Windjammer Pipes

Windjammer Pipes is a one-man briar pipe workshop that Justin Bain runs in Philadelphia, in the United States. The brand is the name not of a factory but of a single bench; because production is kept small-scale, no two examples are expected to be identical. Nearly everything known about the workshop comes from its own website, active in the mid-2010s, and from directories compiling American pipe makers.

Production Method

The distinguishing point the workshop highlights in its own promotion is that the briar block is worked without being mounted on a lathe. According to this claim, the chamber and shank are cut and shaped entirely by hand, and the holes are also bored without a lathe. Hand-drilling doesn't give the precision of machine work in series production; in exchange, it allows a separate decision to be made for each block's grain and flaws. Mouthpieces are stated to be made of vulcanite or a type of acrylic called lucite.

In finishing, natural stain and pure carnauba wax are said to be preferred, and blemishes in the body are not covered with paste — that is, the work is fill-free. When a flaw that needs hiding shows up in a block, the response is not filling but surface rustication. All of this information rests on the workshop's own statements; it has not been tested by an independent review or expert assessment.