Powered by BlogCFM http://www.smokingpipes.com/blog <p>All of <a href="/pipes/new/satou/index.cfm">Satou's pipes</a> are finished with urushi,a specialized natural Japanese lacquer from the plant (<em>Toxicodendron vernicifluum</em>) of the same name in Japanese. Japanese lacquer-ware is a traditional process used on wood plates, boxes, vases, bowls and the like to create a largely water impermeable coating that nonetheless allows for gas transfer. It's enormously labor intensive. One of Satou's pipes might get six or eight coats of the lacquer, since each coat is extremely thin, and the curing time between coats can range from a day or two in the right sort of humid climate to weeks during a colder, dryer part of the year.</p> <p><img src="http://assets.smokingpipes.com/images/blog/urushi/SatouUrushi1.jpg" alt="" align="right" /></p> <p>The finish never needs buffing, with the surface becoming more lustrous with use, developing a patina. Indeed, it should never be buffed as that can damage the finish. A dry, or at most a slightly damp, cloth is all that's required to clean it.</p> <p>Most of Satou's pipes bear clear lacquer, though that process alone does color the pipe very slightly. On occasion, he's employed colored lacquers on special compositions. Such as with the combination of black urushi and gold used to finish <em>the crane</em> depicted to the right and below.</p> <p><br /> <img src="http://assets.smokingpipes.com/images/blog/urushi/SatouUrushi2.jpg" alt="" align="middle" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/employees/sykes_wilford.jpg" alt="" width="176" height="250" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp; <em>Sykes Wilford: Founder/President</em><br /><br /></p> http://www.smokingpipes.com/blog/1/2012/05/Smio-Satou--Urushi.cfm 2012-05-10T14:05:00-04:00 pipe making,Smio Satou <p>A number of people have kindly written to ask about our friends in Japan since the horrifying earthquake that struck the northeast coast of Honshu on March 11th. <b>All of the pipe makers and their families are fine.</b> Most of them are in and around Tokyo, so while they experienced some shaking and had some stuff jump off of shelves, they weren't terribly affected by the quake.</p> <p>Hiroyuki Tokutomi lives with his family in Maebashi, in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, and was a little closer to the epicenter. They experienced some damage and problems with computers and power and whatnot, but nothing threatening or serious.</p> <p>Again, thank you all for your kind curiosity. It's always nice to see the way the pipe community responds to such events.</p> http://www.smokingpipes.com/blog/1/2011/04/Of-Earthquakes-and-Pipe-Makers.cfm 2011-04-06T11:40:05-04:00 pipe making,Smio Satou,Hiroyuki Tokutomi,Tsuge,Takeo Arita,Kei-ichi Gotoh,Smio Satou