Tine Pipes

Tine Pipes is the name architect Martin Steinthaler, who lives in Klagenfurt in southern Austria, uses for the pipes he makes himself. The name comes from "Tine," the nickname by which the maker is known in the community. There is no registered trademark or regularly operating business behind it: what exists is a personal production line, limited in number, kept up as an extension of a professional interest in design.

From Architecture to the Bench

Steinthaler's introduction to pipes goes back to December 1997; his own attempts at making pipes by hand did not begin until April 1999. The link between these two dates is Peter Matzhold, a well-known master from the Kärnten region. What first brought the two together was not pipes at all, but the design of Matzhold's website. An acquaintance that began as a business relationship soon turned into a friendship, giving Steinthaler the chance to use an experienced master's bench and tools.

The first Tine pipes were shaped in this workshop, under Matzhold's supervision. In other words, it was not formal training but time spent directly at a master's side that proved decisive — a common form of transmission in small-scale Austrian pipe making. The relationship between the two names is sometimes referred to in the community as a mentor-student bond.