Welcome to the online home of Teipen Handmade Briar Pipes.
Each Teipen (pronounced typin) Handmade Briar Pipe is hand crafted by me, Wayne Teipen in the small town of Cloverdale, Indiana. I’m a registered nurse by trade and work full time as a hospital administrator facilitating the day to day operations. My work hours afford me a lot of free time for my hobbies and part time endeavors. I took up pipe smoking and collecting in 2006.
In 2008, I decided to try to fashion my own pipe out of a predrilled block from PIMO mostly out of curiousity and the inner desire to create. The only tools I had at the time was a Dremel, a couple files and rasps, and some sandpaper. To my suprise and delight, my first pipe actually resembled something smokeable. Despite my limited knowledge and tooling at the time, I fell in love with the process and found an outlet for my creative side.
Like most things I commit myself to, I began researching anything I could find related to pipemaking and absorbed it like a sponge. With the information gleened from the internet like Tyler Lane Beard’s website and pipemakersforum.com I began upgrading my tools and taught myself the skills necessary to make quality handmade pipes.
My workshop is currently set up in my garage here in the country. My long term goal is to build a separate workshop on our property. My pipemaking time is currently shared with my wife and three small children. For that reason, I currently only make a dozen or so pipes per year. Once all my children are in school, I plan on much more shop time and my productivity will increase.
About my pipes
I’m fascinated with the engineering of a well made pipe. That fascination is represented in the smoking quality of my pipes. I have a wide spectrum of interest in pipe forms from traditional shapes to Danish inspired shapes. I enjoy exploring these well established shapes, giving them my own interpretations. My pipes are made from the finest Mediterranean briar available and my current stock is over ten years old. I hand carve my pipe stems from German ebonite, Cumberland, and, on occasion, lucite rod stock. Many of my pipes include accents made from exotic woods, antler, acrylic, and other materials to enhance the aesthetics of each piece and make them one of a kind. Each pipe also comes in a quality handcrafted pipe sock made by me.
So, please pull up a seat, set fire to your favorite pipe tobacco, and browse my site to see what Teipen Handmade Briar Pipes is all about. You can see my progression in skill in the Gallery section. I’ve come a long way in a relatively short period of time.