Nording

Nording was born in Denmark and originally educated in engineering. Pipe carving only began as a hobby but as time went by, he became more interested in it as a profession. During the last 40 years he has built his own business, which produces approximately 50,000 pipes a year. Erik Nording has been called the “Ernest Hemingway of pipes” because he's an avid sportsman and has a huge collection of hunting trophies; everything from a grizzly bear to a tiger shark.

As an homage to these animals, Nording releases a Hunter Series every year. Free-hands are given their basic shape on a fraising machine. The stems are all hand cut, though they are made in an assembly line style, thousands at a time, to save production costs. After they are roughed out, freehands are given individual shapes on sanding disks, then finished in a variety of colors and fitted with vulcanite stems. All pipes are handmade in Denmark.