Pipe "Constance"

Pipe material requires special preparation. If we want to make a pipe from a pear wood, the tree has to be cut down after the vegetation period (late autumn, winter or early spring), when it no longer has the resinous juices. In a saw-mill the wood is ground into the so-called 4, 5 to 5 cm wide ‘bursy’ (chunks). They must lie down for at least 2 years, in special conditions, before they are processed. A root is used in the case of briar pipes. A shrub must be cut down, and its root must be left behind in the soil, to build up mass. After a root is dug out it is stored in a cellar for a few consecutive months. It must be watered a few times daily, as to prevent it from drying up and cracking. Next it is cut into blocks, which are put into string nets. At that stage it still needs to be poured over with water. Later briar is soaked in boiling water for about 24 hours in a tub. Later it undergoes drying in special conditions for a few months. Making a smoking pipe is a multi-stage process, requiring extraordinary precision. Particular pipe parts must have appropriate measurements and proportions to fit together. The process demands repeated polishing, wood-staining, cleaning, covering the interior of the head with heat-resistant substance and many other activities, before a pipe is ready for sale. In Poland the entire process is hand-made which gives our pipes added value. Przemyśl is the oldest pipe manufacturing centre. That is where the first mentions about a pipe-making trade in Poland come from - 1870. The XIXth century pipe-making traditions have been cultivated until this day. ‘Pipe Festival’ is organized in Przemyśl every year – it offers the most remarkable pipe craft display.