Pipemakers, craftsmen? Artists? Engineers? Bodgers?

[The Smoking Yeti]

Pipe Builder - If you use pre-cut stems
Pipe Craftsman - hand cut stems

Pipe Hipster - Nate, Huber, & Cryder

Pipe Artist - Tony Hawk (man those 900's are killah)

Is it possible to be a hipster if you aren't old enough to drink PBR?

[The Smoking Yeti]

I think an Artist can also be a craftsman, I don't think Parks is choosing either way. It's more like he's pushing his art in a different direction, be it classical, or sculptural. I think that billiard represents a great deal of artistry. Another example of an artist is Alex Florov. When he makes a straight billiard, is he suddenly a craftsman instead of an artist?

[Sasquatch]

I dunno. I find YE's example Parks pipes compelling. The billiard is a copy of a Dunhill LC I guess (assume it is for our purposes). It's an exercise in execution, in a sense, more about math than "art"?

[phmann]

There's not much worse that talking to a self-proclaimed artist.

[yachtexplorer]

Wow, haven't ever seen that whale/propoise, or whatever, with that holder before, absolutely stunning and brilliant!

You're right, that's art.

All credit to the artist, Michael Parks. This is a pipe I commissioned. It took two years from conception to finish. It was conceived as a northern Canadian Inuit-style, harpooned char (a type of trout or salmonid)

Michael and I conferred extensively on material choices. He wanted to include soapstone in the piece and thought of doing a soapstone shank. I felt that soapstone was both too soft and too brittle and suggested a wave formed mounting base out of soapstone. The harpoon shaft/shank is moose antler, lined with stainless. The mouthpiece is light tortoise celluloid. The harpoon tip is an old killer w*&^$ tooth I found in my beach wanderings in Alaska back in the seventies.

This is one of the crown jewels in my Sea Creature Pipe Collection https://picasaweb.google.com/1163065524 ... 3239601010

[wisemanpipes]

This is one of the crown jewels in my Sea Creature Pipe Collection https://picasaweb.google.com/1163065524 ... 3239601010

WOW. that album is amazing! absolutely stunning pipes

[LatakiaLover]

As a non-Brit, I had to look it up:

-------------------

World English Dictionary

bodger (ˈbɒdʒə)

— adj

1. informal ( Austral ) worthless or second-rate
2. a labourer who traditionally lived and worked in the forest, making chairs from felling trees

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[caskwith]

It's become a bit of a byword for poor work and a quick fix. Shame really since it had quite esteemed origins, the real bodgers were highly skilled travelling workmen who made affordable goods from natural materials for everyday people to use.

[Alden]

It's become a bit of a byword for poor work and a quick fix. Shame really since it had quite esteemed origins, the real bodgers were highly skilled travelling workmen who made affordable goods from natural materials for everyday people to use.

So it was an honorable name until they bodgered it up ?
If I am remembering it right, these are the guys who went in the woods and built lathes out of bent over sapling trees and a rope ?

[Ocelot55]

This is one of the crown jewels in my Sea Creature Pipe Collection https://picasaweb.google.com/1163065524 ... 3239601010

WOW. that album is amazing! absolutely stunning pipes

+1

Very cool stuff. Inspiring.

[caskwith]

It's become a bit of a byword for poor work and a quick fix. Shame really since it had quite esteemed origins, the real bodgers were highly skilled travelling workmen who made affordable goods from natural materials for everyday people to use.

So it was an honorable name until they bodgered it up ?
If I am remembering it right, these are the guys who went in the woods and built lathes out of bent over sapling trees and a rope ?

Hahaha Yep!

You correct they would create lathes to turn tools but would also build things like fences, gates, fish traps, furniture etc. The thing that distinguished a bodger was their ability to work with green wood cut straight from the forest.

[wdteipen]

I want to be a bodger when I grow up.

[d.huber]

I want to be a bodger when I grow up.

You're already a bodger in my book, Wayne.

[wdteipen]

I want to be a bodger when I grow up.

You're already a bodger in my book, Wayne.

Well there ya go.

[pipedreamer]

Pipe Carver, When I'm as good as
Walt Canoy, Then Craftsmen, Ruler of the universe!

[Charl]

I make pipes, therefore I am a pipemaker.
If somebody tells me I'm an artist, I fall off my chair.

[Alden]

If somebody tells me I'm an artist, I fall off my chair.

Interesting. We must have gone to the same hypnotist ????
If someone tells me I'm an artist, I crow like a rooster.

[Sasquatch]

Very hypothetical Alden.

[Alden]

I just played the whole scene in my head. Me and Charl sitting side by side, someone points and says "You are an artist". Suddenly Charl hits the floor in spasms, I jump up and scream "Ur ur ur ur URRRRR".
Man its like Deja Vu all over again.

[sandahlpipe]

I've been thinking a lot about pipe making. So many skills go into it that it's fairly difficult to place it neatly in any one category. The design of a pipe includes at least basics of art in making lines that look good together. Engineering comes into play, woodworking is certainly part of it. Inlays and shank extensions intersect with jewelery in some cases (not in my work, but Yashtylov was a jeweler, for example). Sculpture can play a part in some cases. Tool making, Marketing, shipping, and business administration all play a role. I struggle to think of an occupation which utilizes a broader spectrum of skills than pipe making. Granted, none of these skills are used to their fullest, so it's a jack-of-all-trades/master-of-one kind of thing.

Having said all that, I stand with Walt and let my customers call me whatever they want. I think most would call me a craftsman, however undeserving I may be.


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