Better Stamping on Pipes

[mso489]

The stamped lettering on pipes, the stamping, is the single best, and only dependable, way

to identify the maker and origin of a tobacco pipe. Many brands, like Dunhill and Peterson,

are methodical in providing clear stamping that gives you a good idea about a pipe. Lately,

many artisan carvers and other manufacturers like Luciano have become quite proactive in

providing a name and date on their pipes. I wonder if a word-of-mouth campaign to encourage

this would help make it almost universal, and perhaps increase the information given a little, on

every pipe. A standard stamp should probably include the name of the maker (company or artisan),

the date of manufacture, the nation and if possible the state/province where it was made, a model

name and/or number, and perhaps even the city or town of manufacture. I think even house pipes

and seconds could give a manufacturer of origin without diminishing the retail dealer. Also, the

quality of the engraving or impression of the stamp should be firm and clear, and big enough to

read. I bought a fine, sturdy Amadeus pot shaped pipe but the name is only partially legible. As

pipes become more expensive, and the estate market increases, identifying pipes becomes more

important in resale, and provides a strong element of interest in buying new pipes as well. If you

agree, talk it up with your pipe manufacturing and artisanal carver contacts. What do you think?

 

[wcannoy]

That's a lot of stuff to stamp on a pipe, I don't want that many stamps marring up my beautiful briar. I stamp my name/brand, which can be used to readily find out where my pipes are made with a quick web search.
I don't have model names or numbers outside of the primarily finish based classifications which I already do stamp on my pipes, and I don't intend to do model names or numbers as I don't use templates or standard proportions. That's all I need is for a guy to say "hey I ordered my second billiard from you and it's a quarter inch shorter than the first one. I thought they were the same model..."
I did used a date code (mmddyy) from 1999 to 2006. Very few people even knew what it was, and fewer still seemed to care.

 

[mso489]

The pipe carver I have most bought pipes from puts his name and the year. Of course, an artisan carver

isn't going to have model numbers; each pipe is a separate work. But with group-produced pipes, it helps

identify them. I say group-produced because a lot of hand-work goes into even "machine made" pipes.

I still like the idea of people adding at least the country (besides name and date). And by date, I really mean

the year. If most stamps had the maker name, the year, and the nation, think of all the guess work that would

save us on Forums alone. Pipes often have a lifespan longer than their owner, and might have two or three or

more owners over time. I just think it gives a pipe dignity and more identity to have at least basic information,

and maybe a little more. But your point is taken; if there is really no place on the pipe that doesn't deface it,

by putting stamped information -- if that is really the case with an artisan pipe -- then put nothing. I'd go

along with that. Most pipes, there is somewhere tasteful to tuck the stamp. But if not, not.

 

[ssjones]

I have no idea why a boutique (James Upshall) or artisan pipe maker wouldn't stamp a date on their creations.

 

[wcannoy]

I am not opposed to, and have recently contemplated adding a two digit year to my nomenclature. Heck, in three more years, a legal aged smoker could buy a Cannoy birth year pipe (not withstanding a raise on the legal smoking age)...
But when you think of all that stuff, brand, model/number, date, grade, city, state, country... and large enough to read, and stamped perfectly? That's just not practical in many, dare I say 'most' cases. I recently made a thin shanked Bing, and I would have had to stamp up half the bowl to get all that on there. Not to mention the fact that after all the work put in to making it, I have to hold my breath and pray that a shank doesn't crack like a twig under the pressure required to clearly mark with each different stamp!

 

[captainsousie]

I do like clear stamping and a date of manufacture. Some of the other things are nice on a factory pipe or artisan who sells a lot of pipes. For the small production artisan or the one who doesn't want to give up too much real estate it could pose a problem though. The thing that really gets me though, is the ones who put a stamp on the pipe that is so ambiguous (read: unique) doesn't tell you anything and if you don't have good resources you may never know even the name of the carver/brand.

 

[sablebrush52]

I do appreciate the name, grade, and year. Not so much a clutter of descriptive stamps. Late Barling fossils look cluttered with all of the descriptive stamps crammed into a small space.
It is interesting what different artisans consider worth stamping. Lee Von Erck stamps the source for the briar on his pipes.

 

[ssjones]

An interesting perspective from a pipe maker, thanks Walt. I hadn't thought about pressing a stamp into a long, pencil shank style pipe!
This type of stamping bugs me. On a new to me, but unsmoked, Upshall. I assume that's just sloppy work, right?

 

[zack24]

Tom Eltang just started using a laser engraver for his marks... Video Tom Eltang

 

[wcannoy]

I assume that's just sloppy work, right?

