In this episode of "All Pipes Considered," Truett Smith and I chat about a living legend who is one of the most influential pipe makers of modern times: Hans "Former" Nielsen.

Hans "Former" Nielsen: A Pioneer For Danish Pipe Making

[Shane Ireland]: Former is a good friend of ours, and he's also a focus of both of our personal collections. We're both smoking his work right now and often are while on camera.

[Truett Smith]: Yeah, you've known Former for how many years now?

[SI]: I met him in Chicago before I worked in the business. The first time I met Former was probably in 2012 in Chicago. He's an awesome guy with a gentle soul. He was really willing to sit down and talk about his work and pipes in general with some kid when I went for the first time to his workshop in 2014. I've been visiting Former in Denmark, and seeing him when he visits the United States, for over a decade. We've had a nice business relationship and a good friendship for a very long time now. I'm just a huge fan of his work.

There are a lot of pipe makers from that era who have contributed in massive ways to artisan pipe making going forward. He pioneered a lot of techniques, a lot of shaping, and honing in on what separated the Danish classic aesthetic from the Anglo-French takes on the same shapes.

He also was widely regarded by many of his contemporaries who we think of as the best pipe makers that have ever lived — Per and Ulf from S. Bang, everybody at the W.O. Larsen workshop, Tony Nielsen, Jess Chonowitsch, and all the people that worked under Former — as the guy that you went to if you wanted to figure out how to do something in your workshop with your machinery and how to make custom tools. That's because he's a machinist by trade.

There are so many technical aspects of pipe making, especially back in the day when these guys couldn't just go online and order tools specific to their work. Most of being a pipe maker was also crafting the materials and the tools necessary to be able to do this.

[TS]: You could almost argue Former's like a craftsperson/machinist first and a pipe maker second.

[SI]: Oh, absolutely. I would guess that he would think of himself that way, too. There is obviously artistry and creativity in his work, but one of the reasons that he is regarded as the man when it comes to classic shapes in Danish forms is that it's all about function. And then, basically from there, you have some ability to branch out and do some fun stuff, and some interesting stuff, which he does very often.

I've heard Former say over and over again that the way the pipes are gonna perform, the way they're gonna smoke, and how they're gonna last as heirloom pieces are first and foremost in his focus, even more so than design. When you've been doing it this long and through many different types of classic shapes like this, at this point, he can do it in his sleep, and with his eyes closed.

[TS]: When he started, he wasn't making handmade pipes. I know he worked at Bentley, so he had pipe-factory experiences.

[SI]: He has a long history of making a lot of pipes. I believe he was 16 years old when he started working with Poul Rasmussen. At that time — I'm a little unsure on how long of a period this was, whether it was a few months or the first few years — all he did was repair work. I think that also gives a lot of context to a pipe maker as a designer later on in their career when they know how to avoid problems in pipe making. That also improves your customer's experience.

From there, he started branching out more into actually manufacturing some pipes, and then a little bit later, he worked for W.O. Larsen, making pipes from start to finish, and managing the operation at the W.O. Larsen factory. That's where he oversaw some of the other well-known Danish pipe makers who have gone on to do great things on their own. When you make that many pipes for as long as he has, you're talking thousands and thousands of pipes over that first couple of decades of his career.

[TS]: I've heard stories that he was a bit of a strict boss.

[SI]: I don't think that's totally fair. The stories that I've heard have more to do with the fact that wrangling all the other pipe makers was difficult, especially at that point in time. I can imagine because it's a bunch of creative types. They were making pipes by hand; this was not like a big CNC sort of operation where they were cranking out bowls. W.O. Larsen pipes were being made in a small workshop setting.

[TS]: A lot of pipe makers get into pipe making because they want to be their own boss. They want to have the freedom to work when they want to. The stories I've heard of Former supervising the W.O. Larsen shop was having to balance those creative types and it being a professional workplace.

[SI]: And still have a big order that needed to be shipped to the U.S. the next day.

I think a lot of the classic W.O. Larsen shapes that we think of that became catalog standards were coined by Former. Certainly, a lot of these classic Danish forms were cemented by him. Moving on a little bit forward, you had the Bentley production, which was happening in Switzerland, and then Germany, and then back to Denmark, I would say about 20 or 25 years ago, and that's when he really switched focus to his own personal Former brand of handmade pipes.

He's had a really interesting and illustrious career. Like I said, very few people out there can boast more pipes completed in their lifetime. I think where he's ended up in the last 20 years of his career, like I said, definitely cements him as one of the living legends of the Danish pipe makers.

I think I hear this especially among pipe makers. There are a lot of collectors out there that love Former's work and are very loyal to it. He has a cult-like following. But I also hear from so many other pipe makers all over the world that he's widely regarded as the man, like in the same way that Tom Eltang is for a whole bunch of the same reasons. For these guys, it was about making good pipes that people would enjoy smoking and preserving the classic Danish designs.

