Pipe Grading

[LathamPipes]

Is there a "standard" grading system out there, or at least a common? Or is it carvers choice?

[Tyler]

Nope. No standard.

[Sasquatch]

I believe that "Pipes as good as Sasquatch makes" and "Pipes not as good as Sasquatch makes" is the basic delineation.

Naturally, the spectrum is heavily skewed.

[Growley]

I plan on using a 1-5 grading system...but not stating which one is better and which one is worse. Let the customer decide how awesome your pipe is.

That's a joke of course.

On a serious note, every custom grade means a new custom $90 stamp, so until I become awesome, they'll all be marked the same....

[Alden]

The only "standard" is that lower grades cost less and higher grades cost more.
What is used to denote each grade varies between just about every manufacturer out there, but that is the one thing they almost all have in common.

[KurtHuhn]

If not for machine made and hand finished (in the example set by Trever), I would only have two grades - handmade and great, or handmade and fucking awesome. The first is divided into sandblasted and smooth.

I used to have a much more complex system, but abandoned it in favor of three grades with pricing difference between sandblasting and smooth.

[The Smoking Yeti]

I like Kurt's style, once I get a sandblasting unit I might be able to emulate.