Open Letter to New Pipe Makers
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:39 pm
Dear New Pipe Maker,
Welcome! You've found the absolute best website for learning to make great pipes. We're glad you are here.
I am burdened to share something with you. Before I do, let me provide some context. I started this forum about seven years ago. I did so because I had a website that taught people one way to make pipes. The paradigm from which I taught was for the hobbyist maker. I was one of those. I explained my methods as the how-to. I learned how from a similar (but better) website by Trevor Talbert. My website was not intended to compete with Trevor’s, nor, if I recall the timing correctly, did it ever even overlap with Trevor's site. Trevor, you see, had taken his site down before I put mine up. His explanation (please jump in if I am incorrect in my recollection, Trevor) was that the number of emailed questions was overwhelming, and often the emailer was rude when the reply wasn't prompt. This was so disheartening, and ultimate time consuming to the point of hurting his livelihood, that the reasonable action was to just pull the site. This was unfortunate, but clearly the reasonable and right thing for Trevor to do. This created a vacuum in the pipe making universe which my site began to fill. I created my site not because I thought I had all the answers, but because I was being emailed fairly regularly on how to make the pipes that I was selling. After answering the same questions several times, it seemed more efficient to just write the answer once and publish it to my website. So that's what I did. Knowing that would just INCREASE the emails (based on Trevor's experience), I created the forum to handle that end of things. I requested that any questions my site raised be posted to the forum instead of emailed. It worked. After a move to it's own domain, and a shift in management to Kurt (thanks Kurt...nice work!), we sit seven years down the road with what you are reading today. It is an amazing resource thanks to all involved.
OK, so that's the basic history. Let's talk about today.
Today the forum is very different. That's fine and to be expected. After heavy involvement in the site for the first two years, then a five-year hiatus, the changes now that I'm back are glaring. I feel it would help to new members and aspiring pipe makers to understand a few things. Thus my letter.
The most obvious difference is there are a lot more people here. No surprise, and that's good. With that though comes a strange but also non-surprising phenomenon: there is a lot more bad advice. I have read a lot of threads in the last few months where my thought at the end of the thread is, "If that poor guy follows that advice he'll spend a lot of money and possibly be worse off." Usually, when I see something like that, I don't participate in the thread. If I do I risk offending the previous posters whose advice I would dispute. Sometimes I go ahead and take the risk, but usually not. That leads me to point 1:
POINT 1: Tools are not the secret to making better pipes.
Let me tell a story on myself. About two years ago, began learning how to make bamboo fly rods. I did this in an environment of information similar to the pipe making environment today. There are lots of online resources and forums for bamboo rod making. While that made it MUCH easier to learn the skill than it would have been to learn 10 or 15 years ago (just as is the case with pipe making), there was an aspect of all that information that was an overload curse. It lead me to obsess on making sure I had just the right tools in order to avoid all the mistakes that I was reading about. I researched and researched, and I pondered, and I filled shopping carts online, but I wasn't making rods. I had analysis paralysis. I finally started making rods, and I found after a few months of doing so that I had wasted quite a bit of money on tools. On this forum or that forum someone had said this tool was a "must have," so I bought it. I wasted a lot of money learning that some people might call a tool a "must have" because they are 5'5" and their angle of attack planing a rod created problems that were different than mine being 6'5". I should have just made a rod.
How did I make that mistake? I had read warnings that the forums were full of bad advice, but I had a dilemma. I was new and knew nothing about making bamboo rods. How the heck could I tell the good advice from the bad? I'll offer three points to that for new pipe makers:
1. If your advise comes from a guy that has been on the forum for 5 months, be suspicious. Especially if he has a new and better way of doing things.
2. Find photos of the pipes from the guy who is offering the advice. If he makes pipes that look like ones you hope to make, listen. If his pipes look like yours, well...you know. If you can’t FIND any photos of his pipes, see point 1.
3. Just make pipes. You'll quickly learn who to listen to.
But...but...but...how can I make pipes until I buy tools; and how can I buy tools without advice; and how can I take advice without knowing who to listen to? That leads to major point 2.
POINT 2: Tools are not the secret to making pipes.
If you are a rank beginner, buy a kit. (A kit is a block of briar that has been drilled and fitted with a stem.) All you need to turn that into a pipe is...nothing. It already is a pipe. Your task is to make it pretty. THAT IS THE HARDEST THING TO DO IN PIPE MAKING. Drilling three holes that will smoke tobacco is easy. Making a pretty pipe is not. Kits let you work on the thing that takes lots of practice to master with very little money invested. A file or two, some sandpaper, and a way to buff are all you need to make a beautiful pipe. Drilling aside, we've arrived at point 3:
POINT 3: All tools do is make pipe making faster.
