Buying Pipes

[the rev]

When I played candyland with my daughters I derived no pleasure from the game. I did however derive pleasure from making my daughters happy and seeing their smiles. And I am not suggesting this is either good or bad it's just me

Rev

[andrew]

Alright, I'll try to do this without crying or name calling *Tyler*. And yes I know Sas started it, but that's no excuse .

There are lots of things in this world that people make. Some people make them so well they rise to another level of... uh, something. Anyway, some us here have chosen to make pipe making that "thing" that we do well (or are at least trying). I would be bored to death if all I had to smoke was my own work, so we go elsewhere to find these things. The shop pipes look decent, but they're always my work. I like to look at myself in the mirror cause I'm really handsome (at least that's what my wife tells me, I don't see it, but her opinion actually matters), but even I get bored staring at myself. We will always have a need for something different, even if it's not perfect. I would love to accumulate all high grade pipes, but honestly I can't afford to, and more often than not my need for something different and shiny will win out over my discipline to save for the expensive high grade. So I prepare myself mentally to re-engineer the internals of whatever I buy.

So yes, it's ok to buy less than artisan pipes (unless you have the patience of Methuselah or loads of money, if you have either or both of those and you buy a basket pipe your sanity should be questioned).

[andrew]

When I played candyland with my daughters I derived no pleasure from the game. I did however derive pleasure from making my daughters happy and seeing their smiles. And I am not suggesting this is either good or bad it's just me

Rev

I always lose at Candyland... stupid Candyland

[wmolaw]

Interesting thread. I have so many pipes, some old, cheap, but smoke great. Others expensive, smoke okay. Some smoke like crap. Still, I can't bring myself to sell them and even keep buying others. Obsessive.

Once I began to make pipes I thought I would make them so as not to continue to buy them. WRONG! I smoke three or four of the ones I made, and I think they smoke great, with the exception of one which I am trying to figure out how to fix. I have sold a couple, and have a few folks who want to buy one of mine, or have me make one for them. They tell me they smoke great, I hope they're right.

But every time I make one, it becomes so damned personal! It's tough to let it go. I have six or so just sitting in my basement shop, looking at me, asking to be given away or smoked. Poor things, I can't make up my mind!

Being an on again/off again pipe smoker for forty years, this time around I have discovered that, for me, it is not just the pipe, but the marriage of the pipe to a certain tobacco. The variety of tobacco is endless! Before, I would find a tobacco I liked and would stick with it. This time, I am all about trying every damned type of tobacco I can try.

And the way one pipe smokes Full Virginia Flake vs how another does, or one makes Across the Pond or Cellar Pipe sing while another just make them a regular smoke is fascinating to me! What is it that causes that? The size of the bowl? The shape? Length of the stem? Draught holes, size, shape, way they fit together?

I have a cheap ass Churchwarden, put a pure Va flake in it, blah. Put some Cellar Pipe or Across the Pond and whooaaaa, amazing! I bought the damned thing for $22 total, including shipping off e-bay, but when I am in the mood for some Cellar Pipe, I pull that cheap piece of briar out and smile for an hour or so.

But, I must admit, I am also getting to where Tyler is, I want to buy pipes made by the guys I see here, though I have never met any of you.

So, my 150 or so pipes I am quite sure will expand to well over 200 in the near future. What the hell, better than a cocaine habit I guess!

[caskwith]

Interesting question. I would say I am not terribly qualified to comment as I am much more of a pipemaker than a pipe smoker but one thing that will probably speak volumes about my own thoughts is that when I started getting serious about making pipes I sold a large part of my collection to buy tools. The pipes I sold mostly smoked good but I could never get over the construction flaws in them, sloppy work etc. I won't name brands but they all fetched a very good price on ebay. The pipes I kept were those which were better made (though surprisingly much cheaper than the other brands) and the ones with sentimental value or just good smokers.
These sold pipes were my pride and joy when I first bought them but I came to resent them, turning them into tools and briar made me much happier.

[Sasquatch]

I hear ya Chris, I am sitting on a half dozen reasonably "nice" pipes that I hate, and want to sell, but I don't want to sell them to someone who will hate them!

[PremalChheda]

Of course. I and many other pipemakers I know are collectors and we buy pipes at full price still!!! I am in the market for very unique old GBD's always, and also anything that piques my interest. I saw a pipe in the gallery that I really wanted, but alas, it was spoken for. The little details only bother me on the pipes I make. I am not so critical on the pipes I collect and smoke.

So....

let's say a guy is gonna buy a pipe. Suppose further that it's just a .... regular pipe. Not a sculpture. Just a pipe. But this particular guy has pretty high standards for ... well, everything. Stemwork, briar, smoking qualities.... You may know someone like this.

This someone has some pretty nice pipes. This someone might in fact make pretty nice pipes.

Can someone like this even buy a pipe anymore? If he drops say 400 bucks on a top level Ashton, a Dunhill, a big fat Autograph, a Cavicchi maybe... is it possible to buy a pipe and not just be critical as hell about it? Is it possible to buy a pipe and not think "I would have cut this a little thinner" or "I would have balanced this better" or "I would have got this shinier"?

Does this person have to buy artisan/high grade pipes (or make his own, which meet his standards), or can he buy a Savinelli for 90 bucks and enjoy it for what it is, rather than be disappointed in what it isn't?


PS I have used "him" and "his" in this hypothetical exploration simply because most of us are male, and I don't really mean to imply that Scottie isn't any good at making pipes lacks the taste to buy a good one.

[Sasquatch]

Glad I'm not the only one with PAD still.

This thread kind of stems from a couple of things. First, I decided to buy a pipe when I was done a big huge project I've been working on. I had a sort of 400 dollar range in mind. I'd go higher for something that really grabbed me. Now of course, I want a SMOKER, and not some fancy piece of art I'm afraid to take off the shelf. A pipe is something that hangs out of my mouth while I'm splitting wood sometimes. And big. Gotta be a great big hunk. I was looking at Ashtons, Dunhills, some Artisan produced stuff.... I also kind of wanted to buy from a vendor that I'd heard some good things about. I found a Sav Autograph that, while I think not "perfect" and not "highgrade" in the sense I'd ordinarily attribute, did look like a hell of a nice pipe.

http://media.tobaccopipes.com/360/Savin ... P110S5.swf

I like the Autographs I've smoked - it's nice wood, and this is kind of a cool shape. Could have bought a vintage dunhill for the price. But I did that and got.... a pipe.

Why on earth would a pipe maker buy such a pipe, or any pipe? This is the question posed to me on another forum - I ordered a 60 dollar pipe out of Greece just for the hell of it. And someone said "Gosh, why do you buy pipes?"

And I guess the answer is.... to try 'em. To look at them, feel them, smoke them, learn from them. Just like anyone else. Fact is, I could make a nicer pipe than the one I just bought. Or the one before that, or the one before that. But sometimes, goddammit, it's just nice to have dinner brought to you, even if you CAN cook.