Tag Archives: Dominik Hand Made Ring blast crowned smooth rim top Canted Poker

Enjoying an Inaugural Smoke in my Dominik Ring Grain Sandblasted Dublin with a Pencil Shank

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Blog by Steve Laug

I fired up my first bowl of tobacco in my UNSMOKED Hand Carved Dominik Kobryń Pencil Shank Dublin this weekend. I rubbed out some Seattle Pipe Club Christmas Spirit Plug. The pipe is stunning and feels great in my hand. The beautiful ring blast gives the pipe a very light weight and very tactile sense that will only be more when it heats up during a smoke. The pencil shank pipe is a dainty 5 inches long and 2 inches tall. It weighs in under 1 ounce at .95 ounces or 27 grams. I have included a few photos of the pipe before I loaded it up and smoked it. If Dominik pipes are new to you I am including what I learned when I worked on the first pipe of this brand. When I started I knew nothing about the carver other than he did beautiful work so I turned to Pipedia to see what I could find (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dominik_Pipes). There was a listing for Dominik Pipes. He is a Polish Carver and I have included the short article in its entirety below.

Dominik pipes are made by Dominik Kobryń. His journey with pipes began in 1993 at a flea market, where he bought his first pipe. From that time his collection has grown a lot. He made his first pipe in December 2016. Dominik credits Wojtek Pastuch as his mentor, and is very grateful for that!

Dominik uses briar from Mimmo Romeo. He makes his stems by hand, mainly from Ebonite and Cumberland rods, but occasionally acrylic. He focuses on unique pipes that are well done technically.

From there I clicked on a link at the bottom of the page that took me to his Pipe sales website (http://www.dominikpipes.com/). Interestingly the site contained almost word for word the information that I had found on Pipedia.

My name is Dominik Kobryń. My journey with pipes began in 1993 on a flea market, where I bought my first pipe. From that time my collection has grown a lot.

I made my first pipe in December 2016. Wojtek Pastuch has taught me a lot about pipemaking and I am very grateful for that!

I use briar from Domenico Romero (Mimmo). I make stems by hand, mainly from ebonite rods and Cumberland, sporadically acrylic. I pay much attention to create unique pipes, well done technically. The tobacco I chose for the inaugural smoke is a limited-edition version of Seattle Pipe Club’s Plum Pudding pipe tobacco called Christmas Spirit. I love the Plum Pudding tobacco so when this tobacco was released I got a hold of a tin of Christmas Spirit 2023. The tobacco had been cured with Apple Brandy and there was a cut piece of the wooden Brandy barrel in the tin. It is described by the sellers as a holiday mixture perfect for the season even though I am smoking it out of season. It builds upon a foundation of Plum Pudding Special Reserve — complete with mature Orientals, Latakia, Virginias, Perique, and Black Cavendish —and is aged in apple brandy barrels. I cut a chunk off the plug and rubbed out a bowl worth of the tobacco. It smelled divine and my mouth watered in expectation. I pressed the tobacco into the bowl leaving it slightly springy so air can be drawn through the tobacco. I did the first light with my lighter to singe the surface of the tobacco. I followed that with the second light to. The draught on the stem was perfect so I drew on the stem and pulled the smoke through the stem and into my mouth. The smoking of the pipe was effortless and once it was lit it burned evenly through the bowl. I enjoyed a flavourful smoke that was very good for a first bowl. The bowl coating that had been used did not affect the flavour or diminish it at all. It was a great smoke.I took the loaded pipe up to my front porch and sat on chair there and enjoyed the amazing taste of a new to me tobacco. The draught on the pipe was flawless and the sandblast ring grain made the bowl a very cool smoking pipe even as it worked down the bowl. The smoke lasted most of an hour and I enjoyed the relaxing ambience of the front porch, above the passersby on the sidewalk below. It is a great pipe and one that I will smoke again and again. If you have not looked at them on the Polish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store you should take a look there are some real beauties available there. You might find one that delivers the kind of smoke you would enjoy. Thanks.

