What I Wish I Would Have Done

[NathanA]

So I don’t post much. I try to keep up with the discussions but rarely feel like I have something to add of any significance. I guess that is something I need to get over and realize that, while I am certainly no expert, I have grown considerably since joining and that I might be able to help those who are now joining. I will now write a very long post to make up for all the words I have saved up over the last few years. Bear with me.

There has been much discussion as to the difference between the Project and the Pursuit. I started out firmly in the Project camp and one of the reasons that I don’t post much is that I feel some embarrassment in regards to my early, ridiculous postings and questions. For me, making pipes has gone well beyond Project and has certainly become Pursuit/Passion and it only makes sense that I have progressed to the point where I now am because of, rather than in spite of, my early ignorance. This forum has been of huge importance to me and, like Ernie has said, I would like to see it be the best possible place for pipe knowledge that it can be. That being said, and hindsight being much better than my own, I have given a lot of thought as to what I would have done differently if given the chance and it goes something like this:

In my opinion, there are two aspects to pipemaking that need to be, if not mastered, at least understood and respected: execution and design. I think most newbies, myself included, are/were guilty of trying to master both at once and that seems to be somewhat counterproductive. Putting dreams of inventing the next great shape to sweep the pipe community with its cutesy animal or fruit related name aside, to make any pipe you first need to know how to make your chosen materials do what you want them to do: that is the execution part of the equation. This is not a discussion of tooling or method. If whatever you use gets you the required result, good on ya’. Being able to design a pipe shape and to innovate is something that I now realize only comes with executing well made pipes over and over again. And over and over again. (And is something that I still struggle with.) Often it is easier to revisit a classic than it is to “just see where the wood takes you.” What I wish I would have done from the start is to put aside ideas of finding the next great exotic wood inlay material or stem color or coming up with an apple/fig/wasp hybrid and focused more on executing a basic pipe shape. Here’s how I wish I would have gone about it and I believe this idea is something that would be beneficial to both the Project and the Pursuit.

The problem when someone posts a billiard, for instance, is that there are a lot of opinions as to what a billiard should be. There are certainly some concrete rules as to what constitutes a billiard but there is also a lot of room for stylistic interpretations. Italian, Danish and English billiards are all quite different. Is one better than the other? That is completely subjective. I have my opinion, so do you. However, if I choose to make a billiard in my preferred style, with the wealth of images on the internet, I can very easily find a picture (and most likely pictures of all angles) of a pipe I want to make. Then when I have made said pipe I can post pictures of my pipe alongside the inspiration. I believe that this would encourage much more beneficial dialog as to how to properly execute a pipe shape rather than devolving into subjective opinions about what we would rather see. I think that this would also make the criticism more valuable and easier to understand by having a concrete example rather than a nebulous opinion. Furthermore, I beleive this would also result in less posts of pipes that are just obviously far short of ideal.

In our excitement over completing our first pipe we often just post it without much thought. If I have a concrete example to work from it makes it much easier to see that my pipe is not so great and that it doesn’t take much to point out all the same problems that other first pipes have had. But when you can say “Here is what I was trying to do. I know it falls short. Can someone help me see exactly where the problem lies and what I could maybe do to fix it?,” you are much more likely to receive feedback that you can use. Having many eyes, both experienced and inexperienced can help us see where we got it right and where our execution fell short. Now this idea might not be for everyone but I am firmly convinced that if I would have followed this path of trying to execute before I tried to innovate my learning curve would have been much different and I would have made less ugly pipes and pipes that were less ugly before I got to the point where I could properly execute a shape.

Some might say that they don’t like classic shapes and want to make freehandy, avant garde pipes and that is fine. Just realize that the farther you stray from classic shapes the harder it becomes to offer objective criticism and the farther you travel in to the realm of subjectivity. Also realize that the techniques needed to properly execute a reversed fugu/tomato/volcano are the same techniques needed to properly execute a billiard and you are much more likely to get objective, useful feedback with classic shapes. Once you are able to execute then try to design/innovate. At that point the critique you receive will be understandably more subjective but you will also be more able to execute any changes to the design that might be suggested.

That probably could have been stated more succinctly but I didn’t do that. Hope this helps or at least took time out of your day that you will never get back.

[e Markle]

That's a great post. Information like this would have been especially helpful to me when I was first starting. Take heed, ye Newbies!

I especially like you said in Article XXIV, Section 12, paragraph m.

