Profile: Dan Bender, Pipe-Smith

Linn-Benton Community College is home to a wide assortment of people from all walks of life with varied hopes, dreams, goals, and interests. While no one student shines brighter than the rest, there are an unmistakable few who strike interest as individuals. One such student is Dan Bender, General Education student here at LBCC, and his hobby of crafting tobacco pipes is becoming more and more intriguing.

Students who venture out to the smoke shack can't help but be amazed but his skill. "He has one shaped like a dragon claw holding a stone" says LBCC student Megan Seek. "He usually has more pipes on him or in his truck to show off other than the one he is smoking out of" and if you ask him, he has no problem opening his backpack or walking to his truck and returning to show off his incredible works of art.

Bender developed his enthusiasm for wood carving at a young age. His grandmother, Christine Wechensky, is a now retired Master Carpenter who loved to teach her children and grand children about the creativity and passion that goes into making these works of art. "I used to love just watching her work," says Bender, taking a long pull from his tobacco pipe, "My whole family inherited a bit of her wood working skills and my focus is on making tobacco pipes".

Bender is usually a quiet man who can be seen often on campus smoking from his self-made pipes. Having only been making these tobacco pipes for about 13 months, Bender still considers him self an amateur. Not one to boast overtly about him self, Bender keeps mostly to himself. That is, until the question arises that strikes interest in all who witness, "Where did you get that pipe?" Soon, this usually self contained man opens up and is more than happy to discuss the ins and outs of his hobby.

Bender has made over 30 wooden tobacco pipes by hand and has sold some for as much as $140. His aunt takes them to Saturday Market in Salem and sells them for him when he finishes one of these works of art that he is willing to part with. Though the process of pipe making seems long, Bender has no complaints about the time he puts into every piece.

He starts out with an idea that he sketches in his art pad. His inspirations come from everywhere and he spends alot of time drawing, erasing, and re-drawing each idea before beginning work. He then purchases a small block of wood, his favorite being Briar wood. These blocks of wood or "Blanks" can cost anywhere from $20 to $70 each. Working in his lean-to shed turned work shop, Bender has a variety of tools he uses to carve out each piece. From dremal to lathe,  drill press to  hand sander and buffing wheel, Bender puts alot of time into each piece.

"After I sand it by hand with 4-600 grit sand paper, I use a special wax called Carnuba Wax to make the finish" said Bender. "I also lathe and melt together Ebonite and Acrylic to create each stem for each individual pipe." Added with the process of wood staining, buffing, and occasionally having to repeat a few steps, should he find a flaw, each pipe can take over a month beginning to end.

"One time I was approached by a man named Coburn Grabenhorst at the market who turned out to be a pipe collector and he really liked Dan's pipes", said Aunt Theresa Bender. "He has over 300 pipes in his collection from the Nepoleonic Era to Danish Freehand pipes and he even invited Dan over to see his collection". This only strengthened Bender's love of his craft, as well as taught him to put his signature on each piece which Coburn pointed out was essential if you want your work to become more well known.

Due to interest in his tobacco pipes, Bender is unable to take many commissions because, as would seem obvious, he is only one man and most who have had a chance to hear about his pipes want a Dan Bender original for themselves even if just as an art piece if not to actually smoke out of. However he is still very willing to talking about this hobby he loves and who know, maybe he will be famous some day and you can say' I knew him when...'.

For more information about this skilled craftsmen, he can often be found at the Takena Hall smoke shack, standing around, quietly smoking his pipes, and as stated before, he is very willing to talk to anyone who would like to know more about his passion for pipe making.