Arya Dipa

Edy Dyana never thought he would run a tobacco pipe business. His grandfather was the one who introduced him to pipes.

Edy – nicknamed Bima by his family – had learned to punch holes on a piece of wood using a hand drill and wood carver. The 43-year-old used different woods such as teak, Siamese senna tree and tamarind tree.

He had traveled back and forth to South Korea to work at a heavy machinery factory, a melting company and even a waste facility treatment. After that he worked as a photographer but that only lasted six months.

When he saw a post on tobacco pipes on social media, he remembered what his grandfather had taught him. He then sold his camera and motorcycle and used the money to buy a lathe machine.

“I saw [the tobacco pipe production process] on YouTube that it took only a few minutes to make one. The reality was that it took me days before I made one,” he said, remembering the day when he started making the pipe.

His first pipe was made of Siamese senna tree and was sold for Rp 350,000 (US$26) after he posted it on his social media account.

Edy has produced at least 350 pipes, making them on the ground floor of his house.

He now imports briar wood from Italy, Greece and Algeria. He also uses stem made of rubber, ebonite or chamberlain.

“The stem material comes in a solid cylinder and I have to buy it per meter. I use 5 centimeters for one pipe,” said Edy, who is still learning from senior pipe makers in West Java.

Edy, who graduated from the Yapari School of English Literature, hopes to sell his pipes abroad. “I wish to sell my pipes through the smokingpipe.com because they are very selective. Therefore, I prefer to become an artist [of tobacco pipes] rather than an imitator,” he said.

He now offers his pipes starting at Rp 2 million. “I once sold a pipe for Rp 5 million to a buyer from Germany,” said Edy, whose pipes are trademarked as Bima Pipes. [yan]