Brad Pohlmann: The American Maker Who Returned to His Craft

Brad Pohlmann is an American pipemaker who entered the craft in the mid-1970s, worked in an entirely different trade for more than twenty years in between, and then returned to the bench. His name is associated both with the second generation of the American handmade pipe scene and with the small number of makers who build most of their own tools.

The Vermont Years

His interest in pipes began in high school, at a tobacco shop in Alhambra, California. After a trip taken to see Britain's storied pipe houses in person, he began looking for a master to teach him the craft; when his search in New York turned up nothing, he joined The Briar Workshop, run by Elliott Nachwalter and Jorg Jemelka in Stowe, Vermont, in the fall of 1976. He worked unpaid the first few weeks, gradually became involved in every stage of production, and developed particular expertise in staining and final finishing. The same crew included J. T. Cooke, who would later become known under his own name. Pohlmann stayed at the workshop for about five years; the venture dissolved after it relocated to Florida.

The Long Gap Between

During this period, Pohlmann decided that becoming a lasting pipemaker meant mastering machining. He completed a four-year, eight-thousand-hour tool-and-die apprenticeship. A long corporate career followed: he spent roughly sixteen years at Tandem Computers, leaving when the company passed first to Compaq and then to Hewlett-Packard. By his own account, these years also gave him the chance to work with the owner of the now-closed Arlington pipe factory, and with makers who had worked there, such as Charlie Tusa.

Most sources give his return to the bench as 2003; some accounts place it a year later. Through his former workshop colleague Cooke, he acquired a stock of briar that had been resting for fifteen years. Working a few times at Todd Johnson's workshop, whom he met at the Chicago pipe show, proved a turning point; there he learned the "shape first, drill after" method. In this sequence, where the holes are bored only after the block has been shaped, the grain direction can be followed more closely to produce freer forms.

Workmanship and Signature Features

In Pohlmann's pipes, the mouthpiece is cut by hand from rod stock rather than a pre-made mold, and seats onto the body with a Delrin tenon; along with vulcanite, he also works with bakelite. His shape language leaned initially toward the Danish school; the maker has said that in later years he moved toward sharper lines and a more flowing direction. Among the influences he has named in interviews are S. Bang, Tom Eltang, Kei'ichi Gotoh, Yuki Tokutomi, Cornelius Mänz, and Paolo Becker. For accent pieces he uses tamarind wood, boxwood, blackwood palm, horn, and bamboo; on the surface, he moves between a polished finish and sandblasts of his own devising. The pipes carry a script "Pohlmann" stamp with "USA" beneath it.

The maker works today in Oregon's Applegate valley, in a workshop he shares with his wife and fellow maker Silver Gray. His building most of his own lathes and jigs is often cited as the main reason for the precision frequently noted in his work.