I think making a classic shape is a good way to start the year. I love zulus and I didn’t own any of them. I didn’t make any of them yet so it was time to put one of them in my workbench.

I think that the good think of a zulu are the discret but important curves on the shape so I sandblasted it, but very gently to be sure that the lines harmony was not broken. I choosed brownish colors because I wanted sobriety on it. I really like serious zulus!

I thought about a black ebonite stem and a wood insert, but then I received a new batch of cumberland from germany and discovered that this time, the cumberland looks more brown than red (I don’t know if it’s a mistake on the delivering or it’s just that this batch is less red). Anyway, it was perfect for my zulu so I discarded ebonite and put my hands on a rod of brownish cumberland.

Hope you like it. It’s one of my favorite pipes I made.

Today is flying to Nebraska, US.

Joan is smoking today Penzance on his new Cantó briar kiseru prototype (will post photos tomorrow, I’m testing it right now and it smokes like heaven).

I planned to finish the year with the dublin, but then I had some free days and a lot of energy and I had time to finish two more pipes.

BENT DUBLIN

This one was made for a friend of the pipe club of my city. I enjoyed this shape so much, so I’ll be happy to repeat it on the future.

The ring is made of pink ivory (despite the name, it’s an african wood).

Stem is, like usual, handmade from german ebonite. Love the grain on this one.

STRAIGHT RHODESIAN

This one will be available for sale soon at Pipes Down Under, a pipe retailer from Australia with a nice selection of carvers from around the world.

This time, the ring is made from cumberland and I used it to break the sobriety of this pipe on shape and colors. This is a pipe I really enjoy.

And these are the last pipes I made during the year. It has been the year when I decided to take this hobby into something more serious, I set up a workshop, bought and built many instruments and machines and put many energy on pipe making, a truly passion.

Thank you for following!

Joan is smoking today a Butz Choquin Sweet with Davidoff Royalty.

I made this dublin to stay at my home as a shop pipe for testing a new stem material.

It’s as soft of the ebonite, but I’m still not decided to use it on pipes for sale. For the moment, I’m using it on my own pipes and on pipes for test.

I have not been able to give it a finish as smooth and shiny as the ebonite. Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s the material. I heard some comments from other carvers complaining about the same issue.

This is a shape I will repeat for sure on future pipes for sale. If I love it, probably more people will do it I guess.

BTW, this is my 30th pipe made and the 18th made during 2013.

I smoked it for first time with some Penzance I had stored and reserved for breaking in new pipes.

Joan is smoking today his new Cantó Pipe with ET Penzance.

I tried to make my first blowfish. Just because I was bored. I took a piece of briar with nice grain and without a previous plan, I just started playing with the sand disk and with the dremel. It’s the first time that I make a plan without a previous design.

My wife is so disappointed with this pipe for two reasons. First of all, because she didn’t want it sandblasted and there was no reason to do it, but those rings were calling me like in the Lord of the Rings. The second reason is that for her, it doesn’t look like a pipe. I have to agree and I’m more comfortable with classic shapes, but it has been a good exercise and i had a lot of fun doing it. It has been so easy to work that way.

Would like to know your opinion about this way. Can it be a new line on the Cantó Pipes or do you think that better if I just stay on my old and more classic styles? It’s difficult to me to decide of it’s a nice pipe or not, I don’t have a big culture on organic, danish or japanese shape styles.

The stem is made from german ebonite and I stamped it with my name, but not woth the glasses logo, just in case I decide that this pipe doesn’t fit on my work lines.

Joan is smoking today Butera’s Royal Vintage Latakia n.1 on a Dirk Claessen pipe.

I made a billiard with horn stem and a prince with cumberland stem.

The prince has a ring in the shank made from a boxwood bonsai.

I only had this piece of drilled horn so I have not been really risky with the stem. I was afraid of ruining it.

Both of them are so light and small in proportions for most of you, but perfect sized for my standards!

The prince is a comissioned work for Jeremiah Sandahl, american pipe maker of Sandahl Pipes. You don’t want to miss his work!

Joan is smoking today SG Best Brown Flake on a Cantó pipe.

Two pipes that I finished some weeks ago. I didn’t have the chance to take proper photos of them until now. Being father of a baby is a hard job and doesn’t give you many free time.

The rhodesian is sandblasted and it was the first time that I tried to give some contrast to a sandblasted pipe.

Mouthpiece made from a german ebonite rod and spanish briar from Bruken. The insert in the stem is made from pink ivory.

The billiard is a comissioned pipe. I enjoyed a lot making this one. Inspired by the oval shanked shape 44 from the early years of Dunhill (this shape evolved towards a canadianish shank with the years, but during the early years was a billiard). For the dimensions it would be considered a group 4. For me, it’s so big as pipe.

Stem made from german ebonite rod and shank insert of pink ivory. Spanish briar.

Joan is smoking today Butera’s Royal Vintage Latakia n1 in a MM corn cob.

I made this short lovat for my friend and pipemaker Javier Compte.

It’s my first sandblast ever. I decided not to stain it because after sandblasting it, the texture remembered me a wallnut shell.

There’s a deer horn insert on the shank and the stem is handmade from an ebonite rod.

I don’t have the measurements because I forget to do it before I gave it to him. Sorry 😦

Finished while listening to Johnny Cash.

You can see an iphone video of the pipe here.

Joan is smoking today Samuel Gawith Perfection in a Chacom Sport pipe.

I made this liverpool shaped pipe on assignment for a tobacco blender in US.

He wanted a tiny pipe qith a dark sandblasting.

This is also my second attempt on sandblasting and, in fact, my first sandblasted finished pipe.

I called it Frodo in Mordor because it’s tiny (15 gr.) and with the dark staining and the erosion of the sandblast, it remembers me the dark days that the hobbit spent in Mordor.

It has really thin walls so this is the kind of pipes that I only do when somebody order they, because thay can be a bomb in untrained hands. Personally, I love to smoke viriginias on them, because thay force me a slow and calmed smoke session to keep it not to hot.

I have the impression that sandblasting and thin walls also make them cool faster when they are hot. But maybe I’m wrong. Anyway, I precoated the chamber, like I did on my own tiny billiard before. Just to be safer.

The client is a great smoker so I’m not really afraid in this case 🙂

The mouthpiece is handmade from german cumberland and I’m particulary happy with it, because I’m starting being comfortable with the development of my own line for stem buttons.

Finished while listening to Debussy’s First Arabesque.

Stem: handmade german cumberland.
Lenght: 106mm
Height: 32 mm
Bowl width: 30 mm
Chamber diam.: 19 mm
Weight: 15g

Contact at: info@joancanto.com

Joan is smoking today Middle Earth Tobacco’s Gondor blend on a maltese pipe without brand.