that I could spend some advance time working with it to see what it was like.  One of the chunks was this piece, a fairly large block by morta standards, though

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-85852667413532477902011-07-18T22:32:00.001-04:002011-07-18T22:33:58.201-04:00

I'm currently in the process of working through the last of our larger-sized blocks of Breton morta.  I've got plenty of small blocks, but they're good for thimble-size bowls only - The last of the bigger bowls will be turning into pipes through the rest of this summer, most likely (And I should add, I'm not taking any orders for any of these - I'm just going to play with them and make the best

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-3234115617487529882011-06-17T17:23:00.000-04:002011-06-17T17:23:12.360-04:00

I've just finished up this Morta Calabash project I've been working on all week.  After that last, very avant-garde calabash design, I wanted to do something in a more classical shape, and also something that was a bit more practical - More compact, more portable, and just plain more rugged.  I've gotten a great deal of enjoyment out of my own little sandblasted meerschaum over the years, but I

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-66844156203369090362011-06-07T18:08:00.000-04:002011-06-07T18:08:09.295-04:00

I've just finished up one longstanding project, to turn all my old pre-drilled blocks that I've accumulated over the years into pipes - I first posted on this subject in blog entry Variations, and in the pic to the left you can see the very last pipe made from those old blocks, a rusticated Ligne Bretagne Collector with a horn shank ring (It isn't on the website yet, but will get posted with the

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-17321655415975163002011-06-02T15:49:00.000-04:002011-06-02T15:49:23.615-04:00

Once upon a time, I came very close to designing and writing a pipe shop comic strip for this blog.  Coming up with subjects to write about time after time, for the (Good lord) 9 years that this blog has been going, can get to be a hell of a challenge - Most of the article topics I think of, I've either already done or Neil Roan has done better.  But a few years back, I wrote a post called "The

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-74916936489935485042011-05-23T17:27:00.008-04:002011-05-23T17:47:36.901-04:00

So, today I sit myself down to write the last part of my article series on this pipe.  Please pardon me if I ramble a bit, as I was up late last night for our regular Sunday night "Twitter and a Movie", a recurring internet get-together where various friends and I all queue up a streaming Netflix movie to watch and comment on (Last night we managed to survive 1960's Dinosaurus!, a stop-motion

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-89256854260591063232011-05-16T15:35:00.003-04:002011-05-16T15:42:15.048-04:00

Here is the continuation from the first part of this story.  To recap, I've been thinking about an expansion chamber design that would be a modern, more exotic variation on the traditional calabash.  My last post brought me up to the stage of designing an African meerschaum insert for the lower body of the pipe, which was made from aged Holly.  The meerschaum insert separates the smoke from the

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-83356532129026677442011-05-05T13:57:00.002-04:002011-05-05T14:01:07.168-04:00

I posted this sketch page recently to our Twitter feed, and after a bit of work on this project, I thought it had the makings of an interesting blog post.  The story begins with the various doodles at left.  Of the lot, my favorite was the top one, but it does have the minor problem of not having any sort of airhole connection to the stem, so I knew it was going to be a project requiring some

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-59567640163826897452011-04-19T20:14:00.000-04:002011-04-19T20:14:50.536-04:00

I sit down to write today both jubilant and a little exhausted - Tax season is finally over, and the tax nightmare that was our move from France to the USA is now finished.  Nothing like doing two years of taxes at once AND having to figure out which moving expenses count as deductions and how to handle losses across an international line. I've got two bits of news regarding Ligne Bretagne pipes

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-36635363027821439652011-04-07T22:56:00.001-04:002011-04-18T21:56:29.668-04:00

I've just posted three new Ligne Bretagne Collectors to the LB catalog.  LB Collectors are, to quote from our website: Every so often, I produce handmade pipes for the Talbert Pipes line which, for one reason or another, don't meet my standards to become a genuine Talbert. These are typically pipes with some minor cosmetic flaw of some sort, nothing that would impact their function or

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-42900161894839183312011-03-25T16:53:00.001-04:002011-04-18T22:01:08.263-04:00

Wow.  Well, as I've posted elsewhere, this turned out to be a huge success, far beyond my initial expectations.  I thought we might make a few hundred for donations, but never expected we'd top two thousand!  It was a really gratifying experience, and I was happy to see so many people among the pipe (and non-pipe) community rallying together to donate to a good cause.  With it all finished, the

