Jan Pietenpauw retired!?!

[Ultraman]

So I remembered people raving about Mr.Pietenpauw's pipes a while ago and decided I'd check out his site again. At one point I'd sent an email asking to be put in line for a pipe, but never got a response.

As of 2 days ago, it appears Mr.Pietenpauw is no longer making pipes! Does anyone know why?

 

[Hermit]

He got into a squabble with people on "Tamp and Puff,"
over their POY. I can't believe he would quit making
pipes over it, though. I kinda think it's temporary.

 

[eon]

So that's what this is all about? I visited the site a few days ago and thought it was a late April joke or something. I have never bought any of his pipes, unfortunately, but have talked to the man and he seems to be a very nice fellow. Add to this his impeccable reputation as a carver and the outlook of him leaving the scene looks dim indeed.

Hopefully these things will sort themselves out. It would be a shame if an artisan of his calibre would never sit behind a bench. No quarrel is worth that.

 

[Sasquatch]

POY's are a bit of a pitfall for pipemakers. It's very hard to turn down a large-scale commission, but they are also usually budget-priced pipes, so a guy winds up trying to make really nice pipes pretty fast for a good price, and that's extremely difficult.

It's made more difficult when someone else comes along and says "Can you make me an expensive custom pipe please?" and the POY gets backburnered.

This in itself is not enough, or ought not be enough to drive a guy out of business or make him give up carving. I think the moral of the story is that making a living at carving pipes is very very difficult.

 

[Frost]

I think the moral of the story is that making a living at carving pipes is very very difficult.

Pffft...I don't believe it. I mean if you can make money sellin those ugly things to fools like me surely just about everybody should be able to do it, right? :lol:

 

[Sasquatch]

All it needs is enough fools. :lol:


Here's a reference point. I'm a fully skilled woodworker with a fully tooled shop. I've had to buy a few little gadgets for pipemaking, like a sandblast cabinet, and some lathe attachments. But I've done lots of carving and have lots of skill and lots of tools. And if I work very hard, I can now make one totally mediocre pipe in a day. Let's say I have done really well, and sell it for 200.00 bucks. $30.00 is briar, 5-10.00 for stem materials, possible metal work.... add another couple bucks for sandpaper, stain, etc, and maybe factor in shipping... It's pretty likely that I am actually making maybe $150.00 on that pipe. So that's pretty low money for having all those tools and trying to have a shop with things like... well, electricity, for example.

And that's a good day. That's if the pipe sells. That's if the briar isn't garbagey half way down. That's if I DON'T screw up the stem a few times.

Making a bit of money by pipemaking is not real hard. But making ENOUGH money, making your living on pipes, is really, really tough.

 

[Harlock999]

It's hard reading that T&P thread go from unbridled joy and excitement to the mess it turned into. That POY project sounded like X-Mas, Easter and an amazing bachelor party all rolled into one for some who were involved, but it seems like there was some confusion from the start, like who gets which pipe, and how to pay for them. Hopefully Pietenpauw Pipes are just on a sabbatical, as it seems like he still has some very loyal supporters.

 

[Hermit]

It's hard reading that T&P thread go from unbridled joy and excitement to the mess it turned into.

That's for sure. I wasn't aware of the trouble until
recently and read the thread all the way through.
"The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat,"
all wrapped up. But, it sure isn't anything to give
up making pipes over. I still think it'll be temporary.

 

[ZuluCollector]

This is just really sad to read about. I had no idea.

Frankly, I have never understood how Pietenpauw can afford to make pipes for what he sells them for. While some pipe prices seem steep to me, his prices beggar the imagination, they are so low. The whole idea of his discounting his pipes further is a jaw dropper. To have had the project turn him off pipe making? That's really a shame.

As some of you may know, I'm involved in my first - and maybe only (we'll see) - Passion for Pipes POY. I'm working with Jack Howell. I'm surprised at how much work it is. I'm also surprised at the number of special requests buyers make which increases the work.

I made a decision to pay Jack his full asking price for each pipe. I did not ask for a quantity discount. I decided to not take any mark-up. The whole project is something I'm doing for the love of the hobby and for my readers, to whom I am very grateful for their support. I made this decision because the pipes commissioned are not easy to make and I know that the readers I have are not going to suspend their quality standards for a discounted pipe. I figured the value of the pipe justifies the price and the participation levels sure seem to bear this out.

Now we are at the point we're going to have to limit smooths because there are so many orders for them. I'm expecting that the remaining six smooth order slots will vanish at the Chicago Show when people see the smooth pipes in the mouths of those who have ordered them. They are something gorgeous, I must say. And Jack's version of the 283 Comoy smokes so much better than the original that it isn't funny. The sandblasts are really beautiful, as well, surprisingly so. I worried about the spirit of the shape coming through in sandblasts, but I wasted my energy on that.

 

[Sasquatch]

Jack didn't screw up the blasts? Phew. That's lucky.





:roll:





The big problem for "forum" pipes is that there's a desire to get as many people involved as possible. There's no desire at all to cheap-out or cheat a pipemaker, it's just that most people on most forums aren't going to participate in a $300.00-plus POY. I've declined POYs in a number of venues for that reason. I can't make pipes that are as good as I like to make on a budget of 125.00 a pipe.

