Brad Pohlmann: the American Maker Who Returned to His Craft

Brad Pohlmann is an American pipemaker who entered the craft in the mid-1970s, worked in an entirely different trade for more than twenty years in between, and then returned to the bench. His name is associated both with the second generation of the American handmade pipe scene and with the small number of makers who build most of their own tools.

The Vermont Years

His interest in pipes began in high school, at a tobacco shop in Alhambra, California. After a trip taken to see Britain's storied pipe houses in person, he began looking for a master to teach him the craft; when his search in New York turned up nothing, he joined The Briar Workshop, run by Elliott Nachwalter and Jorg Jemelka in Stowe, Vermont, in the fall of 1976. He worked unpaid the first few weeks, gradually became involved in every stage of production, and developed particular expertise in staining and final finishing. The same crew included J. T. Cooke, who would later become known under his own name. Pohlmann stayed at the workshop for about five years; the venture dissolved after it relocated to Florida.