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-16194860706374755692011-03-15T19:01:00.001-04:002011-04-18T22:01:46.490-04:00

I write today with news regarding our Ligne Bretagne pipe brand.  I regret to inform of this change, but we will no longer be able to accept any special requests or commissions for Ligne Bretagne pipes.  Back when we started the brand, we operated under this "No Orders" rule for seven years, but I though I would try taking some orders after we re-opened our business in the USA.  Alas, it just

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-18052976289276842172011-02-24T23:16:00.001-05:002011-04-18T22:02:03.067-04:00

I've just finished the pipe shown above.  In the process, I was spurred to write this quick article because I was happily listening to my audiobook ("The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie", a pretty amusing mystery) as I filed out the bit slot interior, checking every so often to measure the draw.  I had recently been reading a somewhat technical discussion of optimal airhole sizes and it

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-70239094148110356192011-02-17T22:16:00.000-05:002011-02-17T22:16:05.013-05:00

A curious thing has happened over the past few years - With the emergence of social networking like Twitter and Facebook, our business and personal lives have been merging as never before.  Sometimes this is fun, because some folks want to learn more about who they buy from as people.  Other times, it's unwanted or uninteresting...  The guy who wants to follow our pipe business updates only is

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-53544462081347824382011-02-07T14:53:00.000-05:002011-02-07T14:53:33.553-05:00

I sit down to write today having just finished packing up four Ligne Bretagnes for shipment.  As tends to be the case, a couple are going to new buyers and a couple are going to repeat buyers.  I like the mix.  It's good to have repeat buyers, but at the same time, one does not want to end up selling everything to the same handful of collectors.  It does, however, spur me to post about a Talbert

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-81765239343349997412010-11-12T12:00:00.000-05:002010-11-12T12:00:17.870-05:00

This post has sprung from a reply I made to a young writer on a forum I frequent, regarding his hopes and challenges of someday becoming a fulltime writer.  Over the past 12-nearly-13 years of being a fulltime pipe carver, I've had lots of chances to talk to people getting into the biz, and have sadly watched many people also drop out of it.  Since I know there are a number of aspiring carvers

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-18443353020041544632010-10-05T22:12:00.000-04:002010-10-05T22:12:44.330-04:00

I hope to put together a report on the CORPS show soon, but at the moment I'm still waiting for a couple of photos to come in. We stupidly forgot to take our camera and thus have no record of our weekend, other than some vague drunken memories of Jeff Folloder dancing in the fountain in fishnet stockings. In the meantime, lacking photographic evidence, I want to write a few comments about an

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-33515971958168361122010-09-02T17:48:00.000-04:002010-09-02T17:48:07.424-04:00

Well, after a month of no sandblasting, our company's new compressor has arrived and we just finished setting it up today.  This is going to be a technical blog post, at least somewhat, so if you're not interested in workshop equipment, this is a good place to tune out.  After a lot of looking and shopping, we settled on this beastie, a BelAire "Quiet Performance" 7.5HP, 80 gallon, 2 stage

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-5754877029472328142010-08-31T21:53:00.000-04:002010-08-31T21:53:21.739-04:00

Image via WikipediaWhat a difference a month can make! As I write this, I am launching into full-time work on this year's Halloween pipes, which will probably take all my time for the next two months. It's a great way to work and enjoy the season, because I get my Halloween vibe stretched out for two solid months, instead of just October. I'm only doing a few pipes this year, don't have time for

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-73632429544465479092010-07-15T14:56:00.000-04:002010-07-15T14:56:14.422-04:00

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but the logo up top has changed - The "Talbert" part of the script is different.  Improved, too, in my opinion at least.  This is a classic example of the domino effect in action...  Make one change somewhere and suddenly it echoes through a dozen related pieces of work.  I spent yesterday working in Photoshop to come up with a stamp design for our new pipe

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-35177772320127412272010-07-14T14:52:00.000-04:002010-07-14T14:52:08.798-04:00

Pipe bags.  One would not think it would be difficult, yet finding decent ones for an affordable price is a challenge for a small shop, since we don't buy in quantities of thousands required to interest the major leather goods factories.  I'm about to begin work on the new Talbert Pipes logo to be embossed into our new leather bags, but thought I would jot down this article as a brief tour

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-73087253582880367672010-06-05T14:54:00.000-04:002010-06-05T14:54:20.631-04:00

