What's Your Pipe Making Routine Like?

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:09 pm

For me, I do my best work in 1-3 hour spurts, either when I can't sleep at 1:00 a.m. or when I wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at like 4:00 a.m.

But if I try to work much more than that, I usually end up getting sloppy and making stupid mistakes.

And I've figured out that I'm not unlike a CNC machine, in that I have to program my hands ahead of time, visualize how I'm going to chuck things up in the machine, etc.

If I don't have myself properly "programmed", I can pretty much be assured that I will launch a pipe across the room while I'm buffing it or blow up a stem while I'm turning it or whatever.

So I'm really wondering about the feasibility of making pipes for, say, 40 hours a week. Is it even possible?

I'm not talking about money issues here, I'm talking about the possibility of doing intricate, tedious work for, say, 40 hours a week and actually turn out good quality work for the whole duration.

Does it get easier to work longer hours with more experience?

Or do more pipe makers work like I do, in spurts?

Or what? What's your routine? What works for you? Just curious.

TreverT · Post by **TreverT** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:55 pm

I work between 50 and 60 hours a week, so yes, it's quite possible. But, you have to break your work periods up into sections to avoid burnout - between ninety minutes and a couple hours is good. Just go away for ten minutes and play a videogame or something, and you're fine when you come back.

LatakiaLover · Post by **LatakiaLover** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:56 pm

I don't make whole pipes, but the level of attention required is the same for repair work (and the number of tools employed is probably greater), so I'm qualified to take a swing at this, I think:

Is working all day at such a thing mentally possible?

Using my hands for fine work is the most natural-feeling and relaxing thing i know. It is because I enjoy it so much that doing it full-time finally became a goal in itself. The only time I feel stress is when NOT working on pipes.

I know that almost sounds like a smartass answer after hearing your concerns, Robert, but it isn't. It's the literal truth.

Now, being the first responder, I'm gonna bet that Kurt, Trever, and the rest of the national class carver gang here will echo my response. It just seems to go with the territory of becoming one of the best. Besides talent, to get there you must do whatever it is a LOT. And to do one thing that much, it can't feel like work.

I remember when Midori, the Japanaese wunderkinder on the violin who became an international star by the age of 15, was asked in an interview what she'd wish for if a genie suddenly appeared and granted her one.

"To not have to sleep," she answered.

That wasn't what the interviewer was expecting from an adolescent girl. A bit confused, all he could do was keep going, since the camera was on.

"Oh. Um... Why that?" he asked.

"So I'd have more time to practice."

LatakiaLover · Post by **LatakiaLover** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:58 pm

Whoops, I was #2. TT & I were typing at the same time.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:12 pm

I can work for a couple of hours at a time before I need a bit of a break, depending on what part of the process I'm engaged in. Shaping the stummel and stem is where I tend to get most involved and lose time. The tweaking and finishing, not so much. I have to take breaks often in this area so as to a) do the tedious finishing work properly and b) to keep from drooling all over myself because, let's face it, finish sanding is about as mind-numbing of a process as there is no matter how worth it. I tend to keep a couple of pipes in various stages of production so if sanding becomes boring I can switch to shaping, etc. I also keep a small TV and DVD player handy in part of my shop that I can peek at to take a break and get my head back into the work at hand.

kkendall · Post by **kkendall** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:47 pm

hazmat wrote:... I tend to keep a couple of pipes in various stages of production so if sanding becomes boring I can switch to shaping, etc...

I'm a newbie at this, but I completely agree with that approach. I figured out in short order that I'm better off having a few pipes going at the same time. When I get antsy about seeing a pipe completed, I KNOW I'm going to get ahead of myself and mess something up, so I set it down and pick up another. Even if they're all in about the same stage, ie; shaping... that's okay because I will still have to change mental gears to adapt to the new shape.

I'm a friend of Horace DeJarnett (AZ Pipe Carver), and have also noticed that he has several pipes in various stages of completion at any given time. I haven't asked, but I'm fairly certain that his thoughts are that when one pipes needs some (re)thinking, or just needs to change gears for a while, he just parks it and works on another.

LatakiaLover · Post by **LatakiaLover** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:27 pm

Weighing in again, because I can see already I'm probably in the minority. Little to no task-jumping for me. Once I start it's a purely tunnel vision sort of "zone" thing that I stay in until its finished. Not because I want to, necessarily, but because I must. I skip meals and lose track of time routinely. The other day I started working on something around 8:00 pm and "woke up" at 5:00 am.

That's been my pattern (method?