 

[ruraldean]

So that's what this is all about? I visited the site a few days ago and thought it was a late April joke or something. I have never bought any of his pipes, unfortunately, but have talked to the man and he seems to be a very nice fellow. Add to this his impeccable reputation as a carver and the outlook of him leaving the scene looks dim indeed.

Hopefully these things will sort themselves out. It would be a shame if an artisan of his calibre would never sit behind a bench. No quarrel is worth that.

The thing is it wasn't really a quarrel, and no one has criticised the quality of his work except Jean himself. We all wish him the best and some of us have practically begged him to continue carving.

I was involved in that thread and I know that despite appearances everyone is fully behind Jean and he will have had a number of PMs of support. It's no real secret that Jean has more serious things on his plate at the moment (the details of which are known to some) and in hindsight reactions to the pipe debacle would have been very different if people had been aware of the bigger picture.

I for one fully support him and want to see him carving again ASAP.

 

[ZuluCollector]

The big problem for "forum" pipes is that there's a desire to get as many people involved as possible. There's no desire at all to cheap-out or cheat a pipemaker, it's just that most people on most forums aren't going to participate in a $300.00-plus POY.

While I also believe there is no intent to cheat a pipemaker on the part of POY subscribers, there is often an implicit expectation that a maker’s POY discounted pipes will be every bit as desirable as - if not MORE desirable than - their full-price or commissioned counterparts. I can’t help but wonder if the necessary production economies preclude a pipemaker’s ability to fulfill this expectation.

Having talked to Jack almost every day and sometimes several times a day since we started the Passion for Pipes project, I know how many considerations come into play in a project like this. When various subscribers want special stems, special staining, certain series numbers, special button profiles, special finishes, special drilling, etc., etc., what started out as a project benefitting from some economies of scale becomes a large series order of customized pipes. The bottom line is that, while an intent to “cheat” (an unfortunate word choice) is absent, the consequences to the pipe maker can feel very much the same as if the intent was present.

I admire the egalitarian impulse that drives the desire to make subscription as accessible to as many people as possible, but absent very clear subscription guidelines and firm expectations, the reduction in price that facilitates accessibility can make the project a burden on the pipe maker.

The thing is it wasn't really a quarrel, and no one has criticised the quality of his work except Jean himself. We all wish him the best and some of us have practically begged him to continue carving.

I was involved in that thread and I know that despite appearances everyone is fully behind Jean and he will have had a number of PMs of support. It's no real secret that Jean has more serious things on his plate at the moment (the details of which are known to some) and in hindsight reactions to the pipe debacle would have been very different if people had been aware of the bigger picture.

I for one fully support him and want to see him carving again ASAP.

After reading the thread, it became very apparent to me how much support was accorded to Jean – a goodly amount. Still, there were those posters whose frustrations were expressed and whose judgment was in evidence. From what I read, Jean owned up to being the cause, as well. All in all, Tamp and Puff forum members acquitted themselves as generous in spirit and as gentlemen, at least to me. Likewise, Jean didn’t excuse himself; he manned up as was pointed out by several forum members.

 

[LL]

That situation made no sense from the beginning for either side of the transaction.

A maker so eager to impress that he'd work for (effectively) nothing, and a group of buyers who thought it was a good idea to let him try.

:no:

It will serve as an excellent example of how NOT to arrange "group buy" projects in the future, though, so some good came of it.

 

[Smoker99]

I hope Jean recovers from his current problems, and continues to make pipes. He seems like a very nice fellow. I warned the first forum he did a POY for about pressing too hard on price. But you know how it goes, if you pay over $100 for a pipe you are a snob.

 

[Strongirish]

I have been involved with Jean for several years, including two POY's for my forum PipeChat.info. The first Poy we had done Jean did a a great price for us knowing he was making a small profit on each one but wanting to get exposure into the US Market. We sold over 40 of them and Jean got many private commissions from doing it. I personally have 7 of his fine pipes so I have five more pipes from him that are not POYs. So he made money on that plus we got his name around to many as most of my members belong to other forums as well. My take on Jean is that he is a superb artist when it comes to pipe making, but needs help on the business end of things. He would have been fine on our POYs if he had made them all uniform but as the man has a big heart and cannot say no to anyone that wanted to change this and that, it got him behind and slowed him down. While he was working on our second POY, he decided to take on this other forums POY as well, and he just could not handle it. He did not have the briar he needed first off and then because he took so long getting them out, he pissed off a lot of guys. At the same time he has personal issues that are very much preoccupying him and rightly so, and well he had enough.

It pleases me to say that he is starting back making pipes again. This pleases me greatly as he makes one heck of a pipe, they are among my favorites.

As the head of a forum, I feel it is my responcibility to get the best pipe at the best price for my members I can. I never press a pipemaker into taking his price down to where it hurts him. I will tell them what I want and let them bid on it. If the price is within reach of a good amount of my members, we go with it. We did this with Jean, I never pressed him on price, He bid both times and we went with him. It has nothing to do with being a snob, it was just business conducted with best interests of the forum formost and the pipemaker getting great exposure and selling more pipe commissions. I bought recently a wax dri from him that is killer and I paid much more than we did for the POYs.

It is recognized that making a living making pipes is tough. But for an up and coming artisan, it is a great way to break in to the public his talents and name to get established by making POYs. But the artisan must have good business sense at the same time.