Don Warren Pipes: a Danish-Influenced Bench in Albuquerque

Don Warren Pipes is the name of a one-man handmade-pipe bench operating in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Behind it stands not a factory but a single maker working to order. The brand name does not carry the maker's surname; pipe sources sometimes record the bench's owner under the name Donald W. Gillmore as well, though the two names describe the same workshop.

From Woodworking to the Pipe Bench

By the maker's own account, pipe making sits atop a woodworking background spanning years. When he returned to pipe smoking after a hiatus and found that his pipe did not meet expectations, this led him to make his own pipe. It is said that his first attempts were made with the native hardwoods he was accustomed to in carpentry, with briar and bog oak entering the picture later. Encouragement from the region's pipe-enthusiast circle, and pipe gatherings where the work of various makers could be seen together, are considered to have played a role in the pursuit moving beyond a personal experiment. These details rest on the bench's own promotional material and have not been verified in independent records.