Sorry about that neverbend: I think I fell into the catalogue trap when I talked about Comoy's having "master craftsmen", I've probably just adopted the ad-mans way of describing anyone working on a Blue Riband! It's probably now impossible to know just what the practices were at many of the factories, and even the experts get confused - I remember earlier this year Neill Archer Roan getting into a right twist on his blog over how Comoy stems may have been cut. Thanks for your help navigating through some Charatan's scholarship.
"Ashby Hall"??
- Thread starter ssjones
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Hi Leslie,
No apology required. Naturally, Comoy wanted to play up their craftsmen to impress customers but the skills required for machine made pipes are mainly finishing and those are very basic skills compared to those required in hand making pipes. My comments are made based normal or usual practices in pipe making factories or workshops.
Pipe making is really a very simple process that has two (2) parts; bowl and stem manufacture. Based on the literature of a leading machine maker of pipes (with the bowl being machine replicated and stem made from an injection molded blank) it takes, on average, 20 minutes (manhours) for them to make a completed pipe. I’ve estimated that Barling, (hand made bowl and stem), took 2 hours to complete a pipe. Anything more might be inefficiency in process or extended time dedicated to cosmetic work.
Bowl manufacturing can be broken down into four (4) basic areas of work that decline in skill level required (only Finishing is required in machine production).
Hand making
1 - Cutting: Trimming the briar block into a custom ebauchon.
2 - Lathing: Turning the custom ebauchon on a lathe to define bowl and shank,
3 - Shaping: Sanding to complete the shape of the pipe.
Hand and Machine making
4 - Finishing: Staining, polishing and stamping.
Keep in mind that the above is a simplification of the bowl making process intended to illustrate that it is possible to know the basic functions of a pipe factory based on what they produced and to show that skill level is relative to the product being manufactured. The details, and there may be many sub-processes or brand specific techniques, and their impact on the quality of a finished pipe is a far more detailed explanation.
As an example, the best Cutters will be more consistent or brilliant than others in their ability to recognize the optimal shape, grain and avoidance of flaws in a particular block of briar.
No apology required. Naturally, Comoy wanted to play up their craftsmen to impress customers but the skills required for machine made pipes are mainly finishing and those are very basic skills compared to those required in hand making pipes. My comments are made based normal or usual practices in pipe making factories or workshops.
Pipe making is really a very simple process that has two (2) parts; bowl and stem manufacture. Based on the literature of a leading machine maker of pipes (with the bowl being machine replicated and stem made from an injection molded blank) it takes, on average, 20 minutes (manhours) for them to make a completed pipe. I’ve estimated that Barling, (hand made bowl and stem), took 2 hours to complete a pipe. Anything more might be inefficiency in process or extended time dedicated to cosmetic work.
Bowl manufacturing can be broken down into four (4) basic areas of work that decline in skill level required (only Finishing is required in machine production).
Hand making
1 - Cutting: Trimming the briar block into a custom ebauchon.
2 - Lathing: Turning the custom ebauchon on a lathe to define bowl and shank,
3 - Shaping: Sanding to complete the shape of the pipe.
Hand and Machine making
4 - Finishing: Staining, polishing and stamping.
Keep in mind that the above is a simplification of the bowl making process intended to illustrate that it is possible to know the basic functions of a pipe factory based on what they produced and to show that skill level is relative to the product being manufactured. The details, and there may be many sub-processes or brand specific techniques, and their impact on the quality of a finished pipe is a far more detailed explanation.
As an example, the best Cutters will be more consistent or brilliant than others in their ability to recognize the optimal shape, grain and avoidance of flaws in a particular block of briar.
- Status