The 21st century being what it is, though, such a situation has never come together.
What the 21st century HAS enabled is arguably better in that someone in my position can potentially reach several people eager to learn about the subject instead of just one or two... by using video.
So, the proper gear was gathered, time was made (since the projects are real, not staged, my daily throughput wasn't affected all that much), and the videos recorded.
Like the guilds of old, the people who make and work on pipes tend to hold on tightly to hard-won "secrets", so none of the videos on the Net (that I've ever seen, anyway) show much in the way of detail, special tools, tips, tricks, and so forth. Soon that will no longer be true. In this case NOTHING was skipped over or hidden from the camera. Every step is shown. In fact, the more unlikely/surprising or "tricky" the technique, the more thoroughly it is explained.
The pictures below are of the pipe that was the subject of this first project. It arrived with a "blown" (trumpet-shaped) shank and mortise, a hammered rim, no stem at all, and was so dirty the sandblast was filled about halfway to smooth with grime.
The chamber was in good shape, though, no wood was missing anywhere, and it was a patent example of a somewhat scarce and desirable shape, so it was definitely recoverable and worth working on.
I'm announcing this project in advance (the segments are all "in the can" and being edited as we speak) to get the word out as much as possible before Chicago. The finished set of videos should be up and running in a few days.
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