"Hand Made" Definition

[withnail]

It's been interesting to read the thread about second grade pipes from artisan makers. Reading through the comments about the cost and processes I began to wonder what people mean when they describe a pipe as "hand made"? Below is a video showing the process used by Mike who says it takes him about an hour to make a pipe (not including the stem)
I would describe the process shown as "hand made", but where is the dividing line?

 

[numbersix]

Good question. It seems that all "hand crafted" pipes are still made with modern machinery.
Maybe it refers to a single craftsman rather than a factory setting where one person cuts the bowl shape, another sands, another stains, etc.?

 

[pstlpkr]

I agree with Numbersix, "Mike's" would qualify as hand made.

The line (as you put it) would be if that was the only thing he did.

Produce a bunch of pipes w/out bits or finish, pass then on to the next person in the "factory" for another process.

In other words, a multi-person process during production.

 

[withnail]

PS I meant to add this YouTube video showing how Mike treats the inside of the bowl

 

[withnail]

I think that would be my definition too. I think there are two parts to being able to call a pipe hand made or artisan.
1) The whole process is done by one person. Although I guess allowing an apprentice to do the stain and polish would still qualify.
2) Nothing is automated. Looking at the video you can see that the first stage couple be done on a CAD machine.

 

[wayneteipen]

The definition of "handmade" in the pipe world refers to a pipe that isn't made using a fraised stummel or premolded stem. A handmade pipe can still be a factory made pipe. A "factory" pipe is one that is made by multiple persons where a different person completes distinct and different parts of the pipe assembly line style. It's my understanding that some of the higher end "factory" brand manufacturers like Dunhill do this. An artisan made pipe is one that is handmade by one person from start to finish.

 

[puffy]

For some time now I've wondered if a pipe that is machine made and hand finished couldn't be of the same quality as one that is completely hand made.

 

[wayneteipen]

As far as smoking quality it's quite possible for a machine made pipe to smoke as well as a handmade one although your odds of getting a great smoker from a machine made pipe is less than one that is painstakingly crafted. The biggest difference is that a machine doesn't pay much attention to the orientation of the grain in a block of wood as it grinds away wood. It also doesn't really care what shape is best suited for a particular block. A person mounts the block of suitable size in the fraising machine and away it goes duplicating the same shape over and over. One machine can churn out hundreds a day. Art is pretty much lost in the process.

 

[mso489]

Some handmade pipes have wonderful telltale irregularities that let you know this is one of

a kind, in the same way that pottery has asymmetries that make the work one of a kind.

There's a zen to it, capturing the moment in time when the pipe is created. Even machine

made pipes (assembly line pipes) can have these elements, but the effort has been to

minimize these "imperfections" rather than to capture them.

 

[cigrmaster]

I think Wayne has answered the question very well. Since he is a pipe maker I consider his definition to be accurate. From my experience with both hand made and factory made pipes, I enjoy my hand made artisan pipes more than I do my factory pipes with one exception( my Castello). I like the idea of one set of hands with the artists name on my pipe, generally when a guy puts his name on a pipe, he is paying attention to the details more than a factory would. I can say unequivocally that every hand made stem I own is superior to any factory stem I have ever put in my mouth. The differences are extremely noticeable.

 

[withnail]

Once again some interesting points raised
I think the Blakemar pipes represent great value as only about 1% go into the highest price bracket with the normal A Grades being priced at $90.
Another big difference between artisan and factory is that the artisan is much more able to meet a customers individual needs. If you want a smaller version or a hybrid a craftsman can make it.

 

[withnail]

Some handmade pipes have wonderful telltale irregularities that let you know this is one of

a kind, in the same way that pottery has asymmetries that make the work one of a kind.

Very true. There is a slight flat spot on the base of my Northern Briars that I always feel for when smoking it. I think I could find it in a pile of similar pipes as I know the shape so well 8)

 

[sasquatch]

I absolutely don't believe that it was EVER the case with Dunhill. The patent application for the oil cure shows a machine capable of housing about 1000 stummels. This cure was done after initial shaping.
So the process would have to be that an artisan shaped a stummel, put it on "his" curing rack, went and finished some other pipe while it dried, and then came back to that stummel and put a stem on it. Given the thousands of pipes they made, I doubt entirely that this would have been kept track of.
All the pictures of the factory that I've ever seen, from any time period, show guys doing things in batchs - selecting briar, curing stummels, doing stems and dots.... never a single pipe, always batches.
And yes, in theory, a "factory pipe" or a "machine made pipe" could and should be every bit as good as any artisan pipe. In practice, this is not the case because tolerances are not that tight and finishing not that fine.

 

[captainbob]

Of course, my Artisan pipe-maker, Bob hayes uses machinery. What is important is the fact that he makes a pipe that is woefully under-priced by Artisan standards and is engineered to smoke great. To me, that is the benefit of dealing direct with the Artisan pipe-maker. If there is a problem, you go-DIRECT! And, it works! I always say, "life is about relationships". I would not have it any other way!

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[sasquatch]

Everybody uses machinery of some kind.
"Handmade" is basically meaningless in this application. "Untemplated Artisan-Produced Singleton Pipe" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
But grabbing a stummel out of the box on the left and fitting it to a stem from the box on the right is not at all the same process as the solo pipe maker employs, as I think Wayne highlighted well.
If "handmade" were intrinsically desireable, rusticated finishes should be worth more than sandblasts.

 

[zonomo]

I recently purchased a Savinili Bumblebee Bent. The other ones I've seen look EXACTLY lime mine. I assume they are machine made and maybe "hand finished". How Gould Peterson or Savinili produce thousands of pipes without automation? My Boswell's seem to be one of a kind but "Similar to other Boswell's" in design.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I always figured handmade meant without the use of machines. I can see where in the pipe world it would mean one person creating the pipe fully by themselves and not just doing one aspect and handing it on down the line.

 

[wayneteipen]

"Handmade" in the context of pipemaking doesn't necessarily mean without the use of machinery. I don't know any successful pipemaker's who don't use the typical tools of the trade, especially lathes and sanding discs or belts. Both of those tools require a great deal of skill and hand/eye coordination. This is opposed to a pipe bowl made using a fraising machine that does all the work shaping a pipe. The same is true for handmade as opposed to pre-molded stems.

 

[spartan]

Handmade = Made with hands..... :rofl:
I don't much care for the word. I do care to know which processes were hands on, and which were with the aid of machine.
Trying to define a word which everyone treats different is impossible.

 

[withnail]

Once again an interesting debate
As mentioned above, I think pretty much every pipe maker will use at least a lathe and polishing disks. Looking at the video I started this thread with, I feel the important thing is he is working by eye and feel. No templates or jigs to guide the tools, just years of experience.
So, to all the artisan pipe makers out there - thank you for all the pleasure your work has given us pipe smokers! :clap: