LarsStudio

Three generations of Ivarssons in the workshop--Lars, Nanna,
and Sixten looking on in the background.

I met Lars Ivarsson at Tom Eltang's opening, but didn't have time to visit him until my return trip. We met at his country house, about an hour north of Copenhagen on the ocean. He was extremely gracious, as were his wife, his daughter and his two dogs. I asked Lars to write a brief biography for us, and he kindly obliged:

"I was born in Copenhagen 1944. My pipe carving career started in 1952, the very moment I was allowed to carry a sharp knife at the age of eight. From that time on I was constantly “working” with a piece of wood, not so much for the sake of making something as for the cutting itself. With this head start, I naturally started helping in my father’s workshop: hand sanding, cleaning dirty pipes, polishing and so on. The result was that the allowance that Danish boys generally get starting at age 12, I didn’t need—I was already getting paid!

"Gradually, my work improved; so at the age of sixteen I made special order pipes, stamped with the workshop stamp. The first pipes with the L.I. initials came around in 1964. In 1963 I had finished high school and started university, studying chemistry, it didn’t last; so six month later I was a full-time pipe maker, participating in the pipe boom in U.S.A. and a few years later in Japan.

"In 1966 I felt that I should do something with my high school degree, so I went back to university, and during the next three years I finished a B.A. in business economics still making pipes in the afternoon (and sending weather balloons up in the early morning). In 1970 I moved to a small farm in the country, where I lived thirteen years, making pipes part time, and farming part time. The next thirteen years I lived in a small village in a very nice house but with poor workshop facilities. For the last seven years I have lived where I always wanted to live--20 yards from the beach and 20 yards From the forest. On top of that, my workshop is the old pigsty with plenty of space, so now I really feel at home [NB--See below for pictures].

"As you maybe have guessed I always have had a big interest in knives, and have as long as I can remember fitted old blades with new handles, made new holsters and so on. One day I realised that the knife I really wanted wasn’t made yet, so of course I had to make it. It took me some years to acquire the skills. In 1983 I sold my first knives, and for the next 12 years I made ten to twelve knives a year. For the last seven years knife making is a hobby, as time is a little scarce, and also I feel that I reached the goal I set many years ago [NB: pictures below].

"In all these years I have experienced the ups and downs in the market situations, and instead of adjusting to the market, I have patiently waited and worked to adjust the market to me.

To quote my father: From this kind of pipe making you don’t get wealthy. But I am very rich, and sometimes I also have a little money!"

Here is a little tour of the Ivarrson homestead and workshop, taken on two separate visits during my last trip to Denmark. Happily, Lars' daughter Nanna was there, making a pipe and consulting with her father.


The view towards the ocean	The view towards the woods	Pheasants from the woods


Lars' boat and ex-pigsty/workshop	Nanna consults with Lars inside	Lars considers from different angles


Ah, that's it!	Searching for a shank jig, Sixten above.	Sixten approves also.


Sanding wheels for shaping, each of a different grit and size.	Sixten's own spoon bits for the tobacco chamber, a present from Bo Nordh	Lars' own-made spoon bits, well used.


Old lathe for tobacco chamber. Sixten started with a foot-pedal model.	Chinese lathe for stems, modified by Lars, of course.	Tooling and stains. Note heat gun on the bench for bending stems.


Rejected pipe box. No, don't even think about it.	Pipes in process, not shower heads.	One of Lars' own pipes. Actually, two, but only one is for smoking.


Sandblasting cabinet and compressor. Sixten was an expert blaster, Lars too.	Lars' ultimate knife, with hand made scabbard. Note finger notch.	The family house, with the Danish evening falling.

Lars just sent me this picture of the December full moon over the ocean as seen from his workshop. This is why he lives in the country. Good night, Lars!