Sometimes, the harder you try, the worse an impression looks.
A double impression does look sloppy, but to say that it is sloppy work... well, it just happens sometimes, even to the best of us, and especially when stamping by hand. On a curved, uneven surface, it is necessary sometimes to rock the stamp back and forth a couple of times to make a good impression, and sometimes that action just gets a little off track and creates a double. The worker who stamped that Upshall might have been careless, but might just as well been trying hard to do his (or her) best!
The bare spot in the middle looks like they tried to stamp a concave surface with a flat stamp. I can't be sure because I don't know what the shape looks like. Again, sloppy work? Probably just poor planning. I've done this before too. Sometimes the maker gets tunnel vision, concentrating on making the shape exactly what he wants, not taking into account the need to leave a space with the appropriate surface geometry to accept a stamp (and a space on the opposite side of the pipe that can support the weight and pressure of the stamping process!)
The stamping on that Upshall is pretty ugly, but I think they tried once and didn't get a good impression, tried again and made it worse, and so decided to give up. If it were an artisan pipe, it would require a do-over.

 

[wcannoy]

Tom Eltang just started using a laser engraver for his marks... Video Tom Eltang

Stamping by hand is hard! It's the last thing you do to a pipe before it is ready for the world. It is easy to screw up, and it can make or (literally) break a pipe.
More and more makers are using lasers, especially since a desktop version can be had for around a grand these days. It's not exactly a new thing. I saw my first laser stamped artisan pipe around ten years ago, it was a Horace DeJarnett.
Personally, from a pipemaking standpoint, I wouldn't use a laser to apply nomenclature any more than I would use a fraising machine to shape stummels.

 

[zack24]

Personally, from a pipemaking standpoint, I wouldn't use a laser to apply nomenclature any more than I would use a fraising machine to shape stummels.

I'm not wild about the look from the laser engraver or the manual engravers some of the European makers are using. Not as crisp as a good impression....

 

[bluesmk]

"Tom Eltang just started using a laser engraver for his marks... Video Tom Eltang
Stamping by hand is hard! It's the last thing you do to a pipe before it is ready for the world. It is easy to screw up, and it can make or (literally) break a pipe.
More and more makers are using lasers, especially since a desktop version can be had for around a grand these days. It's not exactly a new thing. I saw my first laser stamped artisan pipe around ten years ago, it was a Horace DeJarnett.
Personally, from a pipemaking standpoint, I wouldn't use a laser to apply nomenclature any more than I would use a fraising machine to shape stummels."
Totally agree.

Dan

Gabrieli Pipes

 

[ssjones]

Very interesting details from some pipe makers! Boswell uses a laser to do custom work on his pipes, I'm also not a fan.

Someone recently posted a video of various makers doing the nomenclature stamping, using rounded stamps. It looked pretty violent from a non-makers perspective. I never considered some might not have curved stamps to rock thru the nomenclature.

This stuff is fascinating. Perhaps someday I'll have the opportunity to actually watch someone make a pipe. Even with you tube videos, some of the steps are still a little mysterious to me.

 

[cynyr]

@Al - I saw that Upshall stamp over at Steve's, and wondered how that got by the inspector. I guess when you've put all that effort into a work of art, it's hard to reject it for a poor stamp. Seems like the last few pipes I have worked on have a very light stamp.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

If we'd all just grind those silly markings off of the pipes, we could actually trade the pipes on the actual quality of the briar and engineering, instead of the marketing and reputations.

Yeh, yeh, yeh, I know, I know, some of you have to hold onto your status symbols.

 

[lonestar]

If we'd all just grind those silly markings off of the pipes, we could actually trade the pipes on the actual quality of the briar and engineering,

Show me fifty pipes that cost $75 new and fifty pipes that cost $475 new. Just about anyone could separate all of those pipes in their proper category based on nothing more than quality and engineering.

 

[mso489]

You could look at it the other way. The stamps can identify and give credit to pipes that are not

prestige names, may be relative unknowns, but have quality, integrity, and design, by at least

remembering where they were made, by whom, and when. That's most of mine.

 

[woodsroad]

If we'd all just grind those silly markings off of the pipes, we could actually trade the pipes on the actual quality of the briar and engineering,

Best quote yet.
I like markings from a historical perspective, and because I'm a born classifier, but status? Means nothing to me. I go by shape and function. If it appeals to me, and it smokes well, hot damn, I'm happy. But there is no doubt that most of the high end pipe makers fetch top dollar because they ring the bell on both of these qualities. Ring it...? they damn well knock it out of the ball park.