Harkam Pfeifen (Karl Harkam)

Harkam Pfeifen is a one-man pipe workshop based in the town of Wundschuh, just south of Graz, in Austria's southern Styria state. The person running the workshop alone is Karl Harkam, born in 1958. Harkam came to pipe making late and by an indirect route, carving his first pipes in 2005 while keeping his main occupation. In later years he deliberately kept output small, never exceeding twenty-five pipes a year, yet he has become known among collectors well beyond Europe.

The Master's Path

Harkam has no apprenticeship background in pipe making; he is counted among the self-taught masters. Records indicate his working life was spent in commercial office work, and that he also trained as a chef. The workshop was therefore shaped from the start as a side pursuit, and mass production was never a goal. Harkam says he owes part of what he learned to his briar supplier; according to his account, he sources blocks from Italy, from Mimmo Romeo, founder of the Romeo Pipe workshop. This connection has brought an Austrian amateur's work close to Calabria's briar tradition from the very first day.

Method of Making

No copy lathe or template is used in the workshop. Since each body is shaped individually with a grinding wheel, coarse rasps, and fine files, no two pieces are identical; all output produced is considered freehand. The material used is briar blocks sourced from the Mediterranean basin. After coloring, the surface is polished with carnauba wax. Harkam says he refuses to cover the small blemishes seen in imperfect blocks with fill putty, leaving the wood as it is.

Mouthpieces are also made by hand; hardened rubber (ebonite) or its grained variant, Cumberland, is preferred. Where ornamentation is called for, exotic woods, horn, and bone come into play. According to a report in the local press, a single pipe, including the making of the mouthpiece, requires an average of sixteen hours of work. Finished pipes carry hand stamps indicating the brand name and Austrian origin.

Recognition

Such limited production has made Harkam not a name known to a wide public but one that circulates hand to hand among collectors. His work has reached buyers in Japan and China as well as Europe, while his recognition in America owes largely to the Chicago pipe show, which he has attended for years. For workshops at this scale, pipe shows are considered the chief meeting point standing in for an established distribution network.