I recently got commissioned to make a Morta Cetacean pipe by a mutual friend FOR a mutual friend.  Looking for ways to add a little something extra to the project, I decided to photo the stages of the pipe's construction and make a "Making of" comic-style story to be printed on photo-quality paper and accompany the gift.  This way, the recipient not only gets a nice pipe, but also a couple of

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-15332884869690140612010-05-31T17:03:00.000-04:002010-05-31T17:03:53.106-04:00

I've spoken often enough here already of the various challenges we've faced when putting together this new workshop in the US out of what donations and loaner tools we were able to scavenge, plus what equipment we could afford to bring over from France.  One of our biggest losses was our old sandblasting compressor, which was quite powerful and which was key to the really deep blasts I am known

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-61246390339767272482010-05-21T14:52:00.000-04:002010-05-21T14:52:05.319-04:00

Today's blog post is written by Emily, who may be doing a bit more writing here in future.  There will probably be more chapters of this to come, from both of us, as time permits, since this is far too big and complex a subject to cover in the few paragraphs allotted to a typical blog posting. It's been almost a year since we left Herbignac.  Even as I write it, it seems strange; I know that the

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-36381356820839594542010-05-15T11:01:00.000-04:002010-05-15T11:01:12.772-04:00

Legally immigrating to France was a nightmare.  It consumed an entire year, and then a month of every year thereafter, simply to supply each year's requested paperwork.  However, it's not just France - for all our bluster about American can-do spirit and all that, I believe that government immigration workers really are real world versions of the Dilbert accounting trolls: I just found this

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-58546893120809840582010-03-30T17:29:00.000-04:002010-03-30T17:29:17.121-04:00

When I started work on the new website, I did not know yet what I was getting into.  Many smart people advised me to just pick up a simple web page creator, use a readymade site template, and throw a site up in a few days of work.  But I wanted the site to be more of a personal creation than that - Not just some pics plugged into someone else's layout, but my own creation from start to finish,

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-41616983731305754882010-01-21T14:53:00.000-05:002010-01-21T14:53:24.065-05:00

.....How's that for a highly sophisticated headline?  I haven't written much here lately because I've been busy round the clock in the new workshop, an activity that is divided equally between making new stock, customizing and modifying our shop setup, and running back and forth to the breaker box to reset tripped breakers (Must get that improved eventually, once we have money).  As the workshop

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-5891741424537281262009-12-24T17:50:00.001-05:002009-12-24T17:51:01.541-05:00

`Twas the night before Christmas, all snug in the house. I left the cooking to Emily... Heh, what a louse! I sat down to clean pipes with a feeling of dread, unnerved by the sounds of strange footsteps o'erhead. Two evenings with family, the gauntlet was thrown. Would I have stayed in France, had I only known? "Nah", I thought, "I'm better off here." "Surrounded by casks of good winter beer!"

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-27870914446177907822009-12-19T23:08:00.000-05:002009-12-19T23:08:22.270-05:00

Biz news flash!  For those of you who are not on our mailing list, you might be interested to know that I've posted four unsmoked Talbert Briars for sale to the "final beta" version of the new website - You can see the pipes for sale here.  You can also get an advance look at the style of the new site, as well as the new online payment system. I realize the photo to the left may seem a bit

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-10068062656897503982009-12-14T20:15:00.000-05:002009-12-14T20:15:35.775-05:00

Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Bonne Fêtes, and a general happy holidays to you, regardless of what you celebrate!  This is a notice for everyone who might be interested - I've got a few unsmoked Talbert Briars now posted.  These are not *new* pipes, per se, but are from a small stash of unsmoked Talberts that have been hoarded here in the states for a few years, which I'm

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-12777173443137716162009-12-08T18:38:00.000-05:002009-12-08T18:38:46.557-05:00

What a long, strange.... and often horrifying... trip it has been.  I write this today having just completed the setup of the last workshop lathe that we need for pipemaking, making this our semi-official "Workshop Finished" day.  There are still things lacking (workstation lighting being the main one, as I can't see what I'm doing on several machines and have to carry a flashlight with me!), and

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-32857512159396897492009-11-30T16:15:00.000-05:002009-11-30T16:15:22.859-05:00

So, I have just finished my month(s) long work writing our new Talbert Pipes website from the ground up.  It won't go live until the workshop is running and we actually have some stock to put on it, but at least that's one big chunk of hassle done with.  There will be a few new features, like the centralized main page that groups my latest blog headlines, site news, and Twitter feed all together,

