2nd Annual West Coast Pipe Show |
| Brought to you by Steve O'Neill, Marty Pulvers and Rick Newcombe. |
Las Vegas, Nevada |
Ron Fairchild started smoking a pipe in ’77. He very quickly found out that the quality of the pipes were somehow lacking. The grain was poor and a lot of them had fills. He set out to change that. Completely self-taught, Ron actually started doing stem repair for a few years. Then he started to play around with some blocks on the side. Although he was working with 4 tobacco shops that he did stem repair for, he decided to get busy and start making pipes.Ron has always loved to work with wood, and his wood-working takes him beyond pipes and into other areas of the craft. His first influence was James Upshall. Ron loves to travel all over the world. We sat down with Ron for a bit and got a few words out of him. WCPS: What makes a good pipe in your opinion? RF: The briar has to be good. It must be cured properly. WCPS: How many pipes do you make in a year? RF: I’d say about 75-80 pipes a year. WCPS: Are you aware of any differences between American Pipe Culture and European Pipe Culture RF: American pipe culture is missing the availability of the best briar and really good tooling. They have more of that in Europe. Europe has much more of a history in pipe making than Americans do so they have that to their benefit. I do not sell to the European Market. I am not planning on doing any marketing to them. I do pipes because I enjoy it. I don’t want the pressure of too many orders. You carve pipes because you enjoy it and you want to keep enjoying it by not making it feel like a job and having all its pressures. WCPS: What gets you in the mood to carve? And what goes through your head while you are carving? Music – what kind? Radio – what kind? RF: I am always thinking about carving. Its always running around in my head. I am not really thinking about much when I carve. I am just hoping I don’t hit a sand pit. I just keep working and ignore distractions. Especially when I am trying to stamp nomenclature, sometimes you can get a double image. WCPS: Is there a time when you know you cannot or will not carve because of factors other than your health? Perhaps when your stressed or angry? Do you do anything to ‘get away from it all’ and if so, what do you do? RF: Whenever I am upset I stay away from carving. If you don’t have the right frame of mind to cut glass, your better off not doing it, because its going break. If it feels good, I go and do it. When you don’t have the work pressure things go smoother. WCPS: How often do you go outside the normal boundaries of pipe design? RF: I’ve always stayed within the boundaries of traditional pipe design. Some people would carve oak leaves on pipes, I never felt inspired to try anything like that. The freehands as well. You cant turn a freehand bowl, either oval or flat on one side or whatever, even blowfish’s etc…I don’t want to bother with it, it takes longer and I just don’t like it. WCPS: Who would you love to see, smoking your pipe, in their mouth? RF: I would like to see Rick Newcombe smoke one. He seems so knowledgeable. He buys high-grade pipes from what I can tell. I would even like him to stop by my table. Ben Rappaport, Frank Burla. Those guys would help my brand by sticking one of my pipes in their mouth. WCPS: Do you have any close relationships with any other carvers? RF: Mike Butera worked with me for a little over a year when he first started. He started out working with Tampers. Only later did he get into pipes. Then 2 years later he started winning awards. He was a quick learner. We both learned from each other when we worked together. WCPS: How would you judge a pipe in your hands? RF: Process is a big part of the consideration. Pipes should be judged by how well it is finished, how smooth it is inside the bowl. You have to look and see if the drilling is correct and how well the stem work is done. Is the pit flush? If it’s a round shank, will it be a round shank if you turn the stem upside down? I myself focus on technical perfection rather than artistic expression. WCPS: I really like your curves on the top of some of your bowls, you also balance it out by giving the end bit on your stems a little downward twinge too – how did that come about? RF: I saw some pipes made that way & I liked it. Ardor maybe, I don’t remember. I like the slightly canted Dublin look. You can almost see the tobacco when you light it up. I thought it was neat. WCPS: Whats the strangest material you have worked with, perhaps out of fun or just to experiment? What were the results? RF: Bamboo was a little tricky at the beginning but now it doesn’t give me any problems. On Morta and Olive Wood, its just a different element to market. It helps make a pipe sell but I don’t work with that. Briar in lay in a stem, I was one of the first Americans to do it. WCPS: Whats the hardest pipe making stage for you to complete? RF: Years ago I had problems getting my stems flush with the shank. I don’t have that problem anymore. WCPS: How long does it take you to make one pipe? RF: It takes me 10-12 hours to make one pipe. I can get one turned and drilled within 2-3 hours. WCPS: Do you fight with a balance between high production and high quality? RF: I want it to be the highest quality I can produce. If I would add some production goals it would impact that personal desire for high quality. I don’t have that problem. WCPS: Do you smoke? What do you smoke? RF: I smoke Virginia’s, some Latakia and some aromatics. Occasional Burley. I like McCrannies Red Ribbon. WCPS: Have you ever hurt yourself carving? ever been injured in the work shop? RF: I cut myself on a bandsaw before. That’s pretty much it.
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IMPORTANT WEBSITE AND INFORMATION NUMBERS For special West Coast Pipe Show room rates call the Palace Station Hotel & Casino: (800) 634-3101 For Palace Station Hotel & Casino information and amenities please visit the hotel’s website at: www.palacestation.com For table reservations or for any other information, please contact: Steve O’Neill: We’re looking forward to seeing you at the West Coast Pipe Show and we hope you’ll join us in making this an annual event. |
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