Material costs

[Heinz_D]

I know that it's often a secret for a lot of pipemakers, but I'm curious to get some minds in pricing of your materials for pipemaking...

What I mean is the basic materials for stummel and stem - briar and vulcanit/acryl.

Ther is a whide spread for briar and it depends on prebored or plateau blocks and for the stem we just had the discussion for premade stems and rod material.

I ordered (and got) a lot of 6 medium plateau blocks from Jeaume Hom a few month ago and it's no secret, that this packages are about 90,- € or nearly 120,- US $ plus shipping (to Europe shipping is about 20,- €). So I've payed a little bit more then 18,- € (23,- $) per block (shipping included).

For stemwork I ordered German vulcanit rods for 36,50 € (45,- $) per 50 cm (25 mm diameter) and I calculate 4 stems for that. That'll be 9,- € (12,- $) per stem.

Without any calculation for machines, consumable materials, stain, wax, etc., it'll be about 27,- € (35,- $) for one pipe without any scrap.

The briar isn't as good as I've espected. The sizes and looking are quiet pretty, but ther are a lot of pits and holes inside. O.K., nobody can look into briar blocks, but I'm just a little bit disapointed, because from the first 3 blocks ther is one totaly useless and one is the result of my pipe #2 (see gallery-forum). This pipe is the result of a lot of pits I had to grid off as good as possible... The third block looks quiet good so far but I've only cut off the shape with the band saw.

So my question is, how much would you say must anyone pay in this materials to get acceptable results? I would be glad to get some more calculations and if possible some examples for prices of briar sellers.


Greetings,

Heinz_D

[bscofield]

I'm not sure if you tried to research your purchase on here ahead of time but you would have found a general consensus that Juame's briar is as your described the majority of the time. If you would like briar for nearly a comparable price I would go with Algerian briar from Yazid (www.briargrains.com). I think for me, in the US, after shipping and at the quantity I received it was around $19-$20 per block. For you in Europe it would probably be cheaper. That would be my recommendation for you for Briar. The quality of the grain is as good as Jaume's in my opinion. BUT, and this is a big BUT depending on where you are at with your pipemaking skills, the blocks are smaller. Not impossible to use by any means, but you'll have to be able to come up with your finished product without having to waste LOTS of block.

FWIW, YMMV.

[StephenDownie]

It depends on what you call acceptable. I buy briar blocks that range from $25 USD to $50 USD. I expect that my throw away will be at least 10% - 20% In the $25 range I expect that 30% of the blocks will make a smooth and the others will be blasted or rusticated. In the $50 range I expect that 60% will make smooths and the rest will be blasted. I buy most of my rod stock from Pipe Maker's Emporium, and for Ebonite rod pay about $2 an inch when you factor in shipping. While paying upwards of $60 per pipe for raw material might seem way too excessive it's worth it for me as some of my customers want the high grade pipes and are quite willing to pay for the better grained briar. It depends on where you set your pricing and if you have a client base to justify paying more for your material.

[KurtHuhn]

I'd say that $35 is well within the acceptable range for materials costs. Of course, that all depends on your target sales price. If you're going to sell the pipe for $50, it isn't worth it unless you can bang that pipe out in less than half an hour.

The real concern, at least with me, is that I get the process down so that I can get a pipe finished in the shortest amount of time possible. That's where the major costs come in - how long you spend making that pipe. And for each grade you produce, does the time you spend making a pipe correspond to the price you've assigned it (barring mishaps and material failures)? I think Trever Talbert touched on this one somewhere on the board, but I can't recall where.

[TreverT]

And for each grade you produce, does the time you spend making a pipe correspond to the price you've assigned it (barring mishaps and material failures)? I think Trever Talbert touched on this one somewhere on the board, but I can't recall where.

Are you thinking of this article?

http://www.talbertpipes.com/2006/04/def ... point.html

Alas, my blog writing has been severely curtailed these past two weeks since my wife's parents have arrived to visit... 8O

[KurtHuhn]

That hits on the subject nicely. But it was further back than that - perhaps a couple years ago. I'll have to hunt it down at some point. I'd like to read that post again.