DePrey

DePrey is the one-man pipe bench of R. James DePrey, who worked in the town of Fort Kent, Maine, on the Canadian border. Established, according to records, in the mid-1980s, the workshop closed in 1989 due to the maker's health. Though its life was limited to a few years, the DePrey name is one of the recorded examples of the handmade-pipe movement that spread through small American towns during those years.

The Bench in Fort Kent

DePrey never turned pipe making into a full-time profession; the work remained a pursuit carried out alongside another means of livelihood. The workshop's powered equipment consisted only of a drill press and a sanding stand. Since all shaping other than the airway and chamber holes was done with hand tools, all of the pieces produced qualify by definition as freehand. Despite this, annual production is stated to have been kept at around 250 pipes — a high pace for a maker working alone and devoting only part of his time to it.

Briar was used for the bodies. Surfaces were left either smooth-polished or carved (rustic); some pieces were stained, others left in the wood's own color. For mouthpieces, both vulcanite and Lucite from the acrylic family were preferred.