Finally had the guts.

[Sasquatch]

I've had this block awhile. This is one of Jaume Hom's "very tight" units, and my oh my are they expensive. My oh my are they nice. I recut the block by about 5 degrees, but it was big enough to do so no problem, and the grain was very readable and just a little wild. I couldn't pull a proper straight grain pipe out of it because the grain was just too varied as far as I could tell.

But... I'm happy with the result. You'll all be shocked that it's not a small straight pipe, I'm sure. I was thinking Castello 65 and that is roughly how I drilled it. But as I shaped the top on the lathe, kind of picking away at the grain vs shape, it became just a little urn-ish.

Anyway, it is tremendous fun to work a block of that quality once in awhile, and once you get over the "I hope I don't fuck this up I hope I don't fuck this up I hope I don't fuck this up" jitters, it's nothing but joy.

[baweaverpipes]

Sas,
It's New Year's Eve and I am going to be nice for 2011.
Good job, you're the man, way to go, congratulations, just great, superb, cowabunga and Happy New Year!

[Sasquatch]

Come on Bruce, you're gonna make me cry and then my make-up is gonna run and my New Year's pictures will look all puffy.

[KurtHuhn]

Sas,

To be honest, I was expecting more of the same. And, while I suppose this might be, it... doesn't really matter. I took one look at the photos, and I my first thought was "I want this pipe.".

Good job. This pipe might not be particularly unusual, or have stunning grain, or be a work of "art", or anything that might make it a collector's piece - but that's doesn't matter a whiff, because the next guy with some spare jingles in his pocket is going to look at it and feel a need to spend some cash.

Again, that's a really nice pipe, and I'm kinda bummed it's not mine.

[Sasquatch]

One of the things I had to get my head around (and I'm going to post this here in public for 2 reasons. 1, my wife makes MEAN rum and cokes and 2, it might be a little teency bit helpful to someone else) was whether I was going to head in the "pipes as art" direction, or just the "pipes" direction, and while both require some seriously tuned-in skills, pipes-as-art have never appealed to me, especially. I mean, I really dig Bo Nordh and TJ and all the crazy, intricate, wonderful stuff like that. The moreso because I now understand just how hard it is to get "right" (and getting it wrong is ... to be avoided). But I just smoke "pipes".

I could do a blowfish. And it would be an ugly piece of shit because it would be my first blowfish. I've advised the start-up carvers here to work on classic shapes because you can dial them in fairly fast and learn how to make a decent looking pipe. I got better faster doing that, and getting advice on those shapes. Advice which I now repeat ad nauseum.

So being told "that's not art, but it's sure a nice pipe" is the biggest compliment I could ever ask for. I'm a mid-grade pipe maker, which is more than I ever dreamed of being. But I still like Lucite and I still like rusticated pipes, so the high-grade Kool-aid hasn't quite got to me yet!

[KurtHuhn]

So being told "that's not art, but it's sure a nice pipe" is the biggest compliment I could ever ask for. I'm a mid-grade pipe maker, which is more than I ever dreamed of being. But I still like Lucite and I still like rusticated pipes, so the high-grade Kool-aid hasn't quite got to me yet!

Well, I really like what you're doing Todd. I really, really do.

While the world might need high grade pipe makers that create works of art, it would reject all pipe makers being artists. If you get my meaning. When everyone tries to make functional art, the line of art and function gets so blurred that what is fringe gets lost. It's like eating incredibly moist and delicious chocolate cake every day. The saddest part of that is the day you wake up and say "I wish I had an apple pie instead of this chocolate cake...".

Like I said, it might not be art, but who effing cares. It's a hell of a pipe, and I want it. Excellent work.

[Walle]

Sas,
It's New Year's Eve and I am going to be nice for 2011.
Good job, you're the man, way to go, congratulations, just great, superb, cowabunga and Happy New Year!

I agree. But: I have no idea what "cowabunga" means. Sounds good, though. Suits the shape. Gorgeous grain!

Happy new decade and

cheerio!
Walle

[Sorringowl]

Sas,
It's New Year's Eve and I am going to be nice for 2011.
Good job, you're the man, way to go, congratulations, just great, superb, cowabunga and Happy New Year!

I agree. But: I have no idea what "cowabunga" means. Sounds good, though. Suits the shape. Gorgeous grain!

Happy new decade and

cheerio!
Walle

Cowabunga, Walle, is Algonquin (a Native American tribe in the U.S., if you're not familiar) for "Holy Shit. Me want'em smoka that peace pipe!"

I know, I'm half Native American and more than half-crazy for that pipe.

Nice Sas! Happy New Year, fellas!

[wdteipen]

I'll echo what others have already said, that's a handsome pipe. Looks very Peterson-esque but much higher quality, Sas. I love Peterson shapes and love this pipe. Everything looks spot on to me and the grain works well with the shape. The pipe fu is strong in you.

