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Cooke, James T.: Difference between revisions
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'''OKFA'''—“Old Knarly Friend Algeria" –briar from Algeria (no longer used)</blockquote> | '''OKFA'''—“Old Knarly Friend Algeria" –briar from Algeria (no longer used)</blockquote> | ||
There have only been two shank stamps indicating the authenticity of a Cooke pipe: <blockquote>'''J.T. & D. Cooke'''—on pipes made before 1996; “D” refers to ex-wife Deb who teamed with Cooke as sander when they were making pipes for other American labels. <ref>“In A Class All His Own.”</ref> | There have only been two shank stamps indicating the authenticity of a Cooke pipe: <blockquote>'''J.T. & D. Cooke'''—on pipes made before 1996; “D” refers to ex-wife Deb who teamed with Cooke as sander when they were making pipes for other American labels. <ref>“In A Class All His Own.”</ref> | ||
'''J. T. Cooke'''—on pipes after 1996. </blockquote> | '''J. T. Cooke'''—on pipes after 1996. </blockquote> | ||
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Cooke also agreed to do a second Pipe of the Year for ''Pipes & Tobaccos'' magazine for 2008, a distinctive brandy in an edition of fifty numbered pipes. | Cooke also agreed to do a second Pipe of the Year for ''Pipes & Tobaccos'' magazine for 2008, a distinctive brandy in an edition of fifty numbered pipes. | ||
[[File:C010 P&t 2008 BRANDY Smokershaven.jpg|thumb|The ''Pipes & Tobaccos'' magazine 2008 Pipe of the Year (courtesy Smokers Haven)|alt=]] | [[File:C010 P&t 2008 BRANDY Smokershaven.jpg|thumb|The ''Pipes & Tobaccos'' magazine 2008 Pipe of the Year (courtesy Smokers Haven)|alt=]] | ||
While J. T.’s shape catalog has become more and more distinctive and uniquely his own over the past ten to fifteen years, there is constant experimentation and new shapes still appear with regularity. <ref>Making a regular visit to the Gallery page at [https://www.Cookepipes.com www.Cookepipes.com] reveals Cooke's on-going innovation as well as unifying aesthetic.</ref> For example, the Christmas Bell, a dublin bell shape with special stain and custom stem, has appeared since 2016, but only one is made annually, just before the holiday. | While J. T.’s shape catalog has become more and more distinctive and uniquely his own over the past ten to fifteen years, there is constant experimentation and new shapes still appear with regularity. <ref>Making a regular visit to the Gallery page at [https://www.Cookepipes.com www.Cookepipes.com] reveals Cooke's on-going innovation as well as unifying aesthetic.</ref> For example, the Christmas Bell, a dublin bell shape with special stain and custom stem, has appeared since 2016, but only one is made annually, just before the holiday. | ||
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== Engineering == | == Engineering == | ||
'' “I average one pipe a week, and that is a a long week of work.” ''—J. T. Cooke <ref>Email to Mark Irwin, June 24, 2022.</ref> | '' “I average one pipe a week, and that is a a long week of work.” ''—J. T. Cooke (2022) <ref>Email to Mark Irwin, June 24, 2022.</ref> | ||
=== Airflow === | === Airflow === | ||
It goes without saying that pipe smokers are initially attracted visually to the pipes they choose to smoke. Far more important but either ignored or underestimated is a pipe’s engineering, on what’s going on inside the pipe. When J. T. parted from Briar Workshop upon their relocation to Florida to make his own pipes, he was, writes Chuck Stanion, “entranced by the possibilities of improved internal engineering and the reduction of smoke turbulence within a pipe.” <ref>Stanion, “Tesla.”</ref> | It goes without saying that pipe smokers are initially attracted visually to the pipes they choose to smoke. Far more important but either ignored or underestimated is a pipe’s engineering, on what’s going on inside the pipe. When J. T. parted from Briar Workshop upon their relocation to Florida to make his own pipes, he was, writes Chuck Stanion, “entranced by the possibilities of improved internal engineering and the reduction of smoke turbulence within a pipe.” <ref>Stanion, “Tesla.”</ref> | ||
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[[File:Hot Rod Chubby Dublin.jpg|thumb|J.T.'s chubby dublin with a custom-color "Hot Rod" stem]] | [[File:Hot Rod Chubby Dublin.jpg|thumb|J.T.'s chubby dublin with a custom-color "Hot Rod" stem]] | ||