) since grade school age, though. Model cars, planes, trains, rockets, clocks, sculpture, photography/darkroom work, leather craft, smithing firearms, you name it. All before I was 18. Then it shifted to pipes when I hit my early 20's, and never let up.

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:06 pm

TreverT wrote:I work between 50 and 60 hours a week, so yes, it's quite possible. But, you have to break your work periods up into sections to avoid burnout - between ninety minutes and a couple hours is good. Just go away for ten minutes and play a videogame or something, and you're fine when you come back.

Well I'm glad to hear that it's possible. I guess it's one of those things where it gets easier with experience. The more you've done it, the less you have to think about it.

LatakiaLover wrote:The only time I feel stress is when NOT working on pipes.

Yeah, I know what you mean there.

hazmat wrote:I tend to keep a couple of pipes in various stages of production so if sanding becomes boring I can switch to shaping, etc.

You know, it's funny. I am like the king of multitasking. But when it comes to pipes, I prefer to work from start-to-finish on a single pipe. It's weird.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:15 pm

I tend to have a good half dozen pipes in roughly the same stage of completion. Every once in a while I'll come up with an idea and I jump on that and let the others simmer for a while - but only until that one pipe catches up. At that point, I work everything through the same stage before moving on.

I can also go for hours - though my stomach forces me to surface for food and coffee.

LatakiaLover · Post by **LatakiaLover** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:22 pm

KurtHuhn wrote:I can also go for hours - though my stomach forces me to surface for food and coffee.

See??? I knew it!

JHowell · Post by **JHowell** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:43 pm

In the Maria Callas box set, "La Divina," there is a bonus CD with various interviews. One interviewer, BBC, if I recall correctly, asked her about her preparation to sing a new role. Callas spoke at length about her practice to dominate the material technically, her score study, her historical and dramatic study, her weeks of rehearsal with a pianist before ever setting foot in front of an orchestra. "My, that sounds like an awful lot of work," said the reviewer.

"NOT work," snapped Callas. "You serve that which you adore."

Exactly so.

LatakiaLover · Post by **LatakiaLover** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:59 pm

JHowell wrote:In the Maria Callas box set, "La Divina," there is a bonus CD with various interviews. One interviewer, BBC, if I recall correctly, asked her about her preparation to sing a new role. Callas spoke at length about her practice to dominate the material technically, her score study, her historical and dramatic study, her weeks of rehearsal with a pianist before ever setting foot in front of an orchestra. "My, that sounds like an awful lot of work," said the reviewer.

"NOT work," snapped Callas. "You serve that which you adore."

Exactly so.

Jack,

Exactly so, indeed. You expressed what I was trying to convey better than I did.

I'm looking forward to meeting you one day at a show. We seem to be tuned in to the same wavelength.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:05 am

If I weren't saddled with a "real" job, I would be very happy to work on pipes 10 hours a day, if not more. Unfortunately that's not a reality and most likely won't be until I retire... and that's a loooong way off. Such a cruel, cruel world

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:46 am

Being mister ADD, I tend to work best in short spurts as well. Anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours. I usually only have one pipe going, but thats just habit. I could probably do a few, but I just feel better with one. When I get into a real groove, I can go for a long time. But usually its a few hours at most and then on to something else. Having kids that require feeding, maintinence and transportation also has a way of limiting your free time too!

souljer · Post by **souljer** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:45 am

Hi all,

Years ago I got in the habit of working in stages, but I was doing large paintings for paying clients. So there was the Profit = Effort - Time formula to deal with, with variables of course. That way of approaching jobs or work has sort of stuck with me since.

So I tend to work on several pieces at a time in their various stages but keeping things more or less even until I get down to final sanding or so.

I usually work 3-5 or more hours at a time, if I have the block of time available. Some nights I only stop because I want to get to bed before dawn and I don't want to be wiped-out when I get up. I hate stopping to eat or sleep. I'm always looking at my watch as closing time approaches Starbucks or where I might grab my last meal for the night. Finally I have to stop and rush over there at the last minute.

However I've never really had a problem with artistic/creative "work" - I guess I adore it. I can be a laser and a machine when needed. I once worked on a job all day until 9:45 AM the next day because it simply had to be done at 10 AM. The person I was working for had totally miss calculated how to do something and what it would take to do the job right. So I stayed up and finished it with one other poor soul while the rest of the team (there were 5 or 6 of us I think) slowly passed out one by one as the night went on, including my boss! Ah, memories...

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:32 am

I work 40 hours a week, because my wife made me cut back my hours.

