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'''From the Crawford | '''From the bio Jerry Crawford provided us:''' | ||
'''Pipe maker Bio 2018''' | |||
My love of pipes began many years ago as a child, my father had smoked a pipe and from | |||
watching him and old movies I always felt there was something interesting and special about | |||
pipes. Growing up I always enjoyed working with my father in his shop making cabinets, or | |||
furniture. My parents were both very resourceful and encouraged me to make or fix things and | |||
take classes on ceramics, metal working, wood working, leather crafts, plastics etc. during | |||
summer vacations. With a background in electronics and real estate which relied heavily on my | |||
attention to detail and creativity to be successful, the process of making pipes felt natural and | |||
gratifying to me from the start. | |||
[[File:JerryCrawford.JPG|thumb|left|Jerry Crawford]][[File:Smooth Rhodesian.JPG|thumb|Jerry Crawford, Smooth Rhodesian]][[File:JerryCraford-BlastedVolcano.JPG|thumb|Jerry Crawford, Blasted Volcano]]In the 1970s I began regularly smoking and collecting pipes. I always maintained and many times refurbished the estate pipes I bought, but sent them out for more extensive repair. In | |||
2009 after getting a rare Comoy’s Blue Riband back from repair and saw the nomenclature had | |||
been completely removed, I committed to learning how to repair my own pipes. Around that | |||
same time I befriended Paul Hildebrand, owner of Pipe Makers Emporium. Upon learning he | |||
not only repaired pipes but had also been making pipes for the past 10 years, I expressed my | |||
frustrations with repairs and my desire to learn to do them myself. | |||
After discussing some techniques used for repair, Paul invited me to spend a couple days | |||
working with him in his workshop, offering to show me the process of making pipes start to | |||
finish. In 2010 I made my first pipe and was immediately hooked. At that point the idea of just | |||
making repairs became secondary to making more pipes. | |||
After winning a billiard contest with only the 3 rd pipe I had ever made, I met Rainer Barbi who | |||
was one of the judges. With his encouragement and some valuable tips that I use to this day, I | |||
began buying more supplies and began tooling up to make more pipes. | |||
By 2012 I decided to work toward making pipes full time. In 2013 one of my pipes placed in the | |||
Greater Kansas City Pipe Clubs Carvers Contest. At that Kansas City show I met Premal Chheda | |||
and spent a week with him in his shop which helped me really fine tune my processes to better | |||
achieve the results I envisioned. In 2014, I was selected to make the pipe of the year for the | |||
Vancouver pipe club. | |||
After many years living in and around Phoenix Arizona my wife Viki and I relocated in March | |||
2016 to Southern Oregon, finally realizing a dream to have a place with a shop in the woods. | |||
Some 40 miles south of me is home to a good friend and pipe maker Brad Pohlmann who has | |||
graciously shared his time and workshop on a regular basis for the past 2 years. Working with | |||
Brad and Silver has not only been inspiring but has helped me achieve my goals as a pipe maker | |||
to create pipes as I envision them, sometimes even better. | |||
All of the pipes I craft are made using the best Italian briar available from the most vetted | |||
cutters. Each stem is hand cut with integral tenons, from the highest quality German Ebonite | |||
rod stock with the exception of an occasional Bakelite or Lucite material. Special attention is | |||
always given to creating an open and unrestricted draw and features my signature funneled | |||
opening at the button. | |||
Each pipe is hand crafted individually using time honored pre drilling or freehand techniques | |||
using the highest of tolerances to promote the superior smoking characteristics that have | |||
become synonymous with Crawford Pipes. | |||
<center><gallery widths=250px heights=185px caption="More examples from Crawford Pipes"> | |||
File:JerryCrawford-RhodesianPartialBlast.jpg | |||
File:JerryCrawford-Dublin.jpg | |||
File:JerryCrawford-Danish Apple.jpg | |||
File:JerryCrawford-BlastedBentEgg.JPG | |||
File:JerryCrawford-Blasted-Author.JPG | |||
File:JerryCrawford-Bent Billiard 2.JPG | |||
File:JerryCrawford-Apple.JPG | |||
</gallery></center> | |||
'''Contact Information:''' | '''Contact Information:''' | ||
E-mail: crawfordpipes@gmail.com | |||
E- | Website: http://www.crawfordpipes.com | ||
Location: Grants Pass, Oregon | |||
Phone 541-787-5356 | |||
[[Category: Pipe makers by nationality]][[Category: United States]] | [[Category: Pipe makers by nationality]][[Category: United States]] |