Phil Rivara

Phil Rivara is an American pipe maker working alone, who rebuilds classic pipe shapes with proportions longer and thinner than usual. His pipes are recognized by a plain PR stamp struck on the body; because no series production is done, every piece is unique.

From the Navy to the Bench

Rivara's introduction to the pipe long predates his profession. He served three years on active duty and five years in the reserves in the United States Navy; records indicate he took up pipe smoking in 1989, during his reserve years. In the years spent between Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, he built up a working history running from repair work to auto body work, from a partnership in a business to various handcraft jobs, becoming accustomed along this path to tools and machining.

His move into pipe making, however, came quite late and by chance. According to a 2013 interview, his first time sitting at the bench was roughly three years before that; to be able to make a long-stemmed "Gandalf" pipe a friend wanted, he spent more than six months researching, watching footage of factory production and taking guidance from experienced American makers such as Mark Balkovec and Chris Morgan, largely teaching himself. His workshop is shown in the 2013 interview as being in Sacramento, and in more recent sources in Eagle Point, Oregon; the exact date of the move is not documented.

Shape and Material

The common thread across Rivara's work is stretched proportions. Long-stemmed shapes, especially the Canadian family and Cutty interpretations, are the forms that most often come off his bench; thinning the body without breaking the classic mold and lengthening the shank gives his pipes a silhouette that stands out at first glance. By contrast, he keeps his distance from the Oom Paul shape; by his own account, getting the smoke path right in this form is a challenge for him.

In block choice, he relies on two sources: in interviews he speaks of Greek briar and of briar blocks known as "Mimmo." For mouthpieces he uses acrylic, ebonite, horn, and other natural materials; he has stated that he has also experimented with morta and aluminum. That the turning and milling part of the work relies on machine equipment he has set up himself lets him reproduce fine details with repeatable precision.

Work Beyond Pipes

The workshop does not produce pipes alone. Rivara also makes wood-handled pipe reamers, tools used to correct the carbon buildup in the chamber. He also makes hand-shaped canes and walking sticks. That all three are produced with the same lathe and milling setup shows that Rivara builds his work more on a machine-shop discipline than on carving alone.

The maker is one of the American independent makers who shares his working process on his own video channel; because these recordings serve as documentation of a one-man workshop's day-to-day operation, they are among the sources frequently cited within the community.