One of the problems which I know you have experienced is the impact of the current flood of part-timers on the buyers' expectations of quality, and this impact on the full-timers. Put simply, there are a lot of guys making pipes today part-time for whom hourly wages aren't an issue, so they are putting a huge amount of hours and finishing time into detailing pipes which sell for low prices, because they don't need the money to live on. This is, in some cases, causing problems for the full-timers because buyers are getting these pipes and thinking that this is the quality level they should expect for $150, when someone who actually has to live on that money can't do anywhere near that amount of labor time on a pipe of the same price. Please don't take this as an attack, however - I am describing the situation for explanation, not accusation. If you sometimes feel a bit cold-shouldered by the full-timers, this may be the reason... folks who have their lives invested in pipemaking are having their dinners literally taken away from them by guys who are just making pipes for beer and pizza money.Tyler wrote: I think that what you have said has some interesting implications for folks that are currently part-time guys that have an eye toward full-time. That is price structuring.
I don't think so, IMO at least. Technique can be taught, but the ability to see a good pipe and make it look right seems to be either present or not, and doesn't seem to be learnable in my experience. I have known guys who made 200 pipes and their 200th was just as gawky and awkward and lumpy as their first - their finishing techniques can improve, they learn new tricks and build their own gadgets and improve their staining and so on, but the pipes themselves never rise above that "lumpy amateur" level. You end up looking at the things and thinking, well, it's decent but geez, what a thick bowl join, and look at those weird warbles down the shank, and is it *supposed* to have such an awkward stem? I've spent years doing this and wondering... why don't the makers see these problems? I lost count long ago of the number of amateur pics that I've been sent for criticism, and it was through this experience that I really learned that you can tell who will be good from the very first pipes. The guys who have potential will produce decent work right off... not neccessarily "good" pipes, but their work will show that they are able to see things like attractive lines and form balance and visual elegance. It will be obvious from their work that they know what needs fixing (just not yet how to do it), and will understand how to apply new techniques to this task. The other guys, sadly, will never get it... they don't really see what's wrong with their pipes and so they keep on making them without ever improving. There's nothing wrong with this as long as they're just having fun, but the trouble tends to arise when they try to jump into selling for a living. Paul Perri originally told me this about pipemakers but I didn't believe him at the time. He said you could teach something like 100 guys the techniques step by step but only two of them would actually ever be able to make a good pipe. (This was why he didn't want to bother with me when I first called him. I eventually had to send him photos of my first three pipes, the Bilbo, Twisted Egg, and a sort-of hawkbill-shanked billiard, to convince him. After that he was happy to help. Looking back, I now understand completely both why he was reluctant and just what he was looking for in those first pipe pics) Over time, I learned this myself. After all, out of all the guys who sent me pics and corresponded with me through the old pipemaking website, I tagged you and Todd as the two most promising, and look how that turned out! I know I had very little actual impact, but I still feel a little bit of semi-paternal pride at how well things have gone for both of you since I was first answering your starter questions. And yet, neither of you have gone full-time, so use that as a picture of the odds against survival as a full-timer.... two really talented guys out of a couple hundred able to do really excellent work, and then only one out of every dozen or so of those guys who has the funds, determination, luck, etc to go full-time. Unfortunately, most folks don't want to hear this... what they see is, "Hey, these guys get to play in their workshops for a living, be around pipes all the time, and hang out at pipe clubs and shows as part of their job! Where do I sign up?" I realize I may sound excessively down on this, but there have been a couple of real, genuine tragedies over the past few years where guys have jumped in too deep and ended up losing everything, and that's something no one wants to see happen.Tyler wrote: Your comments about the talent to make pipes either being there or not is also interesting. "Seeing it" is a good way to describe that. In particular, I wonder if that has anything to do with the lack of training here in the US? I'm just speculating, of course, but I wonder if more hands on comment and example would allow more folks to "see it" over time?
Tyler