pipedreamer wrote:OK, Nordh, Viggo nielson, Rainer Barbi,Poul Winslow, Georg Jenson Dunhill, Luigi Viprati, Nording, Axmacher, Mastro DePaha The list goes on and on most of Europe smokes 9mm filters as I said Most top pipe makers make 9mm pipes Too!
My statement is correct! The list is so big it would be a job listing all of them. and countries. Usa.,China Denmark, Germany Austria , Canada, Ireland, England, Same as with the over list. 9mmPipes are here to stay. I am well aware of the american prejudice towards filters. Doesn't exist elsewhere. P.S. I have a Former 9mm Prince. If a client wants a 9mm, are you going to tell him you can't or won't make one?
I think that you are absolutely correct that filters play a huge roll in the pipe making world. There are many factories, workshops, and individual artisans that use filters in their pipemaking. However, individual artisans use filters much less frequently, and finding a filtered pipe made by some of the best makers in the world would be difficult.
In your list you have named a few makers who I would agree operate at the highest levels of pipemaking. You've also listed several good makers who do not abide by that standard nor do they seek a designation like that.
Frank Axmacher, IMO, is a high level pipe maker. While he may produce pipes for the German market with filters, I have never seen a filtered Axmacher pipe available in the US. To me, this says he is catering to the laws of Germany in order to sell his work there. However, when making pipes for a less restrictive market, he opts to leave the filter out.
Bo Nordh was a pipe maker who I've never seen a filtered pipe from.
Rainer Barbi was a pipe maker who I've seen a handful of filtered pipes from on the estate market, but they've been few and far between.
I don't deny that filter pipes are all over the place. However, I do think that your statement that "all top line guys maker filter pipes" is false
if you're indicating that filter pipes are a standard for the best pipemakers in the world. If your position is that filtered pipes are all over the pipe world and some of the best pipe makers in the world have made pipes with filters, then I'd agree with you without hesitation.