Abe Herbaugh: A Multi-Faceted Craftsman

September 8, 2016 by Andrew Wike in Makers and Artists

Abe Herbaugh isn't just a talented pipe maker; he's an extremely skilled, multi-faceted craftsman in his own right. His background in guitar construction has given him an aptitude in working with various hardwoods and other mediums to achieve unique, stunning results. His close relationship with Steve Norse of Vermont Freehand has also allowed him access to some of the finest pipe making materials available, which has not only helped propel his own signature aesthetic in pipe making but also given him the opportunity to branch out into other aspects of this unique hobby and community as well.

A while back, for example, Steve Norse received a number of short bakelite blanks that were too thin to be used as mouthpieces. The color and pattern of these blanks were just too impressive to leave them lying around, so Abe decided to incorporate the medium into a limited run of unique tampers. But being a pipe maker, his workshop wasn't exactly set up to custom craft accessories. Abe actually came up with his own process to create his desired results. In Abe's words:

"I spent a couple of weeks making different prototypes and experimenting with different setups to produce them. When I was an employee at Callaham Guitars, we would have to do small batch production runs of custom hardware for guitar builders, so it was fun to take on the challenge again of doing a small production run and keeping tight tolerances from piece to piece. Once I was happy with a process that gave me consistent results, I ordered twelve feet of brass rod, custom ground a couple cutting tools, and spent a number of days turning all of the brass feet. After all the brass feet were made, I rough shaped all the bakelite handles, attached them to the brass feet, and then I blended them all in by hand. I antiqued all the brass feet to give them a nice patina that will continue to color and mottle, as the bakelite colors over time."

These tampers are exclusive to Smokingpipes.com, and you can find them over on the site, in either a White/Lime or Yellow palette, but that's not all Abe's been up to. He's also been experimenting with casting his own stem materials. You see, Abe's always wanted to vary the colors of his mouthpieces, so casting his own materials is a pretty natural choice. What's interesting is the material he settled on: polyester.

"I've always wanted to use different colored stems on my pipes, but all of the readily available colors in lucite have a cold feeling to them, in my opinion. I wanted to have various colors that have a sense of warmth to them while still being bright in color with subtle swirling patterns, so I set out to try to make my own. It's neat to create a stem blank with some resin and pigment, give it a swirl pattern while mixing the resins, then shaping a stem and seeing what the swirl does deep inside the blank. No two stem blanks will have the same swirl pattern, just like no two blocks of briar will have the same grain pattern."

This isn't anything new in pipe making, as we've seen cast polyester stems from other prominent carvers in the past, but it is a testament to Abe's skill and penchant as a multi-faceted craftsman in his own right. It's allowed him to customize each piece he creates even further and really showcase his creativity. You can find some of Abe's work with polyester stems over on the site — impressive pieces in both their bold color palettes, subtle warmth, and unique patterns alike.