Woods
in my laboratory I age Briarwood logs for a period of 2 to 3 years. Briarwood is the essential element used in pipemaking; the essence of the pipe itself and my wanting the best quality pipes are important for two reasons: the first and maybe not outwardly visible is the genuineness of the product to be used. In fact, the aging and storing of the Briarwood, together with a special boring technique that I have developed during my experience, doesn‘t permit umidity or annoying drizzling to form when the tobacco is burned. This helps those, who like me, heat the pipe a lot while smoking in order to enjoy the tobacco. Briarwood can therefore tolerate high temperatures caused by "nervous" smokers, such as cigarette smokers, without forming umidity. he second instead is exterior and that is to add to the genuineness of the product the beauty of the wood blazes or pellet eyes, or sandblasts that show the intrinsic quality of the wood; the ashes that develop in the bowl are almost like a "spiderweb". Therefore there cannot be a real perfection both extrinsic and intrinsic if the raw material isn‘t the best. There are different types of Briarwood logs, but only an excellent quality can balance both the aspects described above. I mainly use Briarwood from Northern Italy that has been aged for at least 2 to 3 years. I have also begun using alternative woods that are extremely interesting for their potential aromas, such as Olivewood and Arbute. With these I make smooths, sandblasts and rusticates.

Inserts
As for the inserts I have undergone an evolution in my pipemaking: at the beginning I used metal inserts such as silver, now instead I use mainly wood because in my opinion it exalts the potentials of the Briarwood. I am constantly looking for new materials to use as inserts and what I use now are mainly Amboina, Boxwood, Rosewood, red or black Palm, Snakewood, Tulipwood, Olivewood, various animal bones (fossil ivory, giraffe tibia, tusks), etc. As inserts these materials can be used as dowels, rings, small balls, etc. To further heighten the potentials of the inserts I work them in a particular manner which is the result of hard work and experimenting. Again, during my evolution as a pipemaker, I used ebanite mouthpieces in the past but am now mainly using metacrillato (even in its various forms such as salamandrato) or cumberland. The mouthpieces are entirely handmade; I buy bars of metacrillato or cumberland and use a series of stratagems so as to make the mouthpieces pleasant to use. In order to enjoy the tobacco more I carve a special dovetail opening that allows the smoke to "open" and not go directly to the tongue and am very careful not to leave a "step" between the mouthpiece and the stem, especially when I make particular types of mouthpieces such as spirals. To exalt the beauty of the pipe and the quality of the smoke I add something else that is highly appreciated: the traditional mouthpiece is attached to the stem by means of a non-breakable pivot in nylon or delryn so that if the pipe becomes very hot the stem doesn‘t break, or if it does, there is limited damage. This helps avoid the difficulty one can have when screwing on or off the mouthpiece while the pipe is still warm. As for the flock, I usually use a brass ring, the so-called "army mount" often used also by the Danes so that there aren‘t any dilations and everything remains integral throughout the time. I have recently begun attaching the mouthpiece onto the insert thus giving continuity and value to the pipe.

Colors
Once I have finished making a pipe, be it rusticate, sandblast or smooth, I begin thinking about the color. Whether to color or not I adopt different solutions to exalt the intrinsic characteristics of the Briarwood and the pipe. All the rusticates, sandblasts and smooth pipes can be colored, naturally or with only some colored parts. I prefer leaving the rusticates and sandblasts natural so that the wood can assume "a color" or an amber tint due to the oils on the smoker‘s hand. The smooth pipes are almost always colored. I use only natural colors that are not aggressive to the wood and normally use light or dark brown with different hues. When coloring pipes with pellet eyes, blazes or other Briarwood characteristics I use a "double coloring" technique that brings out these finishes.

Fonte: www.ducapipe.com