[Daniel Y]

Sasquatch, From a purely knowing nothing, average person that has spent the last couple of weeks looking at hundreds of pipes. Because I am actually shopping for my first decent one. I will tell you for a fact Kurt is dead on correct. I have looked at hundreds of them in the last couple of weeks, and this is one of the very very few that strikes that chord of, "oh hell yes" for me. I am also one of those that prefers a pipe over a work of art. I certainly appreciate the craftsmanship in many of the pipes I have seen. But I don't ever see them being suitable to my personal taste. so far my likes have fallen in a very narrow range as far as shapes go. and this one is in the top three favorites for me. You did a very fine job and that is the opinion of a no real knowledge potential customer view point. there is a nice pipe, then there is a special pipe. this clearly falls in the category of special.

[TRS]

Great pipe!

[caskwith]

One of the things I had to get my head around (and I'm going to post this here in public for 2 reasons. 1, my wife makes MEAN rum and cokes and 2, it might be a little teency bit helpful to someone else) was whether I was going to head in the "pipes as art" direction, or just the "pipes" direction, and while both require some seriously tuned-in skills, pipes-as-art have never appealed to me, especially. I mean, I really dig Bo Nordh and TJ and all the crazy, intricate, wonderful stuff like that. The moreso because I now understand just how hard it is to get "right" (and getting it wrong is ... to be avoided). But I just smoke "pipes".

I could do a blowfish. And it would be an ugly piece of shit because it would be my first blowfish. I've advised the start-up carvers here to work on classic shapes because you can dial them in fairly fast and learn how to make a decent looking pipe. I got better faster doing that, and getting advice on those shapes. Advice which I now repeat ad nauseum.

So being told "that's not art, but it's sure a nice pipe" is the biggest compliment I could ever ask for. I'm a mid-grade pipe maker, which is more than I ever dreamed of being. But I still like Lucite and I still like rusticated pipes, so the high-grade Kool-aid hasn't quite got to me yet!

I like the philosophy you have here but I like to think there is a bit of ar involved in creating a great pipe. This pipe has everything going for it. Functionality, its well drilled, nicely shaped, stem looks comfortable etc. Its well finished, good wood, good shine, no scratches etc. It also just looks pleasing, the composition is nice, the proportions are good, the overall look of the pipe is very appealing. You could create very good smoking pipes by just drilling a few holes in the briar and adding a stem but this pipe far exceeds that and that is where the art starts to creep in by my book.

Nice work!

[Sasquatch]

Thanks all.

Chris (et al) the "art" thing eludes me from a definitional point of view. It's one of those philosophical sort of specrum thingies. I don't care if the pipe is art or not - it's a pipe, and maybe even a nice one. It WAS composed - the stem length isn't accidental, the sizes of things were balanced as "best I could" (as a craftsman? artist?). One of the reasons I have shied away from "art" pipes is that I simply don't feel qualified to do/judge a good one. That may be slowly changing but I can't answer exactly why.

If I carve a dragon holding an egg and inside the egg there's a little man smoking a little pipe that smokes when you smoke the pipe because of cutesy drilling tricks I don't think that makes it art. Skull pipes with red gems for eyes are generally not either. And yet you COULD make art out of either idea. Is it the intent? Intent coupled with ability? I dunno. I just make pipes, and thanks to lots of help from lots of people, it's getting to where if I try hard enough, I can make half decent ones now. Still make an ugly one from time to time though, for old times' sake.

[Nate]

Nice work Sas! Nicely executed and handsome! After reading Wayne's post about it being similar to a Pete, I think that's why I like it so much. Always have liked their shapes.

To add to the thoughts on art, I think makers (for the most part) are all working with art. If you weren't concerned with the aesthetics and visual appeal, you wouldn't care if you carefully oriented the pipe so the grain figure is aligned vertically, nor would you attend to detail as you have. I hope I haven't missed the idea here, but I think there is art in each piece, even a 'simple' billiard. If it were just about being a pipe, we'd all have square blocks with straight stems.

[wdteipen]

I understand what you're saying in regards to art and the type of pipes you want to make. I think any handmade pipe could be considered a piece of functional art. When I look at the various styles of pipes being made I like to think of the maker's tendencies falling on a spectrum with function being at one end and form being on the other. As pipemaker's we tend to have a preference for how we balance our work on this spectrum. To deviate too far from the middle of the spectrum requires a degree of sacrifice of either form or function, whichever it's moving farther from. What you are actually saying is that you prefer your art to favor more toward the function side of the spectrum.

[Sasquatch]

Function over form, as long as it's beautiful!

Wait.


What?

[ND Pipes]

Sasquatch - this is a beautiful pipe.... thank You for sharing this with us.... like it a lot....

[maxmil]

Superb grain, and good workmanship.
Greetings.
Felix

[bandkbrooks]

Wow Sas. Beautiful pipe and I agree from above, it looks to drilled perfectly. I bet it will smoke with no effort at all.

[qtmaster]

Very Nice Pipe. The size is good. The color is good. The workmanship is wounderful. Over all a Great pipe, with a very good eye to the details.