Brazen Plug for Vermont Freehand

A place for businesses to post advertisements selling the raw materiasls for pipe making. (Briar, stems, rod stock, exotic woods, etc.)
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pierredekat

Brazen Plug for Vermont Freehand

Post by pierredekat »

I just wanted to share with you all how much I have enjoyed working with Vermont Freehand, here lately.

I started off, awhile back, with an order of various vulcanite stems -- twosies and threesies, rather than the dozen you are required to purchase at some other pipe supply outlets.

And Steve at Vermont Freehand cut me a heck of a deal on shipping. Basically, the more you buy, the more you save, when it comes to shipping.

So heck, I ordered some more, a little later.

Vermont Freehand has all of the same stems that you will find elsewhere, but they also have stems that you won't easily find elsewhere, not at the more well-known online outlets, anyway.

And now I have placed an order for a couple lots of briar: 10 "jumbos" and 10 "private stock" blocks.

What I think is the coolest thing about ordering briar from Vermont Freehand is the fact that you get to see actual pictures of the blocks you are buying.

Wow, now that's a novel idea!

Oh, did I mention Steve is currently running a sale on his various 5-pack and 10-pack lots of briar? He's knocked 20 percent off Vermont Freehand's already reasonably priced pipewood.

I don't know, I guess I just prefer doing a lot of my business through eBay. I love those "buy-it-now" deals when I am in a hurry, and I love saving money on regular auctions.

Ebay suits me.

So anywho, check out Vermont Freehand's Ebay store, and give them a shot the next time you're looking to buy some supplies: briar, vulcanite and acrylic stems, stains and waxes, the works. I think you'll be glad you did.

Cheers
pierredekat

Post by pierredekat »

Just a quick followup. My briar arrived, and it looks like I will be buying a whole lot more briar from Vermont Freehand in the future. The "Jumbos" were about as big as briar blocks come, and the "private stock" blocks look absolutely superb.

And here is a snippet from Vermont Freehand's latest newsletter, which I recently signed up for:
We are now proud to say that we carry the widest selection of pipe stems in the world!! We have over 200 different styles, and the lucite collection was re-stocked recently, so grab your favorite colors while they last, just remember to check about available colors.

FREE SHIPPING ON 25 OR MORE STEMS IN 1 ORDER (just mention the offer when ordering).
I knew they had a lot of stems, but wow, 200 different stems, not counting different colors on the lucite models. That's amazing.
Spence Pipes
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:39 am
Location: Nashville, Tn
Contact:

not happy

Post by Spence Pipes »

I bought 10 blocks from him. So far, I have tried 3 pipes, only to find they all have cracks down deep, and wind up making a hole in the bowl. As a new carver, I am pretty disappointed. I know I won't order any more briar from him. But I am pleased with the few stems I got.
pierredekat

Re: not happy

Post by pierredekat »

Spence Pipes wrote:I bought 10 blocks from him. So far, I have tried 3 pipes, only to find they all have cracks down deep, and wind up making a hole in the bowl. As a new carver, I am pretty disappointed. I know I won't order any more briar from him. But I am pleased with the few stems I got.
That's not good.

I have had really good luck with the briar I purchased in the past -- batting nearly a thousand -- but he bought a new shipment of briar about two months ago, and perhaps those new blocks may not be so good.

Hopefully that is not the case, because I have 10 more blocks coming in the mail from that newest batch.
davy51 wrote:I got this message on all the links

Sorry, this store does not exist.
That is correct, Steven is in the process of selling Vermont Freehand, and he shut down the Ebay store in order to sell the business, including all of his inventory, as a package deal.

Hopefully whoever buys the business will re-open the ebay store, once the deal goes through.

And I am hoping that Steven keeps involved with the pipe community, once he sells Vermont Freehand. He's like a lot of us in that the business was essentially a part time job for him, but I think it may have gotten a little too much, having to juggle the store and a regular job.
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