david quisenberry

I met Tyler Beard early in his pipe making career, possibly before he had
created his first pipe. Tyler has in-laws that live in the Dallas area, so
he would drop by the tobacco shop I frequent each time he visited. I am
fairly certain I have examined 80% or more of the pipes Tyler has made, and
have seen exponential progress since seeing his first pipe.

Tyler and I have had many discussions about pipes, most bordering on
pricing, marketing, etc. I am certainly no expert in this area, however,
after purchasing and smoking pipes for over 20 years, I am not without
opinions, and have not been afraid to share my thoughts with Tyler.

This year Tyler joined me and 2 others from the DFW Pipe Club at the
Chicagoland Extravaganza for his first pipe show. At this point, I had yet
to purchase one of Tyler's pieces as the ones available for sale either didn
't catch my eye or were priced above my available funds for at the time of
sale. The night before the show, I was looking at the pipes Tyler had
brought for sale and one immediately caught me eye. I normally am attracted
to traditional shaped bent pipes. The one of Tyler's was a blow fish. I
asked him about it and was very surprised when he told me he hadn't actually
ever seen a blowfish in person, only pictures. I WANTED this pipe, but didn
't know if I could afford to get it on the eve of the show when I only had
so much money to satisfy my PAD and TAD. Tyler said the pipe was actually a
reject, he had only brought it to show. I went over the pipe twice and
couldn't find anything wrong with it. Tyler told me there was a thin spot
in the bowl and therefore it didn't meet his standards, so he rejected it.
I felt the spot he was referring to and knew that it would never burn out
there. In fact I had pipes that I had been smoking for years which were
thinner. Tyler did not want to sell the pipe, however, I hounded him until
he finally reluctantly agreed to sell it to me for a reduced price, however
he insisted on marking it a reject.

Review:

To begin with, my pockets are not full of money, so I am very critical with
my purchases. As I previously stated, my preference is for traditional bent
shapes, so something must really stand out for me to be interested in what I
consider a European design. The form and flow are graceful and fluid to my
eye. The tenon fits snuggly against the mortise wall. This is probably one
of my biggest pet peeves, as I rarely take the stem out to clean my pipes
and there is nothing worse than finding a huge blob of gunk where an open
space has been left between the tenon and the mortise wall. The handcut
mouthpiece is the most comfortable of any of my pipes. Granted I don't own
(and may never own) any $1000 pipes, but I cannot imagine a more comfortable
shaped stem. The pipe takes a cleaner effortlessly. Most of the time I don
't even use a pipe cleaner until cleaning due to the fact I smoke dry and
the excellent construction of the air passageway. The conical shape of the
bowl was new to me and it took a little getting used to. I found that
initially I was smoking down the inside of the bowl; however, after a few
bowlfuls I learned how to correctly tamp the tobacco and ash to keep it on a
horizontal plane. The pipe has smoked to white ash from the first bowl thru
the 20th or so I have put through it. The greatest feature of the pipe,
however, is the weight, or lack thereof. I do not have a scale for an
accurate measurement; however, this pipe is one of the lightest I have ever
held for its size. I enjoy a pipe I can put in my mouth and smoke
effortlessly without having to hold it with my hand, or be cognizant of its
weight in my mouth, and Tyler's creation fits the bill completely.

The blowfish has quickly worked its way to the top of my rotation. I do not
have a set rotation, instead choosing the pipe that calls out my name
depending on what blend I have chosen. I find my self time after time
reaching for this pipe when I want a special smoke like old Balkan Sobranie
or Garfinkle while reading something like the Ephemeris or P&T magazine.
Speaking of reading, the Cowboys are having their first scrimmage under the
Tuna Dynasty and my fall P&T magazine arrived today, so I am going to get my
blowfish, some aged Baby's Bottom, my magazine and enjoy the evening.

I would like to point out that this review was in no way solicited by Tyler,
if fact he will probably be irritated to find that I broadcasted that one of
his REJECTS made it out of his workshop and into my top tier selection.

david quisenberry

The pipe can be viewed on Tyler's website at:
http://www.micrope.com/TylerLanePipes/pipe_36_yurtle.htm

mingkahuna

David, I examined that blowfish in Chicago and if you hadn't already snagged it
I would have done my damndest to get Tyler to sell it to me. A fine pipe, no
doubt about it.

Art

mingkahuna

Buddy, it does thin down a bit, as I recall, but not so thin as to the point
where I'd be greatly concerned. I think that Tyler was being cautious, which
is understandable. Some thin spots on disk blowfish are common. I have seen
this problem countered by using conical shaped smoke chambers.

