Don Marshall makes a good lookin' billiard:
http://www.dmarshallpipes.com/Gallery.php
But also brings up something I'd like to discuss,
kind of a tricky topic.
Maybe you don't want to touch it with a ten foot pole,
maybe it'd be better for me if I didn't either,
but I feel I should, just because critical discussions
are so rare, usually it's all an ego-stroking circle jerk
when we talk about artisan pipes...LOL but I can understand
that, and it's fun sharing, but serious critique is usually
not openly discussed...
...Mike at BriarBlues recently on his new blog tried to talk about
something along these lines, I can't find the article because there
is no archive, and I can only barely remember the details, but the
topic seemed to touch a nerve, garnering responses like
"What the fuck does this guy know about pipe making?"
So, I can understand that sometimes it's better to remain silent,
or behind closed doors, or you might risk pissing people off,
alienating someone, or generally gaining a bad rep amongst
pipemakers as an "arrogant prick", and that wouldn't be good when
approaching a pipemaker for a commission would it?
Well, I'm going to be open about something, I'm pretty stupid
so here goes,
I recently got myself a very nice McGimpsey smooth billiard,
for less than $200, it looks great:
...and his gallery is full of incredible pipes,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcgimpseypipes/
And he was a finalist in last years Kansas City contest for dublins,
but my billiard had a constricted stem with a whistle,
it could not pass my favored Brigham regular pipe cleaner,
but it can pass a BJ Long regular, yet very tightly,
I tried to contact him about the issue,
using the email addy on Pipedia,
and it bounced, invalid addy.
I finally just fixed it myself with a file,
I invested in some nice Swiss needle files for just such occasions,
but I'd thought it'd be on estate pipes, not a brand new American artisan pipe!
But now, it does smoke great, and sweetly.
So,
has he disappeared?
Was he a flash-in-the-pan pipemaker?
It seems there are a ton of new upstart American pipemakers out there.
How long will they last?
Did I learn a lesson about buying a piece from a pipemaker too early in their career?
Even though all the technical stuff is much easier nowadays because of the internet and the amount of skill sharing going on, a new pipemaker is probably still making little mistakes in the beginning...
...what threshold of time do you consider it "safe" to buy from a new maker,
knowing you will get a true quality product as close to flawless as possible?
Should it be 3 years?
2 years?
5 years?
Many new makers are charging quite high prices much too soon I think,
a maker who has made under 100 pipes still has a bit to learn I'd say.
Whereas for quite a few years, Rad Davis was offering his super solid pipes
for very modest money, he paid his dues bigtime, and now has a tremendous reputation.
Some of the newer makers are coming out of the gate with pipes costing $350+
and I don't know what to make of it.
Another thing is briar supply,
established makers have by now gotten themselves a reliable quality supplier,
where the newer maker may have an iffy or low quality supplier.
Am I being an asshole?
Should we not talk about something like this?
I would appreciate any blunt discussion on the topic.
If this is just stupid on my part,
please ignore it and let the thread die.
