ugly ebonite

[kbadkar]

Perhaps this post subject should be shortened to just plain "ugly".

[ToddJohnson]

So to sum things up:

--caskwith has purchased rod from SEM recently and thought it was fine. Paul Hubbart's order was apparently fine as well. Fantastic. Hopefully that means any problems have been rectified.

--I've still got rod I need to return, but am willing to give SEM another shot. I would recommend buying a small quantity to test and making your larger order once you've worked with it a bit.

--No one I know of has had problems with NYH, but I don't know who sells it. I always buy it directly.

--Tom Eltang was working with a source for a while, but I don't know if it is available or what exactly came of it.

--Mikey is still editing his ridiculous posts incessantly and seems to have made an enemy of nearly everyone here.

--For all the pipemaking "advice" he has offered, Mikey has yet to show that he actually makes pipes.

--Bunnies with pancakes on their heads are silly.

TJ

[Mike Messer]

Perhaps this post subject should be shortened to just plain "ugly".

--plain Hugly.

--and yea, Toddy, I do edit a lot, but I'm glad we brought out all of this useful, new info about the quality of SEM rod.

--and yea, Toddy, but not half as silly as pancakes with bunnies on their heads.

--So, a lady walks into a bar with a bunny under her arm...

--foul, pipe pictures argument

--name dropper

--I'm not trying to make friends, I'm trying to make pipes, damned perfect pipes, no compromises allowed. That's all I want to do.

[RadDavis]

Perhaps this post subject should be shortened to just plain "ugly".

--plain Hugly.

--and yea, Toddy, I do edit a lot, but I'm glad we brought out all of this useful, new info about the quality of SEM rod.

--and yea, Toddy, but not half as silly as pancakes with bunnies on their heads.

--and yea, Toddy, So, a lady walks into a bar with a bunny under her arm...

--and yea, Toddy, foul, pipe pictures argument

--and yea, Toddy, name dropper

I once bought Cumberland rod from Tom Eltang.

I once sat next to Tonni Neilsen at the Richmond show.

I've talked to Todd Johnson and Bruce Weaver and Steve Morrissette and Mimmo on the phone.

Peter Heeschen is a friend of mine.

That enough names for you Mikey? I've got some more, if you want. I saw Mickey Dolenz once on the same airplane as me. He was flying first class, even though this was YEARS after the Monkees' heyday. There's a lot to be said for residuals. But I digress.

You'll learn, if you go to a pipe show, that most all pipe makers are regular people They don't have entourages and body guards. You can just walk right up and talk to them. Unless you're a douchebag, then they won't talk to you.

It's pretty amazing.

Mentioning a friend who is a pipe maker is not name dropping. I once shook hands with James Brown. Jimmy Hoffa too.

Rad

[kbadkar]

If yall want to see a Messer pipe, go to page 5 of the infamous "Question About Ebonite Smell" post. I do believe he posted pictures of 2 of his pipes at the time, but one picture has been removed/ edited-out, if I remember correctly.

Anyway, Mike, I don't think there is any "foul" for pointing out the obvious credibility problem, you must make pipes to be able to inform the other pipe makers here anything about their craft. For the most part, guys here are more interested in creating than investigating distracting minutiae. You are not going to create the "perfect pipe" right out of the starting gates. It's a process of steady improvement that starts with your first pipe and continues with each successive pipe. Everyone here is merely trying to point out that pipemakers are not interested in all the finest details until they have reached a point of technical proficiency with the tools, medium, and "eye". Since you have yet to prove that you've reached that point of proficiency, the details of your investigations are not relevant to pipemakers. And since you haven't spent enough time making pipes, you don't even realize that the details of your investigations aren't even relevant to the craft.

[kbadkar]

--I'm not trying to make friends, I'm trying to make pipes, damned perfect pipes, no compromises allowed. That's all I want to do.

I'm quoting the Messer post now so the text above can't be edited out, since it's already changed multiple times while working on my previous post.

This is what I mean about not trying to create the perfect pipe. Just try to create, perfection is the carrot.

[KurtHuhn]

--name dropper

-- I once sat between Neil Flancbaum and Todd Johnson at a pipe show. At that same show Todd mistook one of my first knives for an AT Barr.
-- My kids have had extended conversations with Jody Davis, and still ask about him to this day.
-- Before I ever considered selling pipes, I was complimented on one my hack jobs by none other than Colleen Learned, with some constructive criticism by Sam.
-- I am a bigger geek than Trever Talbert. And Jeff Gracik.
-- I once made Brad Pohlmann laugh so hard I feared my first aid training might need to be exercised.
-- I shook Michael Flatley's hand.
-- My kids have received individual instruction in Irish step dancing from the cast of Lord Of The Dance.
-- Patrick Kennedy steadfastly ignored me once.

Hmm. That was a mildly amusing trip down memory lane. I have no notions of it actually meaning anything though. These are people I've met doing what I like to do, and I'd be happy to sit down and have a drink with any of them. Well, maybe not that Kennedy guy....

