RadDavis wrote:LittleBill wrote:
But, there has to be a baseline established so they know where to go instead of blundering about helplessly.
Exactly, and making more pipes is what establishes that baseline. It gets the new maker to better understand the process, so he can understand what the experienced maker is trying to show him.
The thing is, there's no standard pipe making setup or equipment. Some guys use a drill press and shape with sanding wheels. Some guys shape with files and sandpaper, and some shape with wood carving knives. A lot of guys use a lathe to drill and shape as much as they can. A lot of guys shape before drilling and the ones with any sense at all shape after drilling.
All of this makes "teaching" pipe making a difficult proposition. I've shown a lot of guys how I make a pipe, but unless they have the same setup, how much good is that really going to do? Usually, the best we can do is show the new maker what's wrong after he's finished his shaping. If he hasn't stained and waxed it (or even if he has), he can take it back to the bench and try to make it better, but it's hard to tell him
how to do that. An experienced maker can show him what needs to be done, but it's up to him to do that with whatever equipment he is using.
Rad
These are good points. I am approaching my learning as a teacher as well though, so maybe I am different. When I get a noob in the shop, I break things down into two main areas - technical and artistic. Art falls flat if the technical stuff is not mastered first. I could make the most beautiful pipe in the world, but if the holes don't line up inside, it is so much scrap wood. So a lot of the questions I post here have to do with technical issues. Once I get those nailed down, then I can work on pretty.
Here's an example of what I mean. I had a mentor who used to tell us, "Turn 50 bowls, and you'll know how to make a bowl." Well that's not exactly true. You may hack out 50 pieces that have some semblance to a bowl, but you may not be improving. Another man who came up under the same mentor now tells his students the same thing. I "rescued" one of his students who was in such pain from what he was doing that he was prepared to undergo surgery in his elbow. I showed him a few basics that were different than the above advice, and he was able to regain his enjoyment of the hobby, and avoid surgery altogether. He was able to get the technical stuff fixed and now he is pursuing art with a whole lot more enjoyment and progress. I will grant that he at least knew that the pointy end went into the wood, so he did have some basic skills on which to build. But it has been my experience that teaching someone to unlearn all their bad habits before learning the good stuff is sometimes a lot harder than starting with a blank slate.
My quest here is for the acceptable ways to get airways lined up with tobacco chambers, and mortises lined up with airways, and why does the stem behind the button have to be 0.16", and how come people hate acrylic and insist on ebonite. I know there are different ways, different set ups, and I enjoy learning why people do things the way they do it. As for different techniques, I have seen people almost come to blows on whether one should pull a gouge or push it across the wood.
I would love to live near enough to someone willing to show me how they do it, provided of course, that he or she knows what she is doing.
In the meantime I have even backed off drilling briar, opting to drill holes in scrap wood first a few times to get my techniques perfected.