I just can't have a bunch of pipes in different stages of completion sitting on my bench. Once one is started, I work on it till it's done.

Rad

jeeper · Post by **jeeper** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:51 am

I have a 50 to 60 hour a week job with a 45 min drive home, a 4 yr old boy and wife neither of which seem to want to let me out of there sight for more then 2 sec. So trying to spend any length of time in the basement working on pipes is difficult I might go a week without having a chance to work a pipe. Life is what happens while you dream about doing what you want with your life. I hope to retire in 20 yrs and make pipes, at this rate it will take me that long to learn how to make a decent pipe anyway. I’m still new at this and still learning processes, every pipe is a new learning experience so to start one before I finish another just doesn’t work for me yet. Since I’m not in a rush to complete pipes for customers, I’m not working very efficiently. But I can see where if you did this to make money you would almost have to make pipes in stages like a small assembly line, at least up to the point of final shaping.
To Latikalover and Jacks point while I’m at work all I think about is making pipes, it is (most of the time) the only way for me to relax except when I’m having a hard time getting something right

Xped · Post by **Xped** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:30 pm

jeeper wrote:I have a 50 to 60 hour a week job with a 45 min drive home, a 4 yr old boy and wife neither of which seem to want to let me out of there sight for more then 2 sec. So trying to spend any length of time in the basement working on pipes is difficult I might go a week without having a chance to work a pipe. Life is what happens while you dream about doing what you want with your life. I hope to retire in 20 yrs and make pipes, at this rate it will take me that long to learn how to make a decent pipe anyway. I’m still new at this and still learning processes, every pipe is a new learning experience so to start one before I finish another just doesn’t work for me yet. Since I’m not in a rush to complete pipes for customers, I’m not working very efficiently. But I can see where if you did this to make money you would almost have to make pipes in stages like a small assembly line, at least up to the point of final shaping.
To Latikalover and Jacks point while I’m at work all I think about is making pipes, it is (most of the time) the only way for me to relax except when I’m having a hard time getting something right

I ditto those sentiments!!! Right now, I'm lucky if I get to work on my pipe 1 hour a week. I think about it a lot and have organized a nice little workspace for myself...but the actual time spent on the making of a pipe is very tiny at this point in my life. I , too, have a young son (2 1/2) and a wife I want to give my time to...other interests...actually smoking a pipe once in awhile...at the end I'm not left with a lot of spare time for my new found hobby. I know as life goes on my free-time will increase and I will hopefully fill that with making a few pipes...but for now, I'm happy just to be able to look forward to it!

TreverT · Post by **TreverT** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:08 pm

I should expand on my previous post. I work in shifts because I find that my attention and quality of work degrades if I stare at something too long. For me, a couple of hours is just about 'right'. I'm actually often surprised by how I'll go away and come back to see something that really needs fixing, that previously I was too "into" the work to see. I find I work best when I evenly mix up-close obsession, forgetting about time focus, and stepping away to get a better glimpse of the forest instead of the bark.

I also have multiple pipes in process at once, though I only do the shaping of each one at a time. But there's always something that needs to dry or something, so there are usually several stummels all sitting around at once in various states of progress. And of course when I make Ligne Bretagnes, I make them in groups for the sake of maximum efficiency.

As for being relaxing or not, the shaping is fun but the finishing sanding is freaking boring. I know, I know... You're supposed to say that it's all a glorious process of artistic obsession that you can do endlessly. That's great when you're doing it on weekends or just getting started, but after pipemaking full-time for ten years, cutting that zillionth bit slot and filing that zillionth stem button and spending that zillionth mindless hour of fine sanding... It's freaking boring. I keep my mind busy and enthused via audiobooks during these stretches, and I find it even improves my work. If I'm just sanding and thinking of sanding, I'm prone to be focused on getting the job done, whereas if I'm engrossed in a good audiobook, I'll take the work slow and even, and put in the detail time that will make everything come out better in the end. Plus, it's nice having a working part of my day also be dedicated reading time.

GbpBulgaria · Post by **GbpBulgaria** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:03 pm

Actually, I work on weekends. I have weekends for pipemaking and for walks with my 2 dogs and my wife. Usually I have 2-5 pipes in different stages but I plan my work at 2 separate stages generally. First stage is planning early in the morning (I wake up as early as I can in weekends to have time for planning) and shaping (rock music and hard cleaning after this) and the second stage is fine tuning, making of the tenon and stem and sanding, a lot of sanding. Sometimes I am making one pipe for a day 8 AM – 10 PM sometime for a month. It is always different and it is always fun for me.