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-18442860891335978932009-10-25T17:14:00.000-04:002009-10-25T17:14:12.069-04:00

Yesterday we took our first day off in a very long time, and rode with my parents to see the 1840's Village in Hickory, NC.  It was a full-scale recreation of a settler town, complete with blacksmith, shoemaker, saddle-maker, woodwright, etc, with all crafts and tools on display and in use.  This hand-cranked drill press to the left is a great example of a classic tool still working nearly 170

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-69553524649091614652009-10-20T12:27:00.000-04:002009-10-20T12:27:39.097-04:00

A note to those who may be interested - Pipe & Pint has purchased a couple of large estate collections of my pipes and other brands, including some very unique high grades that are unsmoked and essentially new pipes. Watch this space for the next week or so, because I will be photographing some standout examples of these pipes and posting them here for sale. In other news, the workshop work

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-17242406875307563762009-10-09T23:03:00.002-04:002009-10-09T23:07:19.014-04:00

Mark off another goal accomplished - While waiting for some custom pulleys to be made to get our lathes going, I'm spending the next several days working full-time on revamping our blog and website.  This blog is the first example.  It has been woefully amateurish looking for some time now, because I created the layout a couple of years ago on an old square-aspect monitor, which didn't show the

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-55845809052808037662009-10-05T21:26:00.008-04:002009-10-08T21:19:12.978-04:00

Just got back from the 2009 CORPS pipe show in Richmond, Virginia. It is still as enjoyable as ever.

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-73345919422316260542009-09-25T21:48:00.004-04:002009-09-25T21:56:55.487-04:00

Here's a quick little pictorial showing how my padded sanding discs and fitted together. Anyone with some threaded rod and a wood lathe could turn something similar, with work.

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-83407021560464272602009-09-24T16:59:00.005-04:002009-09-24T17:05:40.399-04:00

This time around I've got four motors to somehow turn into usable buffing and sanding tools, AND work out a way that two people can get to them at once, AND make sure each one has adjustable dust collection that can be shifted around to best match a variety of sizes of sanding discs and wheels.Click each page for bigger pics!

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-14386694658197006182009-09-09T21:51:00.004-04:002009-09-09T22:02:18.680-04:00

We've just finished assembling a buffing workstation for the new workshop. Like everything else here, it's a bit cobbled together due to our total lack of funds, but need breeds ingenuity, as they say, and I believe this creation will do a fine job for us. There are still two additions I'd like to make - wire covers over the vac intakes (to prevent stems from being sucked down the pipes if

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-75198228287563330692009-08-13T19:49:00.002-04:002009-08-13T19:53:44.468-04:00

No, it isn't one from the new workshop, it's one from a few years ago, but I thought I would post the link here in case any of my regular collectors were interested. I have no affiliation with this sale, nor can I speak for the current condition of the pipe or anything like that - I just saw it was available and remember it as being an extremely nice piece. It is also a very good deal for the

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-75888023453573149842009-08-08T09:36:00.002-04:002009-08-08T13:35:15.082-04:00

From our local Triad news:Smoke, ember, something something

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-14194616052285969922009-08-03T16:06:00.004-04:002009-08-03T16:12:19.759-04:00

My French friend Guillaume has also gotten hold of Comic Life, and produced his first epic bande dessinée. I sense the next Asterix in the making....

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-32641264372137065552009-07-30T15:46:00.001-04:002009-07-30T15:48:09.277-04:00

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-29406809683155578322009-07-28T22:31:00.002-04:002009-07-28T22:34:45.224-04:00

Since I've been on a roll with the comic-style posts, here is a little cross-post from our "Life in America" blog, just to show a somewhat different look and feel. I've been trying to find some way to sum up our seven years in Brittany, and here's a start.It's already like a dream. This is my first attempt to put our experience into a combination of words and images. Click it for the

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-14477226717663539922009-07-23T23:26:00.001-04:002009-07-23T23:29:08.687-04:00

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-23858795858543048272009-07-22T23:05:00.004-04:002009-07-22T23:31:01.684-04:00

As before, click for larger, higher quality images:

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-86439176776999638252009-07-14T23:32:00.001-04:002009-07-14T23:35:01.460-04:00

Click for a bigger view!

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-57662014837509540612009-07-08T21:48:00.004-04:002009-07-08T22:41:43.021-04:00

We live! Or, at least our workshop chairs do. To the left is the first published pic of our new workshop-under-construction in North Carolina. It's an odd experience, building one all over again from the ground up. On the one hand, it's great to finally be able to lay out my own working space from the very start, instead of trying to retrofit a garage or someone else's shop into something I

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-88500357127818291682009-06-26T11:54:00.002-04:002009-06-26T12:00:35.722-04:00

My office, with a few boxes of paperbacks to unpack.I have yet to find either the time or the inspiration for a properblog post. Time is the bigger issue, though subject matter is achallenge too, as re-integration into a native culture is a topic foreither a couple of very cursory paragraphs or forty pages of post. Inthe meanwhile, most of my regular status updates have been going to my Facebook

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-7761176551905373732009-06-03T20:49:00.002-04:002009-06-03T20:53:01.641-04:00

There WILL eventually be more post here, I promise, but the events of the past month have left me no time for writing. In the meantime, here is the funniest thing I've seen in a very long time - "Total Eclipse of the Heart", the literal video version. Teens of the 80's should remember this one well, if for nothing else than the 'Glee Club of the Damned' floating choirboys...

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-12051754287316184262009-05-06T20:36:00.004-04:002009-05-11T18:56:59.433-04:00

We are back in NC! In a mad whirlwind, Em and I departed Herbignac with the cats in tow. Stressed out in their carriers, Loki gave us a blast of explosive cat diarrhea which she proceeded to roll in and lie in during the car trip to the Nantes train station, so we were soooo popular on the train... (Em hauled the cat through three TGV train cars searching for a bathroom that had a working sink

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-71560076422138809442009-04-22T03:27:00.002-04:002009-04-22T03:39:19.800-04:00

Today is our last full day in Brittany. Outside this morning it is grey, overcast, occasionally raining in cold drizzles, and about 50 degrees. Tomorrow at noon we depart by TGV to Paris, where we will stay overnight and then fly back to the US on Friday. I am likely to be out of touch for some few days, however long it takes to get our new internet connection installed and working, though I

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-69923534701753454152009-04-17T14:21:00.002-04:002009-04-17T14:28:53.117-04:00

I doubt I will have time to post much (if anything) during this coming week as we rapidly approach our departure date from France. I hope to have a little time to collate and write my thoughts and reflections on the adventure once we've arrived, but for the immediate future this is likely to be a quiet blog. However! Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, those who have an interest in

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-20884768117408418242009-04-13T04:17:00.002-04:002009-04-13T05:22:56.780-04:00

Just a very quick note on our progress - We are buried in moving prep. Our own meager personal possessions are mostly packed, but the packing and transport of the business stock remains. Movers arrive next Monday, so between now and then we probably will not sleep. Oh joy. I wanted to post a quick word regarding blame, flames, etc. I knew there would be some degree of anger over our

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-87642000527975713302009-04-06T13:50:00.003-04:002009-04-06T14:31:22.878-04:00

Today we had the big meeting at the mairie, and it was quite a gathering - the mayor of Herbignac himself was there, along with the head of town project planning, translators, etc. I made our displeasure known from the start. Naturally, all parties involved denied any responsibility and put the blame wholly on our "depressed" buyer, but of course they would do. The crux of the problem was

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-70646959358222566352009-04-03T11:09:00.003-04:002009-04-03T11:25:17.473-04:00

A quick update for today - The head of the realty agency has hit the ceiling over this, and we all have a meeting with the Herbignac mayor on Monday. It turns out that the office of the mairie (town hall, essentially) is behind our disaster - Our buyer himself was willing to go through with the purchase, but the mairie pressured him to back out because apparently he owns a great deal of property

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-85530744777977044692009-04-02T13:10:00.003-04:002009-04-03T11:26:32.685-04:00

As of this afternoon, with less than a month until our scheduled departure from France, the major contract that we were counting on to pay for the move (the sale of our French property) has just fallen through.The news leaves us devastated on multiple levels. We have closed down our business in France, so we can no longer legally work here. Our visas are soon due to expire, and cannot be

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-71120321148303148562009-03-31T12:36:00.003-04:002009-03-31T12:39:48.824-04:00

It isn't often that we get reported on in the mainstream press, much less positively, so I have to thank Linwood Hines of CORPS for sharing this link with me, and in turn I wanted to share it with all my blog readers. Among the PipemenAn amusing excerpt:Since the ban on smoking in public places, the pipe smokers that I used to see inside pubs are now outside pubs, often standing in the rain. But

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-48022468349853766472009-03-25T11:41:00.005-04:002009-03-25T12:47:14.952-04:00

