Talk:Briarworks Pipe-Story in a Nutshell

So just to clear the air here, let me say this. If your goal is to make excellent pipes that demonstrate respect for the craft and for the customer parting with his/her hard-earned money, you are absolutely not in Briarworks' cross hairs. In fact, I've personally spent the past 15 years trying to help anyone who is genuinely striving for excellence as a pipe maker, a fact I hope many here can attest to. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I've also created some monsters in the process, and as a result, the market seems to be littered with hastily wrought $400 pipe-turds of late. If you are a purveyor of such pipe-turds, make no mistake, I strive with every fiber of my being to drive you out of the market and back to the hole whence you came, so that consumers and real pipe makers alike no longer have to suffer the indignity of your existence.

I understand the frustration of seeing a competitor's product you consider inferior selling when your own is not. I understand the anger that can result from losing out on sales because of a lack of marketing know-how rather than the quality of the two products. I cannot, however, for the life of me understand the mindset that makes a post like this appropriate in the mind of its author.

Personally, I'll continue to support and buy from artisans who strive daily to improve their own craft, and who don't even have a set of crosshairs, rather than a factory pipemaker seeking by his own statement to drive independent artisans he doesn't approve of out of business. No pipe on this earth is good enough to justify the level of arrogance required to make this post, much less to repost it here on Pipedia as the public face of a business. There is no doubt that Mr. Johnson is a talented pipe maker. Reading this sort of vitriol makes me wonder, however, if he also happens to smoke a pipe. Because this statement evidences a true lack of the pipe smoker's spirit so common to this pasttime.

There are many wonderful pipemakers in this world. There is only one I have ever seen who believes he is so talented as to dictate repeatedly to his own industry what is and is not acceptable, and attempt to stifle the work of new pipemakers in so doing. I have never in my life seen a statement from any other pipemaker so arrogantly insulting to both customers and fellow artisans. I do, however, appreciate the honesty. It's good to know that if I give my money to Briarworks, at least some of it is being used to support a crusade against non-Todd Johnson approved pipemakers. Believing that quality wins out in the end every time and backroom market manipulation is always a bad thing, I will continue to put my money towards artists who seek to improve their own craft, rather than depriving the consumer of choice.

--Flatticus (talk) 11:26, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

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Thank you for your post here Flatticus! I think you bring up several excellent points. I do not speak for Mr. Johnson, but I will mention a couple of things to clarify:

This post was originally in a thread on the pipe makers forum. It was not intended to reflect the public face of Briarworks. I thought it was interesting by way of background and asked Todd for permission to re-print it here, which he granted.

People are understandably reacting to this based on their previous experiences and impressions of Todd. Many find him arrogant, and I can certainly understand that reaction. My own experience of him is very different, but I tend to get along with just about everyone, and try to see the good in people. Todd has been very generous with many pipe makers that have worked with him over the years, myself included. With some others he has had some serious communication breakdowns.

Currently Briarworks is having trouble meeting the demand for their pipes, and to my knowledge Todd has never had a problem selling his own high grades. I do not think his motivation in pointing out the flaws in the work of other pipe makers has anything to do with eliminating competition. I think it has more to do with his own aesthetic intensity. One could certainly argue that he has no business telling pipe smokers what to buy and enjoy, or telling pipe makers what to make, but he seems to feel a compelling need to push the over all state of the art, especially with U.S. pipe makers. He has difficulty articulating this intensity in a way that does not offend people.

--sethile (talk) 15:10, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Refined Edits: This article has recently been edited by Pete Provost in order to shift the emphasis more toward the story and inspiration behind starting Briarworks. At that time the quoted material that appears above in this discussion, and was found offensive by User:Flatticus and others was removed.

--sethile (talk) 19:38, 6 March 2015 (UTC)