FACTORY TOUR CONTINUED
SANDBLASTING
What is a sandblasted pipe?
Just as its name implies, a sandblasted pipe is one where the
briar has been subjected
to a fine stream of sand particles or glass beads dispersed by a
powerful jet action.
This stream wears away at the briar in between the natural grain
pattern thus,
creating a relief making each pipe unique and different from any other.
How is a pipe sandblasted?
As stated above, one way is to use a jet stream of stand fed
at very high pressure
and directed against the surface of the briar.
There is also another method where many pipes are put into a tub that is exposed
to
many jets of sand and allowed to tumble end over end so that
most surfaces are affected by
the sand jets.
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At Savinelli, every one of our sandblasted pipes is created one at the time. Each bowl is introduced to a fine jet of sand by one of our artisans, who carefully guide the bowl, delicately carving out the areas of softer material, following the grain pattern all around the entire surface of the bowl and shank. Notice the bowls on the table in the photo and the lines that feed the sand under great pressure. It is painstaking, artistic work, but well worth the effort. |
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A Savinelli artisan wearing gloves |
A perfectly sandblasted Non Pareil pipe
Before we end this brief tour, we have a few more photos of different factory
operations to show you.
We hope this tour has been informative and given you some insight
as to how we manufacture our pipes.