Art

buddy springman

I wish there was anywhere on my birthyear Dunhill's walls that were that
thick. It's so damn thin, it gets 'bout as hot as a clay. It has
lasted 46 yrs though, so I guess it's not a serious threat.

We're thin walls the norm in the mid-20th century? I don't see that
many today...in fact, most of the time thick walls are marketed as a big
plus.

Buddy

chantymanjack1

(snipped atop)

I started smoking a pipe in 1954 and quickly became a collector/ac***ulator.
Thin walls were not particularly common. In fact, I believe they were no more
common than they are today.

In the time I've been smoking, I've only had 2 and 1/2 burnouts. The first
burnout was a Dunhill with moderately thin walls. It started to burn out while
I was having my first smoke in it. Conveniently, this was within ten minutes
and two blocks of the retailer who sold it. So, I immediately reversed course
and exchanged it for a new one. The second burnout was an Upshall bulldog. The
burnout did not take place at the thin section at the bottom of the pipe. It
was at the upper section on the side. Marble Arch held a pipe show at a
retailer a few months later. I showed Rob the pipe and he pointed to a section
of the display and said, "Take any one of those."
The third burnout was only half a burnout. It is in a lovely Dunhill bent
billiard which is large for its age -- about 70 years. And it does have thin
walls. I was smoking too fast outdoors and a black spot appeared on the side of
the bowl. I stopped smoking it immediately. Subsequently, when I resumed
smoking it, the burnout proceeded no further. So, I consider this one a half a
burnout.

Jack

mingkahuna

I don't know about about the mid 20th century, but I do know tha tthick walls
are often a selling point, and that often thin walls are a deal breaker for
many.

As some are aware, bertram Safferling's pipes are known for his thick walls. I
don't know whether that is why his pipes smoke so well, but it is a feature
almost always found on his pipes. At Chicago 2000 Don brough a gorgeous
straight grain piece, a very stylistic kind of long shanked lumberman piece. It
is a "4" which is a pretty high grade for a Safferling. But, for some reason
(maybe due to a flaw), right up at the top of the bowl, at the rim, Bertram had
narrowed the wall drastically tapering it to to where it makes it appear that
the wall is only 1/8" thick. But, go down the deep bowl just about 1/3" and
the wall thickness quickly widens back out to a typical thick Safferling bowl.
And, this is a pipe that you'd almost certainly never load to the very top.
Don showed this to people time after time as this beauty was the first pipe
that they picked up but they just couldn't seem to understand that the thinness
was basically an illusion. So, Don pulled the pipe and was going to send it
back to Bertram. I ended up with the pipe for a heck of a deal to save the
return back to Germany and the customs fees and everything else. But, just the
appearance of a thin wall can really scare away a buyer, escpecially with a
brand known for thicker walls.

BTW, I'm smoking Tribute in that pipe right now. What a beauty.

Art

grcpipes

tyler is a great guy and makes excellent pipes!
cheers
d

--
http://www.grc-pipes.com


not

Sobranie


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tyler l. beard

data@parrett.net says...


LOL...I wondered if anyone would pick up from the link what I called the
pipe. The smooth part of the bowl looks exactly like a turtle shell, and
I was, for whatever reason, reminded of a book I read often as a child,
Yurtle the Turtle. Thus, I called the pipe Yurtle. :-) (A little
trivia that I don't think I mentioned to Quiz.)

The thin part is actually at the bottom of the bowl near the front of the
bowl in the rusticated area. The pipe would have been fine had I not
been absentmindedly heavy-handed while rusticating that area. Also, the
pipe wouldn't have made it near as far as it did in the creation process
were it not for the fact that the issue was questionable. In the end, I
opted with better safe that sorry.

Best,
Tyler


--
Tyler Lane Pipes
http://www.micrope.com/TylerLanePipes

tyler l. beard

david.nospam.quisenberry@comcast.net says...


<snip of a kind review>

David,

I'm thrilled you like the pipe. That you enjoy it so much makes me very
happy that I opted to sell it to you.

To any aspiring new pipe makers out there, you should all find a fellow
like David Quisenberry. David is the kind of person that you cringe when
you hand him a pipe you made, because both a careful eye and very honest
mouth are about to leave nothing unturned. While not always fun, such
reviews are invaluable in the learning process.

Thanks for all your comments in the past David -- I'm glad some of them
weren't on this board! -- and thanks for this review. I am surprised and
very pleased.

Best,
Tyler


--
Tyler Lane Pipes
http://www.micrope.com/TylerLanePipes