The Zeffan

This is the second M grade pipe I've made in many years of pipemaking now. I drilled it and was amazed at the quality and perfection of the wood. It was originally intended to be just a simple freehand, but once I saw the grain I knew it had to be something special. It took a long time before I knew what that special would be, however! I was stumped and could not come up with a shape, so it sat in roughed-out form on my workbench for many months. I was determined not to rush it and end up with something I didn't like, so I put it out of mind and worked on other pipes, all the while looking sideways at it. Finally, as I knew it would, I picked it up one day and saw the pipe exactly as it is, all at once. Currently in the collection of John Capuano.