A noble first....

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 2:32 pm

I'e been making pipes for a few years now, and made hundreds of them, but this is a first for me - I finally have made a pipe that I consider worthy of my highest grade:

This grade is "Nobelman" and is the highest of my three grades. The other two grades, in ascending order, are "Countryman" and "Cityman".

If my CFO never saw the pipe, I'd be smoking it myself right now.

kbosi · Post by **kbosi** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 2:35 pm

WOW, Very nice Kurt. It sure great when those come around.
Now, with the money you get for that pipe, call Paul at A & M stamps and get one made!!!
Great job

LexKY_Pipe · Post by **LexKY_Pipe** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 3:39 pm

Now that's a beaut!!!!

achduliebe · Post by **achduliebe** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 3:56 pm

Very beautiful pipe Kurt!

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:20 pm

Very sharp Kurt! The bit looks a little think, but otherwise that looks top notch! OTOH, I know you have a really big opening on the button, which I like. Beautiful pipe. What is the decorative wood on the shank and stem?

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:40 pm

kbosi wrote:Now, with the money you get for that pipe, call Paul at A & M stamps and get one made!!!

And don't think for an instant that it didn't bother the crap out of me using an engraving tool to sign that pipe. Yes, I *really* need to call Paul and get a set of stamps made. I just have to figure out if I want the grades spelled out, or if I want to use some sort of symbolic nomenclature. :think:

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:47 pm

Nick wrote:What is the decorative wood on the shank and stem?

The cap on the shank is actually bone, and the stem ring is maple burl that I lightly dyed to go with the rest of the pipe.

Thanks for all the complients, guys!

marks · Post by **marks** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 11:50 pm

Kurt, you nailed that pipe. Outstanding!

souljer · Post by **souljer** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:47 am

Hi,

It is a nice looking pipe and I agree you MUST get a stamp!

I'm just an artist who smokes a pipe and I've made a total of 2 strummels! Big deal. However from a design perspective; you MUST get a stamp!

Re: Stamps, I like your three level grading as you explained above. I would go with iconic symbols or images that represent the grades. For example, a cowboy hat for countryman, a fedora for cityman and a fancy hat with a feather for nobleman (you know the type). Hmm, but that might look like a pimp's hat which could be construed as a cityman I guess. Maybe a top hat for nobleman? Or a horse, a car and a limo (the old 1930's style). I could do this all night, but you get the idea. Send me a message if you want more ideas.

What ever you decide on, the main benefit of using icons is that you use the same amount of space for the different words. And your words -the grades- have a lot of letters in them which would be a lot of space. A symbolic reference to those words is basically one character or there about. Much more efficient and in fact will allow more choices in placement, should you need any.

Now sand or buff off those scratches (making a nice clean space) and replace them with some quality stampings that reflect the grade and your obvious level of skill as a pipe artisan.

bluesmk · Post by **bluesmk** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:56 am

Damn.....feels good huh? Beautiful, all the way around. Great pipe Kurt.
Dan
Gabrieli Pipes

jthpipes · Post by **jthpipes** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:14 am

Congrats! That is an awesome looking pipe. I like the bone on the end of the shank, it goes well with the stain you used. Hope it sells quick!

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:58 am

I like the hat idea! Very nifty. But go with the top hat, I think the feather would look pimp-ish. Of course you could have your ultra high grade "Pimped Out" line of pipes. In that case, go with the feather.

jthpipes · Post by **jthpipes** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 3:07 pm

Nick wrote:I like the hat idea! Very nifty. But go with the top hat, I think the feather would look pimp-ish. Of course you could have your ultra high grade "Pimped Out" line of pipes. In that case, go with the feather.

Do I smell a new reality TV show "pimp out my pipe" 8O

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 9:59 pm

Do you suppose Paul at A&M can make the hats? I don't know if I want that, but I'm sure I need some sort of icon instead of spelling things out. Souljer was right - to many letters in my grades.

sagiter · Post by **sagiter** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 10:54 pm

He can pretty much do anything.

Neil

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:16 am

KurtHuhn wrote:Do you suppose Paul at A&M can make the hats? I don't know if I want that, but I'm sure I need some sort of icon instead of spelling things out. Souljer was right - to many letters in my grades.