Come on guys! This is fun! Everyone can play!

[ToddJohnson]

I once met Kurt Huhn. Bruce Weaver voluntarily sweeps my floors, although I think that stems from his sense of Catholic guilt. One time Al Unser Jr. took me to the concession stand and got me a hotdog.

TJ

[ToddJohnson]

--and yea, Toddy, I do edit a lot, but I'm glad we brought out all of this useful, new info about the quality of SEM rod.

That info had already been brought out in Chris' post about his more recent experiences with SEM. I dont think you actually read or follow the linear progression of time that the rest of us do.

Aside from your crush on kbadkar, you relate to everyone here as an adversary. We are not your adversaries--I doubt anyone here cares enough to put significant energy into it--but we are a group of guys who, to varying degrees, know something about making pipes. You have not shown the same to be true about yourself.

The best way to progress in your quest for the perfect pipe is to have enough humility to know how ignorant you are about the process and learn from those with more skill and more experience than yourself. If you'll look around, you'll find you're the only one here NOT doing that. Frankly, I'm puzzled at what you ARE doing here. Certainly its not trying to learn anything.

TJ

[Mike Messer]

I don't see this going anywhere, we've been here before, but okay, I will take part of the blame for this weirdness, I was being adversarial, but this has been going for some time, beginning with the Smelly Ebonite topic, on and off, and no doubt I have made some mistakes, but right or wrong, when the shit start flying, expect some return fire, and that's on any time line which is applicable.
Still, I would prefer to keep it civil, objective, factual, accurate, if that is posible.

M.M.

[Mike Messer]

...That info had already been brought out in Chris' post about his more recent experiences with SEM. I dont think you actually read or follow the linear progression of time that the rest of us do.
TJ

I can't seem to find that topic or post. Do you have a link? I searched for SEM, and all the posts in the last 2 years that I saw had noting but good things to say about SEM rod.
Did I miss it or are you hallucinating, again, Toddy? Is your mommy being mean to you, again? (just an example of the kind of comments you throw at me, sometimes)

EDIT: Okay, kbadkar pointed this out to me, below, I skipped the current topic in my search, and I was a bit confused, by the term "more recent experiences."

[kbadkar]

...That info had already been brought out in Chris' post about his more recent experiences with SEM. I dont think you actually read or follow the linear progression of time that the rest of us do.
TJ

I can't seem to find that topic or post. Do you have a link? I searched for SEM, and all the posts in the last 2 years that I saw had noting but good things to say about SEM rod.
Did I miss it or are you hallucinating, again, Toddy? Is your mommy being mean to you, again? (just an example of the kind of comments you throw at me, sometimes)

That's Chris Askwith, aka Caskwith, who discussed the SEM sitch on page 1 of this thread.

[Mike Messer]

...That info had already been brought out in Chris' post about his more recent experiences with SEM. I dont think you actually read or follow the linear progression of time that the rest of us do.
TJ

I can't seem to find that topic or post. Do you have a link? I searched for SEM, and all the posts in the last 2 years that I saw had noting but good things to say about SEM rod.
Did I miss it or are you hallucinating, again, Toddy? Is your mommy being mean to you, again? (just an example of the kind of comments you throw at me, sometimes)

That's Chris Askwith, aka Caskwith, who discussed the SEM sitch on page 1 of this thread.

Oh yea, I read that, but Chris was talking about older stuff, and Todd said recent experiences, leading me to believe there was something more recent, and yea the Chris reference confused me also. I didn't remember his first name. Chris also said in the post that his recent experience with SEM rod was fine.
note: SEM began production in Dec 2006.

[Mike Messer]

Perhaps this post subject should be shortened to just plain "ugly".

--plain Hugly.

--and yea, Toddy, I do edit a lot, but I'm glad we brought out all of this useful, new info about the quality of SEM rod.

--and yea, Toddy, but not half as silly as pancakes with bunnies on their heads.

--and yea, Toddy, So, a lady walks into a bar with a bunny under her arm...

--and yea, Toddy, foul, pipe pictures argument

--and yea, Toddy, name dropper

I once bought Cumberland rod from Tom Eltang.

I once sat next to Tonni Neilsen at the Richmond show.

I've talked to Todd Johnson and Bruce Weaver and Steve Morrissette and Mimmo on the phone.

Peter Heeschen is a friend of mine.

That enough names for you Mikey? I've got some more, if you want. I saw Mickey Dolenz once on the same airplane as me. He was flying first class, even though this was YEARS after the Monkees' heyday. There's a lot to be said for residuals. But I digress.

You'll learn, if you go to a pipe show, that most all pipe makers are regular people They don't have entourages and body guards. You can just walk right up and talk to them. Unless you're a douchebag, then they won't talk to you.

It's pretty amazing.

Mentioning a friend who is a pipe maker is not name dropping. I once shook hands with James Brown. Jimmy Hoffa too.

