slowroll

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slowroll
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:12 pm

slowroll

Post by slowroll »

Hello everyone, I've been lurking and perusing for some time; this is certainly and informative group with lots of experience and damn usefull info to impart.

Real name: Steve Stas
Age: 71, officially a card carrying geezer
Location: N. East PA, about 20 miles north of scranton, on an undisclosed airstrip in the woods
Years a pipe smoker: on and off, 50 years, constantly again for about a year, afflicted with PAD, TAD, smoke between 3 - 6 bowls a day. PIpes and Cigars good promotional efforts got me back into pipe smoking when I got one their catalogs and said to myself, "holy crap, there's more kinds of pipe tobacco than ever before, maybe I can find a replacement for my lamented Balkan Sobranie." I did, and thence started the TAD spiral, followed by PAD.
How you got into pipe making: After repairing scores of pipes fo myself and others, seemed a good way to feed PAD

Other interesting facts: Many years (35) restoring airplanes and other machinery and the odd piano, I thought reparing and now perhaps making pipes would another good use for my machine shop. As an an aside for the curious, I chose my screen name for my favorite activity--doing slowrolls in a vintage biplane. My other passions are shooting and reloading ammo and a little piano abuse.

Looking forward to bashing some briar, and reading more good stuff here. Cheers all.
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sandahlpipe
Posts: 2106
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:49 pm
Location: Zimmerman, MN
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Re: slowroll

Post by sandahlpipe »

Welcome to the forum!

I lived for a year of my childhood in Peckville.

Hope you find what you're looking for on the forum!
---
Fail early, fail often. Your success depends on it.

Jeremiah Sandahl
http://sandahlpipe.com
DocAitch
Posts: 1109
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 12:44 am
Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Re: slowroll

Post by DocAitch »

Welcome.
I just turned 72 myself. I was a pipe maker in the 1970s and just restarted less than 2 years ago.
Pipe making has changed considerably in the 40 years since I last did it, and those changes will make those machining skills of yours valuable. There is a wealth of information on this forum, and putting your pipes in the Gallery is an extremely valuable exercise ( and also frequently a lesson in humility).
I also shoot and reload but have been doing much less of that since I got into pipe making full time. I don't even eat when I am in my "shop" ( a car port with tarps hung over the sides), and have lost nearly 40 lbs since retirement. Pipe making is that absorbing.
At nearly 2 years out, I am beginning to make pipes which I think are OK, and everything I've learned in this century is either from this forum or from established pipe makers that I've met through this forum.
Buy the materials and jump in. Research your questions on this site and don't be afraid to ask questions.
DocAitch
"Hettinger, if you stamp 'hand made' on a dog turd, some one will buy it."
-Charles Hollyday, pipe maker, reluctant mentor, and curmudgeon
" Never show an idiot an unfinished pipe!"- same guy
slowroll
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:12 pm

Re: slowroll

Post by slowroll »

Jeremiah, how coincidental. Peckville 12-ish miles down thr road. Thanks for the encouragerment.

Doc, Thank you also for the encouragement. I have already found a good deal of very useful info by perusing the sie, very good stuff. i've bought some briar, and am starting to hog it out. Biggest difference from my prior machine work (and current, just had to repair my big mower, machining a 4 foot bar of 4140 steel) is remembering the delicacy of briar. BTW, in the avatar I see in another forum, is that a Huey rotor blade in the background?
DocAitch
Posts: 1109
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 12:44 am
Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Re: slowroll

Post by DocAitch »

Black Hawk. I was a member of the Maryland Defense Force (state level Title 32 militia) and we were unloading Lead Fred on a litter during an exercise with the Army Guard.
DocAitch
"Hettinger, if you stamp 'hand made' on a dog turd, some one will buy it."
-Charles Hollyday, pipe maker, reluctant mentor, and curmudgeon
" Never show an idiot an unfinished pipe!"- same guy
slowroll
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:12 pm

Re: slowroll

Post by slowroll »

DocAitch wrote:Black Hawk. I was a member of the Maryland Defense Force (state level Title 32 militia) and we were unloading Lead Fred on a litter during an exercise with the Army Guard.
DocAitch
Ok. I was in the military so long ago every big chopper looks like a Huey to me. :wink:
DocAitch
Posts: 1109
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 12:44 am
Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Re: slowroll

Post by DocAitch »

I was in 1963-1967. Never touched an M16, never rode in a helicopter, didn't go to Vietnam. I was 70 before I got my 1st helicopter ride in a BlackHawk.
DocAitch
"Hettinger, if you stamp 'hand made' on a dog turd, some one will buy it."
-Charles Hollyday, pipe maker, reluctant mentor, and curmudgeon
" Never show an idiot an unfinished pipe!"- same guy
slowroll
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:12 pm

Re: slowroll

Post by slowroll »

You were fortunate. I was in the USMC from 65 -69. Did spend some time in a helicopter, M14 was our sholder weapon at the time. :takethat:
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