[TS]: Yeah. In my personal experience, it seems that at pipe shows or traveling, when I'm smoking a Former pipe, very rarely does a collector or another pipe smoker notice it and say, "Oh, what are you smoking?" Because it's a pretty standard, classic Billiard, it's unassuming and arguably ubiquitous, but they know it's nice.

[SI]: Yeah, I've received many compliments on the Former pipes in my collection from other pipe makers, for sure. And then, of course, you also have stuff that's arguably just more stunning, interesting, and unique, and I love the playful stem work on a lot of the freehand shapes.

Inspiring Other Pipe Makers

[TS]: I think another aspect that cements his legacy or speaks to his renown is that pipe makers have gone and visited him earlier in their careers to ask for advice. Names that come to mind are David Huber from the United States. More recently, Sabina Santos from Portugal and Tine Balleby from Denmark. The fact that other pipe makers are seeking Former out and asking his advice on aspects of pipe making speaks to his legend, if you will.

[SI]: Yeah, and a long time ago, Per and Ulf from S. Bang told me a story that when they originally took over S. Bang in 1984 and wanted to transform the brand, they wanted to focus on producing a higher number of pipes that were focused on quality. I think that's what most of us think of when we think of S. Bang: pristine finishes, stem work, shape work, and everything being on point. The two people that they sought out at that time to help them get to that next level were Jess Chonowitsch and Former.

[TS]: That's cool. I didn't know that.

[SI]: That little circle of guys has a lot of influence stylistically. There are the Sixten disciples and then on the craft side, it's honestly people that come out of that Poul Rasmussen line through Anne Julie to Tom Eltang and Former. That is the division between what made Danish pipe making the powerhouse that it is: a perfect confluence of the mix of craft and the daring new design directions that they were taking.

[TS]: And the slight aesthetic differences, if you will, between Sixten's workshop and then the W.O. Larsen and Pipe-Dan. Today, those have converged to create what we call classic Danish style.

[SI]: And Jess Chonowitsch had a little bit of influence from both. His father had worked with Poul, if I'm not mistaken. He definitely worked with W.O. Larsen, Stanwell, and Sixten as well. So yeah, it's all very intertwined.

Former's Classic Yet Distinctive Shaping and Finishing

[SI]: Back to Former specifically, I think that all over the world these days, his takes on many classic shapes are really benchmarks, and it's easy to see why.

[TS]: If you like classic shapes and you like artisan, handmade stuff, there's no one else to point to at the top than someone like Former. Or, at the very least, he's among just a handful of peers. I think it's safe to say his Apple shapes are the most iconic or the most sought-after. I know your collection is, as you're smoking right now, primarily Apples.

[SI]: I think I am pretty close to a two-week Apple set.

[TS]: Get a box for it. A 14-pipe box, or a really big leather briefcase. And while a lot of them are similar in design, he also does different renditions, so he plays within the same shape.

[SI]: That's one of the fun aspects about collecting his work, for me. I've had this conversation with some other collectors out there. Shout out to my homie Neil. Looking at something like Former's Apple, you have obviously the rusticated, which is the most iconic signature version of that. But then you have all sorts of different variations in size and shaping differences. And then you have straight classics with a slightly longer shank. Taper stems, saddle stems, army mounts. It's endless.

[TS]: I think one thing that's special about Former and classic shapes specifically is, you can dismiss it and be like, "Oh, classic shapes are boring," or "They're all the same." But if you study Former's work, a lot of them might be the same shapes, but you notice how different they can be based on specific aspects. If the shank is altered, or the stem base, or the adornment, it really does change the design.

[SI]: Certain designs are harder to execute perfectly than others. One of his most recent pieces that we got is touching back on the old-style freehand shapes that were super popular in the late '60s and into the early '70s. But anyway, not to say that it isn't difficult to make any pipe, because it is, I've tried, and I'm terrible at it. But when you're talking about classic forms, there's nothing to hide behind.

[TS]: Right, the fewer lines you have, the lower the margin of error is.

[SI]: It's so much easier to see something that's incorrect, or something that's off, like an awkward proportion.

[TS]: Or a line that isn't balanced or straight.

[SI]: I think that's one of the things about Former's work that I love the most. The man could make a hundred Apples, and I could sit there and look at all of them and see almost no repetition in any of them.

The pipe industry was totally crazy coming out of the '50s, '60s, and into the '70s, and the demand worldwide for Danish pipes started to explode. The desire to have new and fresh models and ideas all the time really drove a lot of this innovation, like playing with stem lengths. But yeah, this is sort of like a different take on a rounded shank face or a dome saddle.

I love the kind of stuff that he does, and actually, none of this is new; it's just stuff that has continued to evolve very slowly over the decades and that he's preserving in many ways.

