Brian Ruthenberg Sandblasted Billiard (2004) Tobacco Pipe

Brian Ruthenberg has a background as a machinist and toolmaker, as well as in woodworking and semi-truck driving, meaning he has plenty of experience making a living with his hands. He started out with a Mark Tinsky pipe kit and was hooked on pipe making immediately. Using briar obtained from fellow Michigan resident Lee von Erck and information from pipe-making chat rooms and elsewhere on the internet, Brian set out in his new career.

This Billiard of Brian's making is sandblasted with a dark stain to give the stummel a craggy but soft feel and enough definition to allow both the flame grain and the growth rings to be observed with considerable ease. The walls of the bowl are arrow-straight, even for a Billiard, behind which a lightly tapered shank backs up to a tapered cumberland stem inlaid with a wooden accent. Brian's use and placement of the different colors of this piece make it very intriguing, and his shaping of the stummel is remarkable, as well.