Pipe Maker’s Guild

[DocAitch]

I have been involved in a pissing match on the Pipe Maker’s Guild FB page and wondered whether the member’s of this forum have had any interactions with them. I notice little or no overlap between the two groups.
I am aware that Scott Harris wrote a reasonable explanation of the Guild’s position in the past on this forum and the matter faded out.
Recently the question of bowl coats came up on the FB page, and the immediate answer from the “leader” was “I have been told never to use sodium silicate (water glass) in a bowl coat” with no explanation of why that was so. When I persisted in asking why sodium silicate was to be avoided, I met with increasing hostility, and little in the way of information.
When I cited Todd Johnson’s video on YouTube showing the fire resistance of the sodium silicate mixture, the response was “You’ve lost the argument right there ,mentioning that name.”
I did learn that there may be a couple of possibly valid reasons for avoiding sodium silicate: one is that the imperviousness of the set up coat prevents any taste of briar coming through, and that the same imperviousness may cause a wet smoke.
The overall flavor of the answers is that these guys believe that anything on the briar is wrong and that you are not a purist if you use shellac, bowl coats, or , God Forbid, Danish oil. The general theme of their answers is “This is the way we always do it” and you are a trouble maker for asking questions.
Previously, I questioned how their leader cut an airway in a semi transparent acrylic stem and engendered a storm of indignation. The final answer from their “guru” was that it was scientifically proven that theirs was the best way to cut an airway.
I did not feel like going into Boyles’ and Charles’ laws, a discussion of laminar flow and turbulence, nor why they have water traps in their air compressor lines, so I let it drop.
I do continue to see some lingering resentment for that particular questioning of “the way they always do it”
So, my questions are these:
Why do they regard Todd Johnson as a bogeyman?
And - What sort of interactions has anyone else had with these guy’s?
DocAitch

[LatakiaLover]

Doc,

You came along about the same time as the Feud Bullshit died out on the old school forums + this board.

All it did was move somewhere else, though.

Bottom line: people like you who live in a world of objective reality will never "see" things in a feelings-based, tribal, artistic way. And for that reason, you will be seen as the enemy of those who do. The end.

[Sasquatch]

Walt, LL's take is about right.

Here's a thread where I was my usual genteel and refined self about this situation, if you care for a chuckle. Cuz I don't like this kinda thing.


viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10699&p=105535&hil ... ce#p105535



I will say this - Sparky was a gentleman and although I treated him pretty rough in public and private, he never got mad, never was anything but obligatory. I think he's a good guy. BUT - the guild has moved from being "a way to disseminate information" to being a group of guys who don't know what the fuck they are doing, all telling each other that it's "correct". And their stances against well known pipe makers and methods is just part and parcel. They don't have what it takes to make a nice pipe, so they re-invent pipe making to suit their style/needs, and they can be kings of that castle. So be it. Not one of 'em could make a proper billiard. It's silly, it's sad, it's probably bad for the hobby, and mostly what it is is totally irrelevant to anyone making high quality pipes in the ways that have worked for..... 100 years now.

[sandahlpipe]

If pipe making were a church, the guild bears the marks of a cult. That’s not to say there aren’t good guys in there. But the appeal to only people who follow their creed, rejecting outsiders, even if they’re rejecting the mainstream, and misleading innocent and inexperienced people into thinking they have the corner on pipe making knowledge. It’s all rather silly, in my opinion, especially since they don’t have science to back up their strange views. But they also don’t regularly sell pipes for thousands of dollars to collectors around the world. Makers can do whatever the please, but these guys aren’t selling to a thriving customer base. Unlike a cult, they’re not doing a great deal of harm. They’re just hanging a false ceiling over their group. And I will say the guys I’ve met from the group are gentlemen in real life.


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[Sasquatch]

I mean, this ought to be a joke account, right?

But it's not.

[DocAitch]

Thanks for the responses, gentlemen.
Todd’s thread and these responses basically confirm my impressions of the group, and I believe I will stop banging my head against that particular wall.
I do agree that Scott Harris (Sparky) and Joseph Galehouse are nice guys, and I wouldn’t mind BS-ing with them over a pipe, and I do concede that I have some food for thought concerning bowl coats after weathering the storm of shit in that thread.
But I have come to the conclusion that questioning any of their beliefs is a waste of my time. That also may be academic because the last I heard, there are muttering that I wasn’t the “right sort”.
DocAitch

[LatakiaLover]

I mean, this ought to be a joke account, right?

Exactly. EVERY decent pipe maker knows that the freezer technique only works when it is timed to the exact SECOND. Just leaving a pipe there overnight is the sign of a true amateur.

[JMG]

I've heard that if you leave the briar block in the freezer for 41 days it comes out a completely shaped stummel. It has to do something with light deprivation and how that, in combination with extreme temperatures, reacts with the softer grains of the briar causing them to fall away, becoming the shape that a Shaolin monk mentally shapes it into being from the astral plain. You'll have to get someone else to explain the specifics though. I never was very good at sciencey stuff.

[Massis]

If pipe making were a church, the guild bears the marks of a cult. That’s not to say there aren’t good guys in there. But the appeal to only people who follow their creed, rejecting outsiders, even if they’re rejecting the mainstream, and misleading innocent and inexperienced people into thinking they have the corner on pipe making knowledge. It’s all rather silly, in my opinion, especially since they don’t have science to back up their strange views. But they also don’t regularly sell pipes for thousands of dollars to collectors around the world. Makers can do whatever the please, but these guys aren’t selling to a thriving customer base. Unlike a cult, they’re not doing a great deal of harm. They’re just hanging a false ceiling over their group. And I will say the guys I’ve met from the group are gentlemen in real life.


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my view exactly, a cult.
However, just yesterday Scott Harris was stating the contrary, that he DOES sell several thousand dollar pipes multiple times a year, such as this beauty:


I stopped responding after that...

[RickB]

Holy shit this is fantastic. How did I miss all of this until now?

[Sasquatch]

Granted, there is more than 6 hours of work in that pipe.

[DocAitch]

That does reflect a high level of skill and craftsmanship, and Scott should be justly proud of it.
It is a genre that I really have no desire to engage in, but credit where credit is due.
DocAitch

[Massis]

Granted, there is more than 6 hours of work in that pipe.

There were 77 hours in that jewel encrusted tugboat, but that didn't end up being worth 11.000$, even if it was for Fukushima, now was it?



I'll admit it's a decent looking pipe, and contains several parts (like the sculpted person) that I can't do. But 6k? YIKES.

[sandahlpipe]

The pipe is fine, but I just wonder why Wallace hunting is the subject matter. I also wonder if Gromit makes an appearance on the other side.


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