Give a great pipe maker a well drilled kit, some files, sandpaper and a way to buff, and he'll make a high-grade pipe. It will take him a lot longer than it does with his normal tools, but it will still be a great pipe. It's him, not the tools. You will not and cannot buy or tool your way into making great pipes. You can only develop your skills. That comes from making pipes, and learning how to get better with each pipe made.
OK, so you've now carved a kit, and low and behold, you did it! You didn't ruin the block, and your friends are amazed. Your co-workers are all wanting you to make them one. They think you are the Leonardo Da Vinci of pipe making. You become a rock star at your local B&M. Orders are piling up. You have a talent for this. YOU ARE GOING TO BE RICH! WOOHOO!
STOP.
It might be true that you have a talent for this, BUT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE DELUDED. What you are making right now are REALLY poor pipes. You'll see it someday and be embarrassed. Thankfully, you are not embarrassed right now or you might quit, and that would be unfortunate. If you quit, you'll never get good at this. My purpose in pointing this out is not to make you feel bad, but to improve this forum a bit. Don't come participate thinking that you are the stuff. It's off-putting and you will be embarrassed when you look back at how cocky you were. Just come in and learn. Post pictures of pipes so that you can hear how to improve them and get better. Help out when you can, but don’t think you are the next great thing. Think of yourself for what you are: a new pipe maker. Being a new pipe maker is a good thing.
There has been some tension of late about how poorly the "old guys" and "big boys" have treated newer members. I believe it is related to how the advice of the "big boys" is often treated because of the somewhat cocky attitude new makers sometimes have. Let me outline a scenario:
1. A question is asked
2. Various answers for the question are posted
3. One of the "big boys" posts an answer
4. Someone argues that they have found (in their extensive 8-pipe career), that the "big boy" (in his 1,600-pipe career) isn't really right. There is a better way. Thinking outside the box is key. Innovation is the answer. Unfortunately the “big boy” is stuck in the rut of the status quo.
5. The "big boy" shakes his head and goes back to making $500++ pipes.
Rinse, Repeat Ad Nauseum.
After awhile of this pattern it comes across as if some of the new guys think the "big boy" has sold his soul to the almighty dollar, and he has never thought about better stem materials, or more creative shapes, or better ways of doing things. Some act like they are here to revolutionize pipe making since no one before him had the brains and talent to do so. It gets tiresome to the "big boy" and he starts to be a little cynical, but he still wants to help the occasional guy that humbly wants to get good at pipe making. Along comes another unsuspecting new guy that asks a question that has been asked and answered two-hundred times, and he gets an earful from an "old guy" in the forum because of bad timing. He might not have deserved the rough answer, but even by asking the same question that has already been asked he is presuming upon everybody since he didn’t take the time to browse a little and use the search feature. Perhaps this is a rush to judgement by the “old guy,” but it happens. We’ve all been a part of something where a new guy jumps in to a circle of long-time friends, and starts acting like he owns the place. The long-time friends all glance at one another with the what’s-with-THIS-guy look. This forum is a group of friends. You are welcome to be a part of it! We are glad you are here!
Let me be quick to clarify that my point is not that everyone should bow at the altar of the "big boys." I don't think they would like that anymore than you would. My final point is simply:
Point 4: Don’t be that guy.
Enjoy the forum. We look forward to becoming friends. We look forward to seeing your pipe making skills grow. We'd love to help.
Warmest Regards,
Tyler
P.S. Obviously tools ARE necessary for pipe making. Let me highlight that there is one tool in particular that makes possible a quality level that is REALLY hard to achieve otherwise. That tool is a metal lathe. You don’t need one to start. You don’t need one ever, really, but I think its safe to say there is no such thing as a high-grade pipe maker that doesn’t use one. It’s the right tool for pipe making.
P.P.S. After you've made a dozen or two pipes, save up some money and go to a pipe show. Take some pipes. Ask one of the "big boys" for a private and brutally-honest, critique session with your pipes. That $500 spent getting to the show will be a MUCH better investment than the same amount of tools it would have purchased.
P.P.P.S. The written word doesn't convey emotion well. A lot of posts sound rude that weren't intended that way. I have met in person many of the makers on this forum. They are among the kindest and most generous people I know. Presume the best of those helping you. They could just ignore you.
