Do Well Known or Professional Pipe Makers Smoke Their Own Pipes?

[didimauw]

Is there any kind of unwritten code with pipe makers? Don't smoke something you make? Do you think some carvers ONLY smoke pipes that they have made themselves?

 

[daveinlax]

Some I know do/did. Some I've met are reputed to only smoke their rejects. 8O

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

David Huber is in my pipe club and from what I've seen, he smokes mostly his own. Another hobby pipe maker in my club smokes the ones he makes as well, so I'd like to think that a lot of them do.

 

[tulsagentleman]

If a pipe maker didn't smoke his own pipes he would be sending the wrong signal. If the maker won't smoke them, why should I?

 

[sasquatch]

If you make a pipe, and it's really good, you sell it. That's how a pipe maker has things like food, and a house. That's all there is to it. There's no "Oh this one's really pretty, I think I'll just keep it and smoke it."
We make pipes to sell them.
One fairly well known pipe maker quipped to me once "Oh hell no, I can't afford to smoke my own pipes."
On top of that, there's this thing where you've beaten on a pipe for like, 8 hours. And you probably sort of love it but also sort of hate it, it isn't quite as good as you hoped but it's still your baby, right? So there's a mental aspect on top of any monetary aspect.
We all have rejects, we all have also-rans in terms of briar or a stem that didn't quite work, or a finish, or whatever. You smoke those pipes to make sure your airway is as good as you think, that the briar is as good as you think, that your button is as good as you think it is. There's very little pleasure in this. It's product testing.

 

[kcghost]

I say most smoke their own but that's because they won't put it out for sale.

 

[warren]

What's the difference between a boutique pipe carver and a large pizza?
Answer to follow if no one comes up with it.

 

[mso489]

sas', that's a clear-eyed look behind the curtain. I guess a person who acts professionally will never watch a play or movie the same way again. It makes me appreciate artisan pipes more. The factory craftspeople are highly skilled as well, but because they don't take every pipe from beginning to end, they may have a little more distance on it. On a pipesmagazine podcast, the marketing guy with Lanes (not a pipe carver but a pro) said he just smoked the Stanwells he is given at work because he's a tobacco guy, not a pipe guy. Doing something for a living reforms your perspective.

 

[scloyd]

[/quote]What's the difference between a boutique pipe carver and a large pizza?

The large pizza can feed a family of four.

 

[didimauw]

Those are all the different answers I was looking for! Interesting view points.

 

[warren]

scloyd is the winner of ... absolutely nothing.
I would guess that the artisan might carve a keeper, might not even be his best work but, for some reason he can't part with it. I've known artists who developed a painting they can't, for some reason, part with. Perhaps it was a particular technical or mental challenge. And, like the painter or wordsmith, the carver probably buys/ogles others' work at times.
And, I suspect some artisans may even carve a pipe simply for their own use. But, if they are making a living or, trying to, most everything is for sale, even favorites. Perhaps they only smoke their failures.

 

[JimInks]

I know Basil Meadows smokes a few pipes that he has made. He even made himself a Bing because I loved the one he made me so much.