Age: 42..or 12, depending on the day
Location: Hillsboro, New Hampshire (USA)
Years a pipe smoker: about 2 months...but purely as a 'research' trial and product testing if my wife asks. I used to be a college professor, as well as a sergeant in the Air Force, so pipe smoking seemed like an eventuality.
How you got into pipe making:
I was challenged by my long time mentor/friend to use more wood in my knife making because of my overwhelming affinity for micarta and titanium; which led me to research more interesting woods than the usual suspects in knife making, which led me to briar...which led me to pipes, which led me to, "...hey, I could do that..probably! I have most of the tools in my shop already."
When the subject was broached with a long time collector of my knives, he commissioned me on the spot to make him and several of his family members a pipe, and that's where the trouble started!
Other interesting facts:
I have broken/destroyed/cracked more desert ironwood and other fine hardwoods attempting to use them on knife handles than I've ever successfully completed. I've yet to break any briar, so we're off to a good start.
