Michael Lindner Sandblasted Blowfish with Bamboo (C3) (2013) Tobacco Pipe

A Detroit native and the son of a General Motors draftsman, Michael Lindner has both design and automobiles running through his veins. He didn't follow his father into the business of automotive design, but his love of a good car and the intense attention to detail that goes into designing and making one bleeds into his designs nonetheless.

Rounded flanks and asymmetrical shaping characterize this blowfish of Michael's making, as does his use of a three-knuckle length of bamboo as a shank, which is a big part of how he managed to make a nearly six-and-a-half-inch pipe that weighs in at less than a single ounce. A pair of central ridgelines give the bowl a mostly flat top, but the flanks are rounded and all of the stummel sandblasted and stained a rich mahogany hue. Behind the bamboo stretches a lightly bent stem of vulcanite, a worthwhile finish to a unique, well-executed work of pipe making on Michael's part.