Is Applying The Term "Engineering" To Pipe Construction Baloney?

[sablebrush52]

Wikipedia states the following definition for the term engineering:
Engineering is the application of scientific, economic, social, and practical knowledge in order to invent, design, build, maintain, research, and improve structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes.
In two current threads objections have been raised to the use of the term when applied to the making of pipes. Some feel that it's an inflated term, and insult to engineers. Having grown up with a father who was an aerospace engineer, I would agree that the issues involved are simpler than the work he did designing life support components for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. But my father saw engineering in all manner of things, both natural and man made and he taught me to do the same. I have yet to hear anyone claim to have witnessed a beaver using a slide rule to aid in the construction of a dam.
To the extent that we're no longer seated around a pile of smoldering leaves, sipping smoke through reeds, I posit that engineering has been involved.
Over the years, a great many materials have been tested in the making of pipes. And there have been many developments in the system of construction. It's been a long time since pipe makers used bone tenons as a standard device for connecting the stem to the shank. And what about reverse calabashes? No engineering involved there?
Many makers put a lot of effort into improving their products and I include a smattering of patent applications as examples of the effort involved. Granted these are pretty old, but it's the era where I've done most of my study and they're easy to grab.

They don't look essentially different from the sketches that my father made for valves or other components, including the foil air bearing he invented that is an integral part of most turbines in use today.
What about custom tools designed by pipe makers to drill specific chamber shapes? No engineering there either?
How about calculating the effect of bowl geometry on smoking properties?
And did you know that French carvers engineered a way to drill on a curve so that they could create those lovely swans neck pipes that have been a topic of discussion here? They kept that a closely guarded secret.
Chamber Geometry
more chamber geometry
I'm interested in hearing others responses

 

[dmcmtk]

It may not be rocket science, but obviously, as shown by these patents and many others, a lot of thought went into improving the product. Sometimes the simplest thing, say a spoked wheel, is an engineering masterpiece. My father also trained as an engineer, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. From my experience, some pipes DO smoke better than others.
Also, is there any references to the curved drilling, I've always been curious about it.
Another example of someone putting some thought into it, from Ronni Bikacsan,
http://pipedia.org/wiki/Ronni_Bikacsan

 

[georged]

In a word, yes.
The portion of fluid mechanics that's relevant to tobacco pipe design is both exceedingly small and relatively fixed. Enough so that craftsmen who make pipes need concern themselves only with implementation. A simple chart of airway sizes according to overall pipe size is all that's required.
To refer to that implementation---how well & precisely the craftsman executed the drilling(s) and slot---as "engineering" is simultaneously grandiose with regard to definition, and tortured language with regard to usage. (In common usage, the word "engineering" means the process of designing, planning, and problem solving, not execution.)

 

[Waning Embers]

By definition alone, absolutely yes.
engineer
[ ˌenjəˈni(ə)r ]
VERB past tense: engineered · past participle: engineered
design and build (a machine or structure): "the men who engineered the tunnel"

 

[captpat]

I think engineering is exactly the right term

 

[wayneteipen]

I think "engineering" or "engineered" is an apt term for pipemakers who concern themselves with the inner construction of a pipe. It's no more a slight to trained engineers as someone who makes their own clothes says they "tailor" their own clothes. They aren't tailors any more than most pipemakers are engineers. Some of us put a lot of thought and discussion into how we construct our pipes and do so to tight tolerances. Some of us even study and research gas and fluid dynamics informally in the pursuit of constructing superior smoking pipes. Are most of us engineers? No. Do we incorporate engineering concepts into our work? I sure hope so.

