The 2012 forum pipe thread (merged and edited for clarity)

[Sasquatch]

Allow me to officially decline on behalf of myself and just about every small maker on the board.

It's very, very difficult for a pipemaker to do these things successfully. It means cutting corners somewhere and making 50 or so identical pipes - not a lot of fun but if you have to pay the bills, I guess it might be better than nothing. It's just barely so, however, and Jean de Toit's struggles on that T+P pipe are .... if not typical, at least a weatherpost as to how things can be.

I would be talking to someone like Peterson or Savinelli and seeing if they couldn't make 100 pipes or something at a reasonable price.

 

[user 2027]

I live near Savinelli USA in Morrisville,NC and have good contacts with them if you guys want me to approach them about a BoB pipe. If we can agree about the particulars I can reach out.

 

[Rusty Mouse]

I think wintermute has some good points. Regardless, I think we should get the ball rolling. If we don't finalize things by the end of the year that just means everything will be ready to go for 2013.

Hey, I've been waiting for Peterson's Pipe of the Year to become available, but no sign of it yet. A few vendors have said it may be closer to the end of the year, if not NEXT year... Silly Peterson.

 

[loneredtree]

I haven't read the whole thread, it is too big now, But has anyone suggested making a BoB stamp at a particular carver? Then when a member finds a particular shape/finish/ etc the carver can stamp it and there you have it. Everyone has their own likes, Pipe Smokers!!! :bounce:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I live near Savinelli USA in Morrisville,NC and have good contacts with them if you guys want me to approach them about a BoB pipe. If we can agree about the particulars I can reach out.

It would be worth doing, I think. No harm in asking.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I know it's a big pain to read the whole thread, but it'll only get bigger and repetitive if we keep asking similar or the same questions.

One thing that concerns me about polls is much what concerns me about people here in this same thread saying "I'm in."

Are you? Are you really? The only way someone will commit to that is having a non-refundable down payment ($50--and I repeat non-refundable). What that means is, like I said, money talks, bullsh*t walks. Soemone's "I'm in" post means nothing if they quit the forum, leave for extended periods, get a new job, or whatever. What would happen to the $50? Well, consider it your generous donation to the BoB site which we love so much, which, surprisingly isn't free to run, and would pay for bandwidth, domain registration and upkeep.

So, two positions would have to be doled out: Project Manager (someone who contacts the pipe folks, takes inquiries design agreements from the Brothers) and the Treasurer (someone who deals with the money, someone with a PayPal and good data/organization skills).

Then find a willing carver, discuss pieces, price, stamp, finish, time to completion. Once completed, price is calculated and delivered in full (plus shipping, minus $50 non-refundable "I'm in" fee) someone would have to distribute (if the pipe carver isn't to be troubled with such things, which, why should he?) and mail them.

It's complicated. The more I think about it, the more I like the BoB Cob idea. A place set up to carve, stamp, sell and mail them? How convenient. 8)

 

[Puff Daddy]

I think I mentioned this before, but a solution might be a guy like Mark Tinsky. We could pick one of his standard catalog shapes like his standard rhodesian in coral carve (affordable, and he won't have to go through a bunch of blocks trying to find decent smooths) and simply have him stamp them BoB 2012. If we did this he wouldn't have to make a single pipe on speculation, or make 50 of them by a certain date. If 10 guys want one now they could order it through his website, 6 more want one next month same thing. Want one in November? Same thing, just order it and it goes into his production queue. I think you'd be more likely to get him to go along with it than getting a carver to commit to a mess of pipes, like Sasquatch said. Reason? He already offers them on his website, and all he has to do is add a simple, quick stamp. No prospect of "Gawd, I gotta hurry and make 50 of these?"

I'm betting the actual number of pipes purchased would turn out to be more like a couple dozen. A method like this would just simplify things so much.....

I"d bet we could even get him to make a little tweak to a standard pipe, like adding a military bit to a rhodesian (less work for him). That would make the pipe unique.

There's a special rhodesian he made for a guy, calls it the Combat pipe because it's thick, rugged, military bit breaks down on the go. I'd suggest this idea but in the standard rhodesian shape.

Combat pipe




Standard Coral Rhodesian





Cool story of the Combat pipe. combat pipe

 

[Kyle Weiss]

STUNNING.

I love the "combat pipe" story!!! :cheers:

This comes back to the earlier-mentioned idea that it's not a "pipe of the year," it's just a "Pipe of BoB." Available anytime, with a happy BoB stamp, and not some critical-deadline type thing. No middlemen, no red tape.

I love it. 8)

 

[Puff Daddy]

If we can get an agreement, I'd be willing to contact Mark on behalf of the forum, being as I'm a moderator and if the council of mods gives it's blessing to the project, and talk to him about a fat rhodesian with stick bit in coral with a forum stamp. How about some yays and nays for a rough show of hands?

I just don't think you're going to get a carver to jump through the hoops a specialized POY will take, not without some coin up front, and that would take a lot of work and hassle.

 

[MisterE]

Go for it!

 

[Kyle Weiss]

What would be a ballpark price for this idea, PeeDee?

 

[Puff Daddy]

His standard price for a coral carve rhodesian appears to be $175, we'd have to see if he would do it for that price with the stick bit and stamp. I dunno, but I can ask. I seriously doubt you'll find a quality POY briar pipe for less by anybody else.

I'd like to hear some opinions first by those who were enthusiastic about this POY project, I don't want to push in if it isn't what the members wanted.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

His standard price for a coral carve rhodesian appears to be $175, we'd have to see if he would do it for that price with the stick bit and stamp. I dunno, but I can ask. I seriously doubt you'll find a quality POY briar pipe for less by anybody else.

Sounds awesome so far! I think most gents could swing this, just assuming. And I agree, starting a "POY" from scratch would not only be a pain for us, and the carver, but also in the wallet.

If this can happen, it'd be a Mark Tinksy--which I don't have yet! The quality would also be top-notch. Vote me in for the rough count (and beyond).

 

[gravel]

Of the suggestions I've read I think this is the best and it still leaves room for a BoB cob.

 

[Puff Daddy]

If we get mostly Yays over the next day or so, I'll speak with the other mods and admins and we'll take a vote. Maybe I should make an official poll....

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Of the suggestions I've read I think this is the best and it still leaves room for a BoB cob.

Wholeheartedly agreed. 8)

 

[Puff Daddy]

Ya know what? I'm going to go ahead and contact Mark first and see if he'd be interested in doing it before I bother running a poll or taking this discussion further. I don't want to put the cart before the horse. Let's allow some feedback on this idea in this thread and wait to hear back from Mark. I'll email him right now.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Thanks for doing that, PD. Good idea. 8)

 

[wintermute]

Thanks P-Diddy. This sounds like a very reasonable way to approach it. Minimal risk for the BoBers, for BoB itself, and for the maker. It'll give us something somewhat unique, Mark doesn't have to kill himself making them, and those who don't have the money to front RIGHT NOW (like myself) don't have to fret about missing the boat.

 

[Ocelot55]

This sounds like a great idea. I'm in as long as I have a month or so to save up.