Welcome! You've found the absolute best website for learning to make great pipes. We're glad you are here.
I am burdened to share something with you. Before I do, let me provide some context. I started this forum about seven years ago. I did so because I had a website that taught people one way to make pipes. The paradigm from which I taught was for the hobbyist maker. I was one of those. I explained my methods as the how-to. I learned how from a similar (but better) website by Trevor Talbert. My website was not intended to compete with Trevor’s, nor, if I recall the timing correctly, did it ever even overlap with Trevor's site. Trevor, you see, had taken his site down before I put mine up. His explanation (please jump in if I am incorrect in my recollection, Trevor) was that the number of emailed questions was overwhelming, and often the emailer was rude when the reply wasn't prompt. This was so disheartening, and ultimate time consuming to the point of hurting his livelihood, that the reasonable action was to just pull the site. This was unfortunate, but clearly the reasonable and right thing for Trevor to do. This created a vacuum in the pipe making universe which my site began to fill. I created my site not because I thought I had all the answers, but because I was being emailed fairly regularly on how to make the pipes that I was selling. After answering the same questions several times, it seemed more efficient to just write the answer once and publish it to my website. So that's what I did. Knowing that would just INCREASE the emails (based on Trevor's experience), I created the forum to handle that end of things. I requested that any questions my site raised be posted to the forum instead of emailed. It worked. After a move to it's own domain, and a shift in management to Kurt (thanks Kurt...nice work!), we sit seven years down the road with what you are reading today. It is an amazing resource thanks to all involved.
OK, so that's the basic history. Let's talk about today.
Today the forum is very different. That's fine and to be expected. After heavy involvement in the site for the first two years, then a five-year hiatus, the changes now that I'm back are glaring. I feel it would help to new members and aspiring pipe makers to understand a few things. Thus my letter.
The most obvious difference is there are a lot more people here. No surprise, and that's good. With that though comes a strange but also non-surprising phenomenon: there is a lot more bad advice. I have read a lot of threads in the last few months where my thought at the end of the thread is, "If that poor guy follows that advice he'll spend a lot of money and possibly be worse off." Usually, when I see something like that, I don't participate in the thread. If I do I risk offending the previous posters whose advice I would dispute. Sometimes I go ahead and take the risk, but usually not. That leads me to point 1:
POINT 1: Tools are not the secret to making better pipes.
Let me tell a story on myself. About two years ago, began learning how to make bamboo fly rods. I did this in an environment of information similar to the pipe making environment today. There are lots of online resources and forums for bamboo rod making. While that made it MUCH easier to learn the skill than it would have been to learn 10 or 15 years ago (just as is the case with pipe making), there was an aspect of all that information that was an overload curse. It lead me to obsess on making sure I had just the right tools in order to avoid all the mistakes that I was reading about. I researched and researched, and I pondered, and I filled shopping carts online, but I wasn't making rods. I had analysis paralysis. I finally started making rods, and I found after a few months of doing so that I had wasted quite a bit of money on tools. On this forum or that forum someone had said this tool was a "must have," so I bought it. I wasted a lot of money learning that some people might call a tool a "must have" because they are 5'5" and their angle of attack planing a rod created problems that were different than mine being 6'5". I should have just made a rod.
How did I make that mistake? I had read warnings that the forums were full of bad advice, but I had a dilemma. I was new and knew nothing about making bamboo rods. How the heck could I tell the good advice from the bad? I'll offer three points to that for new pipe makers:
1. If your advise comes from a guy that has been on the forum for 5 months, be suspicious. Especially if he has a new and better way of doing things.
2. Find photos of the pipes from the guy who is offering the advice. If he makes pipes that look like ones you hope to make, listen. If his pipes look like yours, well...you know. If you can’t FIND any photos of his pipes, see point 1.
3. Just make pipes. You'll quickly learn who to listen to.
But...but...but...how can I make pipes until I buy tools; and how can I buy tools without advice; and how can I take advice without knowing who to listen to? That leads to major point 2.
POINT 2: Tools are not the secret to making pipes.
If you are a rank beginner, buy a kit. (A kit is a block of briar that has been drilled and fitted with a stem.) All you need to turn that into a pipe is...nothing. It already is a pipe. Your task is to make it pretty. THAT IS THE HARDEST THING TO DO IN PIPE MAKING. Drilling three holes that will smoke tobacco is easy. Making a pretty pipe is not. Kits let you work on the thing that takes lots of practice to master with very little money invested. A file or two, some sandpaper, and a way to buff are all you need to make a beautiful pipe. Drilling aside, we've arrived at point 3:
POINT 3: All tools do is make pipe making faster.