[TS]: Exactly.

[SI]: Former's Stacks have the playful stem work as well, like turning a flare that looks a lot different than what's in most modern artisanal pipe making. These are both a callback to the W.O. Larsen days, way back when he was just a young man managing the workshop.

One example is what they would've considered a classic flake pipe back in the day, which you would use the fold and stuff method with.

[TS]: Fold and stuff, if you don't know, is when you take a flake and you don't rub it out into a ribbon. Instead, you just fold the flakes and stuff them straight into the chamber.

[SI]: It's not just that this is a tall chamber because many pipes have tall chambers, it's also the width. There's a relationship between the height and the width; extended height and a little bit more narrow of a bowl with the intent to smoke flakes stuffed straight in there intact.

Now, of course, you can smoke any tobacco you like in any size chamber, but there are some universally observed truths, such as that a broad chamber is really good for mixtures, and typically flakes smoke really nicely if you fold and stuff them in a narrow chamber.

That speaks to this idea that when these guys began their careers crafting pipes, they were all smokers themselves. What they were doing was a little bit of a mix between the beauty of the wood and what the wood determined the shape should be. I've heard Former say many times that sometimes you get a block of wood and it's a Horn and there's nothing you can do about it because it has beautiful, perfectly arcing straight grain and the plateau on the body. But some are models specifically made with the smoker in mind for how they smoke with function in mind.

[TS]: I think a lot of people don't understand, especially if you're new to the hobby, that with a Billiard like this, which is what a Stack is (a taller Billiard), if the bowl is made perfectly upright, it's actually gonna look wrong or off.

[SI]: Or it looks like the momentum is in the wrong direction.

[TS]: Yeah, even if the bowl is perfectly 90 degrees at the transition, it's gonna look like it's falling backward a little bit. To keep that height consistent and keep the taper consistent while also balancing the position is really impressive.

[SI]: Absolutely. It's easy to see why these pipes are in demand. It's easy to see why after this long, illustrious career for Former, there's still so much to get from his pipes. I've had this conversation with other pipe makers that in many ways still surprises me that at this point in Former's career he's still making things that are new, exciting, and also just killer. Attention to the little details is how you can take more or less just a handful of classic forms and turn it into a 65-year career.

There are so many pipes even on this table that I'm seriously considering for my own collection, because I just know how they're gonna smoke. Obviously, I love how they look.

[TS]: I also love his brown blast. They're pretty distinctive. I don't know how he does it.

[SI]: I'm not a hundred percent sure how he achieves that particular effect. There is a little bit of lore here in the sense that modern pipe sandblasting and taking it to its extreme, with really craggy, detailed stuff, was inspired by the early work of the Dunhill sandblast era, the patent-era sandblast, which actually was more or less an accident.

[TS]: Yeah, they were dialing in the depth.

[SI]: Sure, and also, I think there was just something about the wood back then that could have been a little bit softer.

[TS]: They weren't as experienced because they were the first ones to do it.

[SI]: They invented it. This really craggy, modern, defined sandblast came out of the late '90s and early '00s American pipe-making movement. The Danish style of sandblasting has always been really shallow in depth, detailed but not overly craggy, while preserving the lines and the low profile, if you will.

For a very long time, many people have considered Former, especially in Denmark, to be not only very skilled in the sandblasting cabinet, but his sandblasted finishes in general are really sought after, admired, and often copied. There are examples of his tan, brown, or black blasts that are more subtle in cragginess, where it is elegant, beautiful, and does not look at all unnatural.

I can't really think of many other tan blast or brown blast that come out quite like this. A lot of that is proprietary staining techniques, some of which he might've stocked up on decades ago and decades of experimenting with it.

An Illustrious Career Spanning Decades

[SI]: I think that's the moral of the story for any aspiring pipe makers out there or even experienced pipe makers out there: This kind of work happens when you are dedicated to a craft, a very specific craft, for your entire life from 16 years old. I believe Former turned 83 last December. We're talking closer to 70 years of pipe making than not, which is crazy.

He had a 60th anniversary in 2018 or 2019, something like that. The work speaks for itself. I think they are contagious if you're a collector. I don't know very many collectors that have only one Former pipe. Something about the way his stems are profiled and cut, and obviously the smoking qualities, the design, and the sheer breadth of his design language and pipe-making abilities are incredible to study once you get into it.

[TS]: We'd really encourage you to study his work because there is a lot to appreciate and not only will you appreciate it in general, you'll learn a lot about pipes and the history of other pipes in doing so.

[SI]: Yeah, absolutely gorgeous stuff.

[TS]: Thank you, Former, for your dedication, skill, and influence, as well as your commitment to doing it for this long.

[SI]: Thank you, Hans. Thanks so much, everybody. We'll see you next time.