On graduation, Cooke took a job with television station WCAX as its Art Director, where he worked through the mid-seventies. He decided he wanted to stop smoking cigarettes and his wife Deb bought him a carve-it-yourself pipe kit. “After I made the first one,” he recalls, “I knew that I finally found something that I was totally captivated with.” <ref>“In A Class All His Own.”</ref> A year or two later, he took a job at The Briar Workshop working for Elliott Nachwalter and Jorg Jemelka. <ref>Stanion, “Tesla.”</ref> The Briar Workshop laid the groundwork for American artisan pipe making and included Danish designer pipe maker Finn Meyan Andersen and Cooke’s good friend Brad Pohlmann. <ref>“Briar Workshop,” ''Pipedia,'' [[Briar Workshop|https://pipedia.org/wiki/Briar_Workshop]], accessed June 13, 2022.</ref> | On graduation, Cooke took a job with television station WCAX as its Art Director, where he worked through the mid-seventies. He decided he wanted to stop smoking cigarettes and his wife Deb bought him a carve-it-yourself pipe kit. “After I made the first one,” he recalls, “I knew that I finally found something that I was totally captivated with.” <ref>“In A Class All His Own.”</ref> A year or two later, he took a job at The Briar Workshop working for [[Nachwalter|Elliott Nachwalter]] and [[Jorg Jemelka]]. <ref>Stanion, “Tesla.”</ref> The Briar Workshop laid the groundwork for American artisan pipe making and included Danish designer pipe maker [[Finn Meyan Andersen]] and Cooke’s good friend [[Brad Pohlmann]]. <ref>“Briar Workshop,” ''Pipedia,'' [[Briar Workshop|https://pipedia.org/wiki/Briar_Workshop]], accessed June 13, 2022.</ref> | ||
When the Briar Workshop relocated to Florida a few years later, Cooke remained in Vermont to make his own pipes. Not long afterwards he met Barry Levin of Levin Pipes International (LPI), located in Craftsbury, Vermont, who is widely regarded as the founding father of the estate pipe market in the US. While LPI sold some of Cooke’s first pipes, the company was more important in providing him the opportunity to restore and study thousands of pipes, laying the foundation for his understanding of airflow, engineering and design language. <ref>Stanion, “Tesla.”</ref> | When the Briar Workshop relocated to Florida a few years later, Cooke remained in Vermont to make his own pipes. Not long afterwards he met Barry Levin of Levin Pipes International (LPI), located in Craftsbury, Vermont, who is widely regarded as the founding father of the estate pipe market in the US. While LPI sold some of Cooke’s first pipes, the company was more important in providing him the opportunity to restore and study thousands of pipes, laying the foundation for his understanding of airflow, engineering and design language. <ref>Stanion, “Tesla.”</ref> | ||
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Actually, the belief is quite puzzling in many ways. When one thinks about it, all sandblasted pipes are ‘sand carved’ to some degree and in some way. That is why the blasting is done! In making a single pipe, Jim told me that he spends from twelve to fifteen hours on sandblasting alone, quite in addition to all the other time-consuming steps that go into that pipe. Does this make his sandblasts somehow different than most others? Of course it does! Jim’s three-stage method seems to consistently bring out more detail, depth and definition, in my opinion, than anyone. That is why his pipes are so damned much in demand. Jim Cooke is the ‘Bo Nordh of the Blast.’ Jim does not create false graining patterns with his technique. In fact, he told me that his first pass is done specifically to expose the grain patterns, which he further exposes and details in his follow steps. <ref>''The Perfect Smoke,'' 146.</ref></blockquote> | Actually, the belief is quite puzzling in many ways. When one thinks about it, all sandblasted pipes are ‘sand carved’ to some degree and in some way. That is why the blasting is done! In making a single pipe, Jim told me that he spends from twelve to fifteen hours on sandblasting alone, quite in addition to all the other time-consuming steps that go into that pipe. Does this make his sandblasts somehow different than most others? Of course it does! Jim’s three-stage method seems to consistently bring out more detail, depth and definition, in my opinion, than anyone. That is why his pipes are so damned much in demand. Jim Cooke is the ‘Bo Nordh of the Blast.’ Jim does not create false graining patterns with his technique. In fact, he told me that his first pass is done specifically to expose the grain patterns, which he further exposes and details in his follow steps. <ref>''The Perfect Smoke,'' 146.</ref></blockquote> | ||
[[File:C21 P&T2008 02.jpg|thumb|Second pass in the blasting cabinet (courtesy ''P&T'')]] | [[File:C21 P&T2008 02.jpg|thumb|Second pass in the blasting cabinet (courtesy ''P&T'')]] | ||
Cooke has undoubtedly been the catalyst in popularizing blasting so that the once lowly and “bastard son” of briar pipes is now seen on equal terms with smooth-finished pipes and by many smokers even preferred. | Cooke has undoubtedly been the catalyst in popularizing blasting so that the once lowly and “bastard son” of briar pipes is now seen on equal terms with smooth-finished pipes and by many smokers even preferred. "Doctor of Pipes" indeed. | ||
== Bibliography & Media == | == Bibliography & Media == | ||