The Last of the Dominik Sandblasts – A Ring Grain Sandblasted Dublin with a Pencil Shank

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Blog by Steve Laug

The pipes that I will be posting over the next few days from this lot that Jeff and I purchased are fascinating pipes. They were quite stunning but altogether unknown to me. I did not recognize the name of the maker. All the pipes were unsmoked other than the Stanwell Pipe of the Year. We purchased them from a fellow in Kalundborg, Denmark on 02/03/2024. He said that they were all unsmoked and when they arrived they were. They were relatively clean and merely dusty with a little light debris on the stem surfaces. The shapes, sandblasts, shank extensions, and stems were all unique and very well done. The pipes were very beautiful and I could not wait for Jeff to refresh them a bit and get them up to me to do my part. Here are some of the photos of the pipes that we purchased provided by the seller.Here is a photo of the pipe that was sent to us by the seller. It is the one that I chose to work on next. It is a beautiful sandblast Dublin with a smooth, crowned rim top. The blast is very well done. The stem is also well cut and other than dusty and lightly oxidized is in great condition. The bowl is unsmoked. The bowls all have a carbon bowl coating that is well done on the walls of the bowl. The pipe is stamped around the shank end with the etched name of Dominik. I am looking forward to working on it as it will take very little work and will be a fun break.I am including what I learned when I worked on the first pipe of this brand. When I started I knew nothing about the carver other than he did beautiful work so I turned to Pipedia to see what I could find (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dominik_Pipes). There was a listing for Dominik Pipes. He is a Polish Carver and I have included the short article in its entirety below.

Dominik pipes are made by Dominik Kobryń. His journey with pipes began in 1993 at a flea market, where he bought his first pipe. From that time his collection has grown a lot. He made his first pipe in December 2016. Dominik credits Wojtek Pastuch as his mentor, and is very grateful for that!

Dominik uses briar from Mimmo Romeo. He makes his stems by hand, mainly from Ebonite and Cumberland rods, but occasionally acrylic. He focuses on unique pipes that are well done technically.

From there I clicked on a link at the bottom of the page that took me to his Pipe sales website (http://www.dominikpipes.com/). Interestingly the site contained almost word for word the information that I had found on Pipedia.

My name is Dominik Kobryń. My journey with pipes began in 1993 on a flea market, where I bought my first pipe. From that time my collection has grown a lot.

I made my first pipe in December 2016. Wojtek Pastuch has taught me a lot about pipemaking and I am very grateful for that!

I use briar from Domenico Romero (Mimmo). I make stems by hand, mainly from ebonite rods and cumberland, sporadically acrylic. I pay much attention to create unique pipes, well done technically.

If you are interested in my work do not hesitate to contact me.

I have been following Wojtek Pastuch for some time now and really like what he is doing. It is fascinating that Dominik considers him his mentor. In chatting with Jeff, he sent me a link to Dominik’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/dominikpipes). It is worth a look to see his current pipes.

Now it was time to “work” on the pipe. For his part, Jeff had simply rinsed the pipe off with warm water and dried it. He soaked the stem in deoxidizer to remove the grime and the light oxidation near the shank joint. This pipe is perhaps one of my favourites in the lot. It is a Canted Stack or Dublin Poker that has a stunning ring blast around bowl, a regular light blast on the heel and the shank and a smooth crowned rim top. It has a pencil shank and a flared vulcanite taper stem. There is a mix of colour in the blast that shows depth and when it arrived here it was very clean. I saved it for last because I have just left it sitting so I could enjoy the artisanry of the pipe. It is one that I believe that I will hang on to for my own collection. I finally took photos of it before I started my work. It is a beauty! I took photos of the smooth crowned top and bowl along with both sides of the vulcanite stem to show the condition of the pipe. It is clearly unsmoked and new.I took a photo to try to capture the etching of Dominik on the underside of the shank. It is very readable in person but is curved around the shank bottom and it hard to capture in a photo. I also removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. The bowl was in excellent condition so skipped ahead to applying the Balm to the briar. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe really comes alive with the balm. I polished the vulcanite taper stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Sandblast Dominik Crowned Rim, Pencil Shank, Canted Dublin and a vulcanite taper stem has a beautiful, unique ring blast finish that is deep and craggy. The rich dark finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. It has the same great rugged sandblast that I am enjoying looking at on the Dominik pipes I have picked up. The polished smooth, crowned rim is richly grained. The sand blast and the vulcanite taper stem add to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and lightly buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping and have a lighter touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Sandblast Dominik Crowned Rim Dublin is stunning and feels great in my hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .95 ounces/27 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I am going to hold on to this one – at least for awhile and enjoying Dominik’s fine work. I hope to fire it up the first time this weekend. Thanks for your time.