Rad

I smoked a bowl or two with Mick, in a friend of mines den, once. (no names is better, sometimes) The friend ran a big criminal organization which owned a record company, studios, publishing company, mgmt co, etc. The king pin was in federal prison doing a 20 year stretch for conspiracy. They represented James Brown, in some way? I have pictures of him with Van Morrison, John and Yoko, and others. The friend, unfortunately, met an untimely death... a 38 slug between his eyes one evening when he got home, and another one in the back of his head...occupational hazard.
But that's not me, understand.
So, that enough names for you Radey?

[RadDavis]

note: SEM began production in Dec 2006.

Gosh, thanks for letting us know that, Mike. I thought they had been in business, like forever.

Rad

[ToddJohnson]

Oh yea, I read that, but Chris was talking about older stuff, and Todd said recent experiences, leading me to believe there was something more recent, and yea the Chris reference confused me also. I didn't remember his first name. Chris also said in the post that his recent experience with SEM rod was fine.
note: SEM began production in Dec 2006.

Because you seem to be incapable of following a discussion, I will lay it all out for you below. Perhaps upon seeing it all in one place you will realize what an incompetent ass you are. Let us see:

On page 1 of this thread, I said:

Before buying from SEM, I would ask around and make sure she's worked all the color and consistency problems out. The stuff I got in Chicago [this would be last year, the only time SEM has ever been to Chicago] had a brown haze about 3mm. deep and much of it had micro-inclusions and was too soft. As I understand it, many of these problems have been worked out, but I've been using so much Bakelite that I haven't really followed up with the other guys to make sure. FWIW, I intend to talk with Mieke in Chicago and probably buy more.

In the very next reply on page 1 of this thread, Chris Askwith said:

Paul and I had samples of the older stuff, i still have a semi made stem in the workshop actually. It was a bit crappy like you say, it was very sft and easily scratched and the colours were very muddy looking, the red/black was more just shades of red rather than defined colours. Recently however Paul put in a big order of which i had about half, the new stuff is so much better, the colours are more defined and less muddy looking, the rods are nice and hard and they finish up really well. I have got rods of ebonite, blue/black, yellow/black, and green/black and they are all very good.

So try to follow the timeline here insofar as your loose, stream of consciousness grasp on reality will allow.

1. Approximately one year ago, I purchased rod from SEM along with many other pipemakers. The quality of those rods was less than exceptional.

2. After working with it over the course of the weeks and months immediately thereafter, many pipemakers alerted SEM to the problems.

3. Since that time, I have not ordered more and cannot speak to the quality of more recent production.

4. I suggested that others report on the quality of more recent production if they could.

5. Chris Askwith stepped forward and reported that the quality of the current production is good.

6. You proceeded to make an even larger ass out of yourself for two more pages.

7. That pretty much brings us current. For the record, it's Monday, March 22, 2010 at around 8:00 CST Earth Time. Not sure how that will translate for whichever dimension you seem to live in.

TJ

[Mike Messer]

Jezz, Todd, did you have to go to school a long, long time to learn how to be such an ass, or does it just come naturally for you?
Besides, the way you warp things, you have no credibility, here.
MM

[ToddJohnson]

I smoked a bowl or two with Mick, in a friend of mines den, once. (no names is better, sometimes) The friend ran a big criminal organization which owned a record company, studios, publishing company, mgmt co, etc. The king pin was in federal prison doing a 20 year stretch for conspiracy. They represented James Brown. I have pictures, with him, Van Morrison, John and Yoko, and others. The friend, unfortunately, met an untimely death... a 38 slug between his eyes one evening when he got home, and another one in the back of his head...occupational hazard.
But that's not me, understand.
So, that enough names for you Radey?

Golly Mike, you must be a real big shot. Either that or you've been watching too much of the Sopranos. Anyway, my guess is that you live alone in the basement of your mother's condo and are not actually a member of the Gambino crime family as you're trying to infer. I like your new "make 'em think I'm mysterious and dangerous" tactic, though. I expect that will probably work on Rad since he's from Alabama and don't have much learnin'.

TJ

[Mike Messer]

No, Todd, it actually happened. 100% true, and very f-ing real. But I said, "Thats not me" I have never have been involved in any criminal activity. No criminal record. They weren't like the Sopranos. I wouldn't say they were just regular guys, but more regular than you would think. If you would be so kind, would you please quit using your imagination to conjure up these insults. I'm kind-of getting a little tired of hearing it.

But, I'm sorry for the "ass" remark, I guess, and I'm getting tired of this game. Let's play, "Be Nice" for a while.
I think we covered the subject. What was the subject? You know how spacey I get.
Besides, I'm hungry, so, forget this noise, I'm going to have some dinner.
Keep it cool, okay?

I am not dangerous, repeat Not Dangerous, and I like all of you guys, alright, even when you're being obnoxious. So, I wouldn't have you killed, even if I was dangerous, but I'm not.

[Mike Messer]

note: SEM began production in Dec 2006.

Gosh, thanks for letting us know that, Mike. I thought they had been in business, like forever.

Rad

Well, you know, Rad, us reeeeally knowledgable pipemakers aren't the only ones who read this shit.