I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't sure that we'd make it even this far. In hindsight, the whole "I'm going to learn how to make pipes" thing was a total impulse decision. I'm not a handy person. I know which end of the hammer to hold and can mostly figure things out if I watch enough YouTube tutorials, but I'm not the person that you'd generally want doing anything that requires machines or precision. So yeah, pipes are a great fit...
And yet, here we are - the day of the Rust Belt Pipes grand opening. I'm as surprised as anyone else. It's been an amazing journey over the past 14 months or so learning the basics of pipe making and how to use the machines that the RBP Founding Fathers helped put into the shop. I've had good days and bad days, but in all cases, I've learned something important. This post is just to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported me and followed the journey thus far. I'm happy to launch the site officially today and finally be able to sell some pipes and other goodies. Thanks for sticking with me. - Adam
0 Comments
Phew, we've nearly made it through 2023. It's been a doozie of a year and I can't say that I'll be sad to see it behind us all. That being said, it wasn't all bad! Here are some notable tobacciana-related things that happened in my life over the past 12 months:
...and now here we are a year later! It's been a banner year for me in terms of the hobby, and as I often do, I've posted a few end-of-the-year videos to wrap things up. I can't embed them directly here because they're age-restricted, but I've linked them below for those who might be interested: Best Wishes for the Holiday Season!I feel blessed to be at this point of the year and to be able to look back with overall satisfaction. It's been a good year, and I hope that next year brings good things for us all! You'll likely not hear from me for a few weeks as I celebrate the holidays and get 2024 started, but rest assured that the shop is up and running, I've got briar on the lathe, and at some point in the spring, you'll be able to buy a Rust Belt Pipe for the very first time.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everybody! -Adam There's an old saying - "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". I'll admit that when it comes to my personal life, I'm not an organized person. I lose things, I forget plans, I'm a notorious last-minute shopper for birthdays and holidays... At work, though, I seem to dodge this affliction. Maybe it's the deep-down fear of messing up something big and having to look for another job. Maybe it's peer pressure. Who knows? Thankfully, I've taken a lot of care to be a planner with Rust Belt Pipes. This whole adventure was admittedly started on a whim. I'd love to be able to honestly say that pipe making has always been in my mind, but that's just not true. Frankly, I think that I was a bit bored one evening and was looking for something to do. My years of watching pipe makers on YouTube bubbled up and I found myself saying, "Screw it, I'll give it a go". Then, like Cortez burning his ships, I spouted my plans on my own YouTube channel, and from then on, my own morality of being true to my word has ensured that I stick to it. Rust Belt Pipes has formed into something tangible thanks largely to the RBP Founding Fathers. Thanks to their support and advice, I'll be ready to start offering my pipes for sale sometime in 2024. As I think ahead to that "jump-off-the-highdive" moment, there's a lot to think about, prepare, dream, etc. Here's where my head is at on RBP for next year: Pipe Shapes, Filters, Nomenclature Rust Belt Pipes are meant to evoke a sense of history while keeping some of the modern at the forefront. In practice, this means that for the first year, I'll be focusing on my own interpretations of classic shapes. You'll see a standard billiard and a long-stemmed version. I'll also be doing some smaller apple-shaped pipes inspired by an old Medico that I keep in the shop. Look for regular and long versions of that. I'm also likely to release some bent pipes, though that's still unfamiliar ground for me, so don't expect those until the second half of the year. All of my pipes, with few exceptions, are drilled with a 3/4 chamber size (19mm), and the majority of my pipes are made for 9mm filters. I recognize that here in the US, filtered pipes are still a touchy subject, so I'll be practicing my non-filtered pipes, but you're also likely to see adapters included with my pipes once I find a good source of those. As far as nomenclature, numbering, etc, I'm still working this out. I may keep a numbered list for myself, but I don't think I'll make that public. I like the idea that when you buy a pipe from me, you're getting a standard RBP billiard rather than "Pipe 138". As for stamping, every pipe I produce will feature the RBP diamond stamp on the side of the shank, and the RBP Founding Fathers get their own special stamp on one of their pipes. Other than that, I'm planning to keep pipes free of stamps. Pipe Release Schedule My plan at the moment is to release pipes in "drops" every few months, with (probably) one special drop late in the year for the holidays. I'm aiming to have 8-10 pipes in each drop. The types of pipes will be varied, and I can't promise that each drop will have X standard billiards, X long billiards, etc. For the foreseeable future, I'm not taking commissions - I'm just not confident enough yet to be able to make pipes to a specification, and I don't get enough regular time in the shop to offer a decent turnaround time. I'll get there eventually. I'm still working out how those will go up for sale. I may sell them directly here on the website, or do what many others do and sell via Instagram. Jury's still out on that - stay tuned. I'm currently hoping that the first drop will take place in March 2024 - one year after starting my pipe making journey. You'll hear more from me about this as plans firm up. Social Media My social media will continue basically as it has - no major plans to do anything differently next year. I'll have one RBP Monthly Update video on the YouTube channel and will continue to post glimpses of the shop and new pipes as I'm able. The biggest change overall will be this blog. In addition to ramblings and general waffling, I'll be including photos and descriptions of the pipes I made each month. Expect posts to coincide with the RBP monthly update video. These will be pipes that aren't yet up for sale, but think of the posts as a way to window shop for the next drop. Keeping it Real Lastly, I want to be sure to always temper expectations. I am not a full-time pipe maker, and I have no plans of ever going full-time. For me, this is a hobby that just might make a few dollars, but a hobby nonetheless. I have a very rewarding career, I'm in the midst of my doctoral research, and I'm also a husband. It can definitely be hard to remember that folks online have lives outside of what we see, but do try to remember that I'm just a guy in the shed in my backyard. Thanks for dropping by - talk to y'all again soon. -Adam |
AuthorI'm Adam. Christian, university educator, book-lover, novice pipe carver. Archives
March 2024
Categories |