 

[misterlowercase]

IAWW


I would say that "engineering" is an apt term to apply to pipemaking.
It's rather amazing how such a seemingly simple functional form can also have such vast complexities.
Many of the gadget pipes from the past can be said to have been "over-engineered" and most people would grasp what was being said.
I see pipemaking as the intersection of art and engineering, a multidisciplinary field, where everything interrelates to the other; it is cumulative and converges in a cohesive unity of applied knowledge.
Technical skills like achieving accuracies of +/- 1/1000 of an inch combined with an artists eye for aesthetic design, stuff like that.
The involved structural elements of a good smoking pipe are often referred to as "engineering", but perhaps "internal dynamics/mechanics" may be a more accurate phrase?
Regardless,

the word has become a sort of shorthand to describe the precision of a well-made pipe.
The term is in popular usage and I think everyone knows what is meant by saying it.
A google search for pipemaking engineering briar pops up a large score of such usage,

here's but one example...

Q: People may believe pipes look aesthetically appealing, but really it’s just holes and a place to put your tobacco… What’s some of the science/art that go into your pipes/craftmanship?
A: From a science/engineering aspect, pipe engineering is pretty straightforward- connect the bottom of the chamber to the airway, the airway to the bottom of the mortise, and the stem to the mortise. However, to make an exceptionally engineered pipe takes a bit more effort.It's important to use the right diameter airway- between 9/64" and 5/32"- and to maintain a consistent volume of airflow throughout the pipe, whilst cutting the bite-end of the stem thin enough that it is comfortable to clench in your mouth. The only way to cut it thin enough, is to have the airway at the mouthpiece drilled at about 1/16". To compensate for this constriction, well crafted pipes have a slot- shaped like a v cut into the stem from the mouthpiece side. This allows for a consistent volume of airflow whilst the width of the stem can still taper without sanding into the airway. The most important part for a functionally smoking pipe is found in the V-slot in the last inch of the stem.
http://driftjournal.com/entry/yeti-pipe-co/

 

[edgreen]

My father was also an engineer and , like yours, found engineering in everything. I really don't see that much difference in the fluid/flow mechanics which were part of his major contributions and air/flow mechanics of a pipe. I bought way too many pipes in the first year I smoked and am stuck with more than a few that suck at air flow. (pun intended)

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I could see how an engineer might be slightly annoyed by a guy in his garage talking about the "engineering" of his pipes, but a pipe maker wouldn't flat out call himself an engineer. He's applying engineering concepts and certainly using tools that were engineered to a great degree. The properties of how a pipe functions, I think, is the engineering of the pipe. The way my coffee press functions is the engineering of my coffee press, too. The term engineering to my mind just succinctly refers to how something functions.
I'm a musician, and I get paid for it, so when I'm talking about it, I describe myself as a "performing musician" so someone doesn't think I just plunk around in my living room for kicks. That's probaby just an ego thing. A pipe maker doesn't point out in a conversation about what he does that he's a "pipe engineer."
So, a pipe maker isn't an engineer, but he's using engineering to get the job done. Someone who makes his own clothes isn't a tailor but he's using tailoring skills.

 

[beefeater33]

I think you can apply the term "engineering" to pipe making, and everyone should understand that the pipe maker is not a classically trained full-bore "engineer".......... Its common sense, something that unfortunately we as a society lose too much of as time goes by....
--I can mulch my flower beds and plant flowers---- but I'm not a landscaper....

--I can pull the stinger from a honeybee out of my child's foot with tweezers---but I'm not a doctor....

--I can paint my house----- but I'm not a painter....

--I can change the oil and spark plugs in my car-----but I'm not a mechanic....

--I can build a shed or a deck-----but I'm not a carpenter....

--I can field dress and process a whitetail deer-----but I'm not a butcher...

--I can prepare a gourmet meal-----but I'm not a chef....
See where this is going?? :crazy:

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

I can see both sides of the coin. In absolute terms it is pretty simple, even compared to other hobbies with much lower costs the pipe isn't particularly special in its function or construction.
That said, it would be hard to argue that the stuff Dunhill did with oil treatments, or the highly developed sandblasting techniques of J.T Cooke and Walt Cannoy, aren't a type of engineering.

