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OK FINE! I'll play along too. God this is embarrassing. I don't even have a clue what I was trying to attempt. It still smokes great though. Kit from pimo.

This is mine.



I broke it once, but I repaired it. It's still my favorite, it smokes really well. The stem and ring was a gift from Alberto Bonfiglioli, the briar was not a gift from Mark Tinsky.

Wow... It has been probaby 16 or 17 years since I made my first pipe. Alas, any pictures I might have had of it are long gone, as is that pipe itself...

But I did manage to dig up this photo of the second pipe I ever made!

I spent a year studying the archives here and building my shop before I made my first pipe, so mine was not terrible. I still havent made any great pipes, they mostly range from OK to Pretty Good.
My first pipe, from a block with a handcut stem;


My second pipe, with plenty of mistakes too !@

Wow, great 1st and 2nd. I actually like your 1st the best. That's a sharp looking pipe.

Yeah, they actually went downhill for a bit my 3rd and 4th pretty much sucked ! After that, everything I have finished has been passable

Jeez, you were lucky!
My first one was sort of something resembling a pipe, OK-ish. 2nd one I went bonkers, nearly messed it up, but managed to save it as sort of smoke-able. From there it went downhill , next 80 or so were butt ugly!

Now I just make ugly pipes!

Growley wrote:This was mine:



I was trying to copy a Ben Wade freehand I had.

Crazy thing is I can actually see the Benwadian influence on that one.

You guys are awesome. All artists began somewhere I guess and when a new guy like myself begins pipe carving it is easy to become demotivated by focusing too much on where you would like to be as an artist rather than allowing your own abilities and aesthetic to develop by just carving, then carving some more. This thread has remotivated me. I hope future carvers refer back to this one.

Like. (There's no like button).

badger685 wrote:You guys are awesome. All artists began somewhere I guess and when a new guy like myself begins pipe carving it is easy to become demotivated by focusing too much on where you would like to be as an artist rather than allowing your own abilities and aesthetic to develop by just carving, then carving some more. This thread has remotivated me. I hope future carvers refer back to this one.

As a respectful remark, I still remember seeing pictures of the first pipes Rad did. He started with the Ben Wade-ish style pipes, and then slowly evolved into his actual status as a freakin' awesome pipemaker. That was something to watch.

(And in a not so respectful remark, they say that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks...)

It's nice that waltz first pipe can also double as a coffee mug!
I guess I will play. This is my first from about 2 years ago.

fuchi_jeg wrote:It's nice that waltz first pipe can also double as a coffee mug!
I guess I will play. This is my first from about 2 years ago.

That's awesome! It reminds me of one of those car drawings where the care is mostly wheels

fuchi, I actually like that! It's like a morbidly obese bulldog nosewarmer!

Yeah, I did exactly zero things correct with that pipe. It is hideous in every single way not to mention its impossible to clench and will not hang. But I did learn that although it looks easy to drill and shape a pipe, there is NO possible way that your first pipe will be aesthetically pleasing.

This was Todd Johnson's first pipe



rev

he made it with a hand drill and a dull steak knife

rev

Well, I'm glad that even Todd was no exception. That is one darn ugly pipe. He has come a long way.

bwahahahahahaha

rev

Here's my first. Hard to believe it took me more than 80 hours to finish it.

Aww, gee. I just realized that my first anniversary of making pipes will be on Feb. 7th. What a year it's been.

My First Pipe Thread