[Joe Hinkle Pipes]

An excellent post Nathan. This has been my philosophy since I stumbled into pipemaking. Nail down the basics before moving on to the more advanced stuff. Not to say that i havent been tempted to try something crazy, but I have fallen on my face when I tried to do so. Let me tell you that it is A MUCH longer path to follow when 30 out of your first 50 pipes are in the straight billiard family. Do you know how hard it is to dispose of roughly 30 shitty billiards? but I hope that it pays off in the long run with flawlessly executed fundamentals.

[notow1]

Do you know how hard it is to dispose of roughly 30 shitty billiards?

Yes I do, Norm.

[d.huber]

This is a great post, Nathan, and shows some hard earned wisdom on your part.

[Vermont Freehand]

WOW, well said Nathan, I feel the same way. Maybe I should start posting pics again.... and maybe giving my 2 cents again. Thanks all for the recent discussions about what the PMF is to each of us

[LatakiaLover]

Nothing that hasn't been said before (though rarely so well).

Since enthusiasm so often trumps patience when it comes to unsupervised pipe making, however, repeating the message is necessary.

[Ocelot55]

Love the post Nathan. Thanks.

In this regard I am lucky I suppose, because I have NO desire to make reverse calabash, blowfish, elephant feetsies, in the danish, fugu, feng shui style. To me there is nothing more spectacular than a well executed billiard.

[wdteipen]

Well put Nathan. The majority of my early failed designs were due to not having the sufficient skill to properly execute them. Had I known then what I know now, I could have avoided the counter-productivity and frustration altogether.

[NathanA]

Nothing that hasn't been said before (though rarely so well).

You're right. I certainly haven't reinvented the wheel but I can say that I haven't really seen anyone attempt it as I have just laid out. There are a lot of pipes posted that are "inspired by _____________" (insert pipemakers name) but rarely have i seen anyone try to execute an exact pipe. And saying a pipe is inspired by someone and then making a pipe that doesn't look at all like that pipemakers pipes is kind of pointless.

[Sasquatch]

And that's where the conversation with someone who knows what they are doing is useful. Fact is, a brand new maker can't critique his own work because he doesn't know what's "right". There's 400 little perfections in a good pipe, billiard or Oom Paul. They are easier to objectify on a billiard. But the fact is, a new guy can't comprehend all the information he might get as critique on any given pipe. "Your stem to shank transition is smooth but you lost the overall curve of the pipe." is enough for one pipe. So it takes time and repitition.

I value the "go make 20 billiards" ideal, I'm not sure it should be in a row, but the technical execution, the understanding (and practice) of the visual and tactile elements of the pipe.... you just have to teach your hands and eyes to work together, and there's no other way to do it.

[pipedreamer]

good post.worth reading.

[UncleDraken]

I'm a newbie and I approve this message.



Genius.

[Charl]

Very true words, Nathan! But, well, for me making 20 billiards in a row is going to bore the living $&%@ out of me. I would loose interest. In my limited experience, I would say please, please leave the blowfish/freehand/bla-bla fancy shapes, keep with classics (a billiard, then a dublin, then a rhodie, etc) until you can do them well. Get the "hand memory" first.

[deBeaupre]

Well put Nathan. The majority of my early failed designs were due to not having the sufficient skill to properly execute them. Had I known then what I know now, I could have avoided the counter-productivity and frustration altogether.

This is what makes this forum invaluable.

Matt

[NathanA]

Very true words, Nathan! But, well, for me making 20 billiards in a row is going to bore the living $&%@ out of me. I would loose interest. In my limited experience, I would say please, please leave the blowfish/freehand/bla-bla fancy shapes, keep with classics (a billiard, then a dublin, then a rhodie, etc) until you can do them well. Get the "hand memory" first.

Although this is only speculation, I'm guessing that if I or anyone else follow/followed this pattern it will/would take far less than 20 billiards before they were being executed acceptably if not ideally.

[Nate]

Nicely written other Nathan. I agree wholeheartedly. Like Wayne, had I taken this approach earlier, I would have had less frustration in my abilities. I think my billiards have come a long way! Example:

[andrew]

Thanks for that Nathan. Long post, but it needs repeating.

[andrew]

Best billiard ever.

[LatakiaLover]

For Nate, "billiard" obviously stands for:

Bifurcated Ideopraxic Lageniform Lappaceous Idiochromatic Acervate Ragmatical Demiurgical instrument.

Whippersnappers.