Hey Kurt,

I just got all new stamps, including a couple of little icons. My highest grade is Hoplite--the symbol for which is a plumed helmet. Paul did a great job with it, and it had some very tight and finely detailed elements. It ran me about $130 I think. Turnaround time was about a week. If you're looking to save money though, you'll want to abbreviate your grades--C-man, N-man, Pmp., etc.

Todd

P.S. Drop me a line if you want Paul's e-mail.

P.P.S. I think he'll be in Chicago this year too.

souljer · Post by **souljer** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:21 am

Hi again,

I was not expecting you to go with the hat idea, although I did mention it in good faith and do think it's a decent idea, now that I think about it more seriously. It was just the first thing I thought of. I was trying to suggest some images that would fit into a small space (the shank or bottom of a pipe) and still be easy to read/understand what they are.

Kurt wrote

Do you suppose Paul at A&M can make the hats? I don't know if I want that, but I'm sure I need some sort of icon instead of spelling things out. Souljer was right - to many letters in my grades.

I think they will be able to reproduce any decent artwork -whatever icons you decide on. You might find somethings on the internet or I can draw you some simple images that might be useful. I would ask whoever will make the stamp what size art they need and how fine or detailed it can or cannot be. Check their website for examples. Measure the smallest place you plan on stamping, the shank for instance (if that's where you plan on stamping) and figure out exactly how small these things need to be, or conversely, how big they can be (about 1/4 inch square? 1/8?).

If you want a rough estimate, get some tracing paper. Draw an average space -two parallel lines representing the shank, for example. On several pieces of paper write out what you want to say; name, made in USA, grade, etc. all on seperate pieces. Then place them over the example shank space. With the elements on different pieces of paper you can move them around and rewrite them accordingly to find the look you want. For example Larry Roush has his name "ROUSH" written out in a curve at the top of the stampings. I think he's got something on eBay right now, if you want to check it out. One of the pictures is of the nomenclature. For the above idea, you might do a big version first; like the shank is 2 or 3 or 4 inches wide. This will be easier to see and get a feel for, before you do a true sized example which will be much smaller.

Hmm, this probably sounds like a lot, sorry about that. But I figure if you are really going to end up spending around $130. you might as well get something you really like and that has been designed to work for you the best.

Just trying to help. Good luck what ever you do.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:11 am

I want a pimped out pipe!

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:23 pm

Souljer wrote:Hi again,

I was not expecting you to go with the hat idea, although I did mention it in good faith and do think it's a decent idea, now that I think about it more seriously. It was just the first thing I thought of. I was trying to suggest some images that would fit into a small space (the shank or bottom of a pipe) and still be easy to read/understand what they are.

Actually, the hat idea made the most sense to me. Since a hat is almost universal, and the kind of hat a person wears can be a good indicator of class, I decided to go with it. It was a great idea. However, I'm going to go with the following:
Countyman: straw hat
Cityman: fedora
Nobleman: crown
That seemed to make the most sense to me.

Paul is starting my name stamps right away, but I have to get him sketches of what I want for the grading stamps so that he can let me know how much and how soon.

souljer · Post by **souljer** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 12:06 am

Hi,

Kurt wrote

Actually, the hat idea made the most sense to me. Since a hat is almost universal, and the kind of hat a person wears can be a good indicator of class, I decided to go with it. It was a great idea.

I agree. That's sort of what I was thinking, plus a small image would be easy to see and understand.

Then he wrote

However, I'm going to go with the following:
Countyman: straw hat
Cityman: fedora
Nobleman: crown
That seemed to make the most sense to me.

I totally understand those images, but I'm not crazy about them. I don't need to tell you why here. You can send me a message if you want to hear my opinion. However it's your deal. If you're happy, go with it. By the way is it Countyman or Countryman?

and finally Kurt wrote

Paul is starting my name stamps right away, but I have to get him sketches of what I want for the grading stamps so that he can let me know how much and how soon.

Good. That sounds great. If you want to draw them, cool. If you want me to sketch something simple that's no problem too.

I'm happy for you.

P.S. Totally off-topic, but how do you get the name of the person to show up at the top of the quote box? Mine always says, "Quote".

Also, how do I add my own picture for an avitar? All I see is a list to choose from.

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