That Machine Made Look

[Briar Lee]

Last year I bought a pipe that supposedly was a genuine SON made by Eric Nording almost sixty years ago, when he’d partnered with another man, and due to legal reasons couldn’t stamp them as Nordings.

The above pipe cost $35 delivered from a Serbian seller. There’s a tiny fill in an absolutely breathlessly beautiful large brandy snifter. Yet before I could convince myself the Pipe Fairies had smiled on me, an examination of the pipe in hand, revealed this pipe looks entirely machine made. Of course it wasn’t, maybe the phenolic The Pipe or the artificial briar pipes of fifty years ago were entirely machine made, but none since. Even a Dr.Grabow has a lot of hand work.

Today in the mail come a Danske Club (Stanwell sub brand) for $41 and this pipe too, has that one piece of M & Ms out of a box machine made look.




My two Danish brand snifters are as beautiful as a couple of Stepford wives. Both are high quality first class pipes, one anybody ought to be proud of.

Being too perfect is not a valid complaint.

But how do dey do dat, getting them so perfect?

Is there a machine over there cutting these out with a 19 year old kid watching it make pipes, or what?

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I'm thinking practice and repetition translates to muscle memory over time.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

I'm thinking practice and repetition translates to muscle memory over time.

Agreed.

It's like cooking professionally. First you learn the basic skills, like cutting an onion. Then you develope the craft through repetition, developing muscle memory for accuracy and speed.

Once the craftsmanship is honed, you can develop style and creativity in the trade.

 

[didimauw]

I really like my hand cut stem on my Savinelli. But if the 3 I have each one is different. My Rossi's that are made by Savinelli have the same basic stem. And I know that I like it, so I'm happy I won't be surprised when I buy another.

 

[Briar Lee]

Here’s two #13 Large Dublin Flame Grain Kaywoodie pipes

The left pipe, has a short 4 hole ball stinger and it’s marked Imported Briar and the right pipe was made before the war when every pipe from 50 cents to 10 dollars were all made of imported briar, so it’s not marked. Also, the right pipe has a long, large ball 4 hole stinger with a patent number and marked Drinkless.

There’s no serious question, the right hand pipe is pre war, made from about 1937 to 1939. It ought, to be a better made pipe. But it’s not quite as well made as the newer pipe on the left. The newer pipe has thicker bowl walls, a better joint between stem and shank, it’s drilled better, it draws better, and it hangs better and feels better in the hand. A better craftsman finished it after it was machine shaped.

To quote a very great man, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.

My two Danish brandy snifters are so downright perfect, they look like laser checkering on a fine shotgun.

Real hand cut checkering on fine walnut has a certain look, that cannot be duplicated by the most expensive, cookie cutter consistent laser checking machine. The machine cuts the checkering too perfectly.

I’m not complaining about my Danish pipes being too perfect. They are both excellent smokers, perfectly drilled, they hang and clench and hold in the hand, just flawlessly.

But, how dey do dat?

Kaywoodie tried and failed at that, years ago.

 

[jaytex1969]

The modern age of computer guided CNC machinery can crank out legions of precision parts to exacting standards, so long as the monkey at the helm inputs the proper parameters before hitting "Go".

How do you think they fit a hundred thousand circuits onto a CPU chip the size of a Mac Baren Virginia Flake?