Give a great pipe maker a well drilled kit, some files, sandpaper and a way to buff, and he'll make a high-grade pipe. It will take him a lot longer than it does with his normal tools, but it will still be a great pipe. It's him, not the tools. You will not and cannot buy or tool your way into making great pipes. You can only develop your skills. That comes from making pipes, and learning how to get better with each pipe made.
OK, so you've now carved a kit, and low and behold, you did it! You didn't ruin the block, and your friends are amazed. Your co-workers are all wanting you to make them one. They think you are the Leonardo Da Vinci of pipe making. You become a rock star at your local B&M. Orders are piling up. You have a talent for this. YOU ARE GOING TO BE RICH! WOOHOO!
STOP.
It might be true that you have a talent for this, BUT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE DELUDED. What you are making right now are REALLY poor pipes. You'll see it someday and be embarrassed. Thankfully, you are not embarrassed right now or you might quit, and that would be unfortunate. If you quit, you'll never get good at this. My purpose in pointing this out is not to make you feel bad, but to improve this forum a bit. Don't come participate thinking that you are the stuff. It's off-putting and you will be embarrassed when you look back at how cocky you were. Just come in and learn. Post pictures of pipes so that you can hear how to improve them and get better. Help out when you can, but don’t think you are the next great thing. Think of yourself for what you are: a new pipe maker. Being a new pipe maker is a good thing.
There has been some tension of late about how poorly the "old guys" and "big boys" have treated newer members. I believe it is related to how the advice of the "big boys" is often treated because of the somewhat cocky attitude new makers sometimes have. Let me outline a scenario:
1. A question is asked
2. Various answers for the question are posted
3. One of the "big boys" posts an answer
4. Someone argues that they have found (in their extensive 8-pipe career), that the "big boy" (in his 1,600-pipe career) isn't really right. There is a better way. Thinking outside the box is key. Innovation is the answer. Unfortunately the “big boy” is stuck in the rut of the status quo.
5. The "big boy" shakes his head and goes back to making $500++ pipes.
Rinse, Repeat Ad Nauseum.
After awhile of this pattern it comes across as if some of the new guys think the "big boy" has sold his soul to the almighty dollar, and he has never thought about better stem materials, or more creative shapes, or better ways of doing things. Some act like they are here to revolutionize pipe making since no one before him had the brains and talent to do so. It gets tiresome to the "big boy" and he starts to be a little cynical, but he still wants to help the occasional guy that humbly wants to get good at pipe making. Along comes another unsuspecting new guy that asks a question that has been asked and answered two-hundred times, and he gets an earful from an "old guy" in the forum because of bad timing. He might not have deserved the rough answer, but even by asking the same question that has already been asked he is presuming upon everybody since he didn’t take the time to browse a little and use the search feature. Perhaps this is a rush to judgement by the “old guy,” but it happens. We’ve all been a part of something where a new guy jumps in to a circle of long-time friends, and starts acting like he owns the place. The long-time friends all glance at one another with the what’s-with-THIS-guy look. This forum is a group of friends. You are welcome to be a part of it! We are glad you are here!
Let me be quick to clarify that my point is not that everyone should bow at the altar of the "big boys." I don't think they would like that anymore than you would. My final point is simply:
Point 4: Don’t be that guy.
Enjoy the forum. We look forward to becoming friends. We look forward to seeing your pipe making skills grow. We'd love to help.
Warmest Regards,
Tyler
P.S. Obviously tools ARE necessary for pipe making. Let me highlight that there is one tool in particular that makes possible a quality level that is REALLY hard to achieve otherwise. That tool is a metal lathe. You don’t need one to start. You don’t need one ever, really, but I think its safe to say there is no such thing as a high-grade pipe maker that doesn’t use one. It’s the right tool for pipe making.
P.P.S. After you've made a dozen or two pipes, save up some money and go to a pipe show. Take some pipes. Ask one of the "big boys" for a private and brutally-honest, critique session with your pipes. That $500 spent getting to the show will be a MUCH better investment than the same amount of tools it would have purchased.
P.P.P.S. The written word doesn't convey emotion well. A lot of posts sound rude that weren't intended that way. I have met in person many of the makers on this forum. They are among the kindest and most generous people I know. Presume the best of those helping you. They could just ignore you.