Chheda
Growing up in his parents' tobacco shops in Ohio Smokers' Haven, Premal Chheda developed an early fascination with pipes, particularly through restoring estate pipes. His interest in old English classics, wood finishing, and pipe construction deepened over time. Towards the end of his college career, Premal opened a pipe shop across from the OSU campus. From 1999 to 2000, he worked tirelessly on his own, establishing an online presence with smokershaven.com and beginning to explore pipe making. With a few blocks of briar from Tim West and guidance from both Tim West and Steve Anderson, he set up a mini workstation in his shop.
In 2002, Premal met Mike Butera, which significantly influenced his journey into fine pipe making. After visiting Mike, Premal absorbed everything Mike shared with him. In 2006, after relocating the campus store to a larger location, he built a workshop in the back of the shop, complete with an estate pipe restoration setup. This marked the start of Chheda pipes, along with the Buckeye pipes line. Shortly after setting up his workshop, he hired Bill Shalosky to collaborate with him on Chheda pipes. Bill's natural talent in design and Premal's precision and fine finishing allowed both to progress quickly. In 2014, Jesse Jones joined the team, initially working on estates, then Buckeyes, and finally Chheda pipes. Bill left in late 2014, and Jesse departed in early 2016, leaving Premal as the sole maker of Chheda pipes from March 2016 to the present day.
From the inception of Chheda pipes, Premal has been dedicated to mentoring other pipe makers, providing guidance on both the craft and the business aspects. He has welcomed numerous makers to his shop, including Vollmer & Nilsson, Sergey Ailarov, Ryan Alden, David Huber, Brad Pohlmann, Scott Klein, Grant Batson, Micah "Yeti" Cryder, Clark Layton, Scottie Piersel, Abe Herbaugh, James Gilliam, Walt Hettinger, Michael Parks, Jerry Zenn, Li Zhesong, Nate King, Jerry Crawford, Micah Redmond, Thomas James, and many more through phone, message, and email. He continues to instruct and collaborate with new makers to this day.
In 2018, Premal launched RawKrafted, a pipe-making supply business that provides quality materials and tools to professional pipe makers, while also enriching the community with access to information and advice. He has won the Kansas City pipe carvers contest twice and served as a judge for the last two years of the contest. Premal is also one of the admins for the pipemakers forum and their Facebook page. In 2016, he took his first trip to Italy to visit the briar cutter Mimmo, experiencing the briar's source and processing firsthand, which he considers one of the highlights of his life.
Each Chheda pipe is completely handmade from the finest materials available. With his experience as a high-grade pipe supplier, Premal maintains strict quality control for every Chheda pipe. The stems are hand-cut from top-grade German ebonite and other fine materials, and each pipe is marked "CHHEDA USA" with a three-digit stamp indicating its order of creation. Premal has an affinity for both classic and freehand designs, making each Chheda pipe unique in shape and finish.