Moving is a pain, no doubt, and moving internationally is an experience I can't begin to describe, but there is one aspect of it that can be very enjoyable - It has a remarkable ability to pare your life down to the bare essentials, and it is a heartening feeling to know that for just one brief month in your life, your "stuff" consists entirely of what you are carrying on your body and in one

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-31641591736389525962009-03-24T11:42:00.001-04:002009-03-24T11:44:07.098-04:00

One more note - I've just added a small new widget to this blog, to make it more convenient for readers to share anything that particularly interests them. Over in the left-side column, there are two new buttons - a "Subscribe" button that will easily allow readers to add the blog feed to their Google home pages, Yahoo home pages, RSS readers, etc, and a "Share" button that will allow readers

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-26089817166725098482009-03-22T11:20:00.002-04:002009-03-22T11:26:10.551-04:00

A quick follow-up note on that last post's Big News - I have posted the story around to some of the various larger pipe forums on the net, and will try to follow up replies for a few days at least, but I expect that the time crunch and circumstances here will quickly consume all my time and leave none for further forum chat. The only pipe forum I was unable to post the news to was P&T

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-62099289674939768482009-03-20T15:12:00.005-04:002009-03-22T11:26:38.042-04:00

Biz News - Fans of the more unusual Talbert Briars might want to take a look at this Ebay auction, on an odd piece done a couple years back for a special order. No new pipes from me, though, for reasons that are about to be obvious....It seems like it has been a terribly long time since I have updated this blog, especially since the days when I could manage new posts each week, sometimes even

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-15679286833985713522009-02-23T10:56:00.003-05:002009-02-23T11:08:19.683-05:00

Here's a nice deal for someone - an unsmoked Ligne Bretagne bulldog sandblast on ebay. I always wonder about pipes like this... Why was it unsmoked? What is the story behind it? Did the original buyer suddenly go off bulldogs after purchase? I've never bought a pipe unless I intended to smoke it, usually within minutes of purchase, so the "aftermarket" in unsmoked pipes will probably always

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-63474158597006886962009-02-18T14:36:00.002-05:002009-02-18T14:41:33.063-05:00

I found the link to this on French site FumeursdePipe, and thought it was well worth passing along as it isn't often that videos on meerschaum pipemaking surface. The thing that interests me about this video is that he works the meerschaum dry, while I was taught to work with it wet because it is very hard on the tools when shaped and drilled dry. But, P Bargiel has far superior quality

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-20620038793152615022009-02-15T10:41:00.008-05:002009-02-17T10:10:18.590-05:00

Note - Of the pipes previewed in this post, both Ligne Bretagnes are now sold, and so is the morta poker. The two remaining mortas will be posted on our website catalog in a day or two.Quiet time on the Talbert Pipes website and blog does not equal relaxation time for us. Unfortunately. It seems like a very long time since I last had the chance to update the site or blogs, but the workshop has

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-768206233782825382009-01-30T16:18:00.005-05:002009-01-30T17:00:21.814-05:00

Biz News - There is one new Ligne Bretagne posted, a piece with an interesting backstory, which I'll get to after I talk about the star of our show...Well, this has certainly been a long time coming! I first posted the sketches and the idea concept for this pipe on November 14th, 2008, and here is the original sketch again:The idea was to make a "Christmas Ghost" - something on the technical

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-58639237190423051422008-12-30T09:00:00.003-05:002008-12-30T12:49:13.788-05:00

Biz News - As expected, December was a pretty quiet month here on the site, with no new pipe updates, but I'm making up for that now with a BIG pipe catalog posting to carry us into the new year. First up, we have a pair of new Ligne Bretagne Collectors, both handmade sandblasts with horn stems, and one of them is our last green pipe of 2008! Then there are also two new Morta Classics, a prince

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-19795768467743334932008-12-23T16:08:00.002-05:002008-12-23T16:11:31.939-05:00

OK, I know this is terribly crude and simplistic and very "1994", but it's my first-ever attempt at doing an animated GIF and I just learned how to make them this afternoon, just for this project.I wish everyone a wonderful and happy holiday season!

