my name is Abi Natur and i practice myself in the art of pipe making .
For some time now i have been watching with great interest your unique pipe-makers forum which indeed is a jewel of knowledge on this wide net.
I appreciate this forum very much because it is a unique place of knowledge,artistry and a gathering place of established pipe-makers who can give there constructive criticism to other aspiring pipe-makers.
Being into applied arts for more than 15 years creating in mosaics and engravings i full circled into my childhood memories reviving the olive wood freehand pipe, giving my vision from the past a future. I kept the traditional all freehand practice so my pipes are not made by using a wood lathe, the mouthpiece is also freehand cut using SEM Ebonite. The finished pipes are triple waxed with carnauba .
I create pipes in the city of Bar - Montenegro , a beautiful country on the Adriatic sea with its huge mountains running step into the sea.The olive tree species “Barska Zutica - Olea europea” only found around the old port of Bar grows for years in intense sea-mountain climate that makes it to one of the most dense materials for pipes. The oldest olive tree in the world that grows also in Bar is the approximately 2000 year old “Stara Maslina” which means translated “ Old Olive”.
I personally harvest my olive wood from trees older than 350 up to 800 years old ,cure it by grandpa's recipe and then let it rest for some time.The wood used for pipes is free of any irregularity in the materials structure and has a distinguished natural aroma that develops from it. The best and rarest olive wood is the one growing on almost bare stone , this natural fight for survival over hundreds of years is reflected through the marble like grain and great density .This olive wood is drying for many years very slowly while from the inside the micro circulation adapts the material to high temperatures and winds that bring sea-salt and iodine ,and most important is the olive oil that makes it in the drying process smooth not allowing it to dry out over the long years of harsh environmental circumstances. Part of the curing does mother nature in specific geographic micro-locations the rest is Grandfathers secret.
Olive-wood pipes have a very long history in terms of hundreds of years, as a tree that symbolizes peace through the ages ,so it finds naturally its place in an ancient object that also stands for a symbol of peace . The curing of the wood for pipes by the hand of the pipe-maker is a very rewarding and traditional experience that reflects fully in the pipe that is made. The biggest reward is the full circle i can close from the search for the right olive wood through the pipe craft to the finished pipe.
Here are some of my early works;
Helios
Poseidon
Achilles
Perseus
.
.
.