They take a much more hands on approach than something you would get out of NASA, but even when you are talking about rocket science, sometimes the hands on approach is technically superior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMbl_ofF3AM

 

[pipesmokingtom]

No dissenting opinions thus far.

 

[cigrmaster]

In my opinion, a good amount of engineering goes into making a quality pipe. There is a reason that none of my artisan made pipes never need a pipe cleaner to soak up excess moisture, this just doesn't happen by luck.

 

[sablebrush52]

No dissenting opinions thus far.

Unless I misunderstand, George thought that using the term "engineering" is baloney. To me it seems both appropriate and it seems a bit of a stretch insofar as the engineering practice I saw growing up involved projects like designing a nuclear reactor small enough to power a pacemaker.
But calling it drilling seems to me to be an oversimplification since there's more than drilling involved. For many smokers, the last inch is the most critical part and that's the focus of a great deal of thought, both outside as well as inside. Among the patents I've copied are bit designs for people with orthodontia, bite issues, etc.
Some pipes are highly engineered any way one looks at it:

This is the Teaford Air Jet, which had both a reservoir system to collect moisture and a valve to allow adjustable airflow.
It might be less highfalutin to use the word mechanics as opposed to engineering, but then again engineering is involved, it's been in common use in the pipe community for a long time, and its usage is understood. So those who object may just have to shrug their shoulders, curse at us pretentious fools and live with it, or drive themselves nutz.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Unless I misunderstand, George thought that using the term "engineering" is baloney.

Ah, I missed his dissent, somehow.
Mechanics, engineering, drilling, etc. We all know what is meant when someone says "it took me a while to get the engineering part of pipemaking down." I don't think it's meant in conversation as being highfalutin' - just a way to describe the functional aspects of an object. It doesn't seem to me anyway, that anyone is trying to be grandiose.
If an engineer is sneering because pipes are simple little objects - fear not. We still think you're way smarter than we are, big guy.

 

[seacaptain]

I see pipemaking as the intersection of art and engineering, a multidisciplinary field, where everything interrelates to the other; it is cumulative and converges in a cohesive unity of applied knowledge.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I see pipemaking as the intersection of art and engineering, a multidisciplinary field, where everything interrelates to the other; it is cumulative and converges in a cohesive unity of applied knowledge.

Same with building an instrument. My luthier isn't an "engineer," but if he doesn't understand how a guitar's engineering works, all he's made is a pretty wood sculpture, not an instrument.

 

[Perique]

One need only smoke a gurgly, damp, hot pipe to appreciate the engineering that goes into a good pipe.

 

[prndl]

I'm reminded of a story that dates from the 1950's about a local grocer and his safe. He had a huge stand-up safe in back of his store in which he would put all his receipts before he could deposit them in the bank the next morning. The safe would open with either a key or combination lock, but since the grocer had inherited the safe from the previous owner, he had only the key...the combination had long been forgotten.
As Murphy would have it, one day the grocer lost the key. Since it was the weekend's receipts, there was a sizable amount of cash inside. With few options open, the grocer called the local locksmith.
The locksmith walked up to the safe and, with a few twists of the combination lock, the tumblers clicked and the safe was opened.
"That'll be $100.00," the locksmith said.
"$100.00!," the grocer shouted," you ain't been here two minutes! I'll be damned if I pay you $100.00 for two minutes work!"
With that, the locksmith shut the safe door and simply stated, "Next time I open it will be $200.00."
With still fewer options left, the grocer remarked," Ok! ok! I'll pay you the $100.00. But I want an itemized bill.
with that, the locksmith reopened the safe and went about about writing his bill. Five minutes later, he handed the grocer his itemized bill...
"Opening door to safe...$5.00."

"Knowing how to open door to safe...$95.00"
Said all that to say all this. Is there engineering to pipe making? Of course there is. Some of us folks, however, are just better off at seeing and unlocking its secrets than the rest of us folks.

 

[edgreen]

It's much like building a musical instrument. Precise engineering, art, and craft intersecting.