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-10672920891411592342008-12-14T11:46:00.002-05:002008-12-14T11:55:31.776-05:00

This little group project has now grown to the point that I thought I would share it here. I'm a mod/admin on a little forum called "The Pub Crawlers", which I've mentioned here before, which is a sort of catch-all-topics group of friendly sorts who share particular interests in pipes, Lovecraft, horror films, SF, fantasy, genre movies, Trek, etc. For a forum group project this holiday season,

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-35890553961615931702008-12-11T14:44:00.002-05:002008-12-11T14:59:06.157-05:00

Here are a few quick snapshots of the pipe I talked about briefly yesterday, where I posted a photo of it at an earlier stage. It's coming along startlingly well. I believe it was Mark Tinsky who once compared pipemaking to gold mining in the sense that one does not "clock in" to an hourly job, but rather one hunts and hunts for the few gems and nuggets that are most valuable. This definitely

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-55389280017305816992008-12-10T09:16:00.002-05:002008-12-10T09:27:23.286-05:00

I just recently posted in the site news that there would probably be no new Talberts posted this month due to the work on the Ghost pipes, but here is one on the way! The Ghost work has been fun yet incredibly stressful and frustrating for all the same reasons the Halloween pipes were (the stress of needing cash for bills NOW and looking at a half-finished pipe that won't be done for another

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-65797725002568523022008-12-04T10:54:00.004-05:002008-12-11T15:02:33.838-05:00

December is going to be a very quiet month on the website. I have requests piled up for the Talbert Briar Christmas Ghosts, enough to probably take up all my time right through January, so I don't expect to have many new pipes appearing on the site (except maybe for a new Goblin here and there). We did finish up this bamboo-shanked morta the other day for a request, but unfortunately the sale

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-23644950331285217012008-11-26T09:09:00.006-05:002008-11-26T16:27:14.056-05:00

Biz News - Two new Goblins and one new Talbert Briar! There are also several new Ligne Bretagnes, including a seasonal churchwarden sandblast. And then there's the subject of this blog post....We have a clothing & gift shop! It's a minor affair, and pretty basic in selection, but you can now check out a starting collection of Talbert Pipes shirts, hats, and various other goodies in our new

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-50851958810305882762008-11-14T16:17:00.002-05:002008-11-14T16:30:14.003-05:00

I mentioned in my last email notice that I had a speck of an idea floating at the back of my mind. In the US, we tend to focus all our horror and fantasy-oriented projects around October, culminating in Halloween, but I've been amused and entertained since moving to France, to learn that Britain has a long tradition of Christmas ghost stories. In fact, the BBC is more likely to air haunting

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-19215830008859092822008-10-28T11:38:00.003-04:002008-10-28T12:17:10.065-04:00

Biz News - There is one new Goblin posted, finally! More to come, I promise. Also, I recently posted the fiftieth Ligne Bretagne pipe for 2008. I can't believe I've made fifty LBs this year!Here you can see some scans of a few sketches I've made for this year's batch of Goblins. Ideas range all over, from the cute to the decidedly sinister (The pipe in the top sketch is more likely to become

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-60250177171112981572008-10-18T10:21:00.002-04:002008-10-18T11:12:30.057-04:00

There's another Goblin posted. As I write this, it has already sold in-between the time that I posted the catalog page update and wrote the brief News page update to announce its arrival. I realize that must seem like an awfully pitiful product for a week of work - one single Goblin - but words fail to describe what a financially disastrous week this has been, in terms of both money and lost

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-79331224001365182272008-10-14T11:07:00.002-04:002008-10-14T12:02:37.291-04:00

Biz News - I've posted several new pipes to the site in the past couple of days, including some new Ligne Bretagnes (including one Collector-grade poker) and this October's first Goblins. More will be arriving very soon!Today's photo is a sneak preview pic of the next Goblin that will be hitting the catalog in a day or two. I'm trying to schedule the work on them in sync so I can post a few at

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-4337659757892246132008-09-28T16:46:00.003-04:002008-09-28T16:59:01.789-04:00

We are still alive! Albeit, just barely, in my case - I came down with the flu last week in the middle of finishing up the last of the group pipes, and am still slogging along with intermittent fever, sore throat, cough, and general blah. I realize the blog has been awfully silent for a long time, and I hope to redress that in the weeks to come. For now, I'll hop through a few quick news items

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-23114436062938375002008-09-01T14:18:00.007-04:002008-09-23T09:24:49.760-04:00

We're still working on the Israeli pipes here, but are very close to finishing up that project and should soon be back to our normal output. I have managed to produce one extra Bullhorn for sale, however, if anyone is interested. Like the mortas of last week's blog notice, it's a sideline piece that I haven't really decided what to do with yet...Note - This pipe is now SOLDIn other news, one of

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-37403502416046085072008-08-27T09:25:00.005-04:002008-09-23T09:25:19.466-04:00

We continue to be extremely busy with group pipes and orders, but in and around the fringes of the main work, I managed to do a couple new Morta Classics. I haven't decided what to do with them yet - One may already be sold (the prince), but I'm not certain, and I also don't know if I have the time to do full photo & catalog entries for them, so they may just ship direct to a dealer. But, I

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-75134086289308182852008-08-10T09:33:00.005-04:002008-08-10T10:00:23.589-04:00

I haven't had any new pipes or news for the site in a while, but here are a few pics from the workshop of what is taking up our time - the 2008 Pipe of the Year for the Israeli Pipe Club. These are pics from the first batch of pipes that are on the way to them now. They're all sandblasts, and each one is unique according to its grain. Obviously every block is going to blast differently, but

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-53237092310004253632008-07-27T15:41:00.007-04:002008-12-11T05:07:13.385-05:00

Biz News - There is one new morta posted in the morta catalog. It's been waiting here all week, the poor thing, for me to try and find the time to make a catalog entry and post it.For those who may be wondering, the reason our website has gone very quiet is this little project, the 2008 Pipe of the Year for the Israeli Pipe Club. Group pipes can strike fear into the hearts of pipemakers

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-30477949343448575822008-07-17T15:01:00.004-04:002008-12-11T05:07:13.845-05:00

Biz News - I've added one more Morta Classic to the Morta catalog, this one an example of a potential regular new finish. It's a combination of rustication and sandblasting in a shape similar to the last couple since #100.I wrote in a previous post about our little side project, learning to make pens, and now actually have a small result to show for it. What you see to the left are our first

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-35893938914422767582008-07-14T16:48:00.004-04:002008-12-11T05:07:13.990-05:00

Biz News - One new Morta Classic is posted. I've got another one in process of the same shape, so check back in a day or two if you like (and miss) this current one. It's another in the same design as the #100 pipe.Folks in the pipe hobby like to think of themselves as non-trendy, timeless sorts who aren't swayed by passing fads, but truth be told, we're just as fickle in our tastes as the rest

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-92206555648737197112008-07-02T11:27:00.004-04:002008-12-11T05:07:14.303-05:00

No pipe news today, but news of a related sort. My wife Emily has been working diligently for a while now to learn the art of pencrafting, and she in turn has been teaching me what she's picking up. When we first purchased this house and workshop back in 2002, the previous owner had divided his work equally between pipes and pens, and we got a huge quantity of pen parts and pen stock with the

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-61219651693387477982008-06-25T14:31:00.003-04:002008-12-11T05:07:14.489-05:00

So, this block looked perfectly fine from the outside - no visible flaws, cracks, or splits. Then I made the first bandsaw cuts. !!!No worries, though. A little putty and no one will ever know... :DOn the serious side, I realize this is the first blog post I've made here for ages, but I've been abominably busy. I've got several topics kicking around in my head, including one on drilling,

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-55153330761723692682008-05-25T16:38:00.003-04:002008-12-11T05:07:14.649-05:00

Biz News - There are two new pipes posted. I've just posted the first Ligne Bretagne Collector to be available in some time, and there is a new Talbert Briar sandblast also, the Chunky Billiard. The pipes in today's pic aren't related to the subject, it's just a handy shot I had of three recently-finished Talbert Briars in gold/brown contrast stain. The silver banded one is on its way to

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-52621569186525544552008-05-10T13:44:00.013-04:002008-12-11T05:07:17.086-05:00

Biz News - I've just finished and added three new Ligne Bretagnes to the catalog, one of which is going to be used in the examples below. Check them out!"This blast isn't even on both sides!" How many times have pipemakers and vendors heard that line, usually in reference to a pipe that's simply not cut inline with the ring stacking? After the popularity of my last article on sandblasting, I

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17653383.post-47072599098813326332008-04-24T09:24:00.006-04:002008-12-11T05:07:17.873-05:00

Sandblasting stirs up lots of questions. Thankfully, I have my buddy Nick to actually ask the stuff that would make good blog topics! I thought it would be worth addressing because while there are lots of fans of "extreme" blasts out there, there isn't a great deal of knowledge of just how various effects are arrived at, and the design trade-offs that must be made along the way in order to

Trever Talberthttps://profiles.google.com/100349385696759889390noreply@blogger.com7