I’ll asking since there seem’s to be a lot of pipe maker’s in trouble, like
makers not sending customers there goods that have been paid for, and
some are not making pipes anymore, and one has moved country,are they not making a living out of this skill any more or is everyone going
to certain makers so there is not enough work for every pipemaker. some
of the polls on these makers don’t do any good for there credit. Will some
of the customers that have paid for goods ever get them from these makers or are there still more shady makers out there. Will time reveal
even more. 
I am only aware of two or three pipemakers being singled out on this board. How do you equate their personal problems and the effects on their customers as being a general collapse of the entire industry? That being said, I have also heard that there is a decrease in the number of enquiries for new pipes to some pipemakers. This could equate to a general sifting out of the mildly interested from the die-hards. I know that pipemaking as a way of living has always been tenuous at best, but I have not heard of anyone dropping out due to lack of sufficient new orders (yet). If enough buyers adhere to the advice to buy locally, we may see a trend over the long term of piping communities building up only in the vicinity of a pipemaker.
djm
Not all pipemakers have the same business model. Some make and do different things to make up their total income.
Pipemakers have always left the business after a few years, incidentally a good few because they couldn’t stand the hassle from demanding customers: Bruce duVe went into accupuncture, Eugene Lambe is building a Galway Hooker [surely he must have finished it by now], Nick adams is writing film scripts. Nothing new there so.
?? Dare I ask? 
(Is it some kind of boat?)
Justine
Yes, that is a rather suggestive opening.
djm
Tony’s example is a remarkably small one however 
… of the boat that is 
Yes, a Galway Hooker is a kind of wooden-hulled sailing vessel.
Can’t comment on the health of the so-called “craze” with any confidence- I really haven’t noticed any dropoff in interest in North America, at any rate.
I wouldn’t read too much into the recent threads involving Messrs. Bayley and Stephenson, lack of demand had nothing to do with their difficulties.
:roll: OK I knew this was going to happen. Anybody remember the ferry to the Aran islands [from Doolin] had the name ‘The Happy Hooker’ painted on the bow?
OK without rocking the Galway Hooker,
is Eugene Lambe looseing interest,
Patrick Murray ain’t making anymore,
Davy S his web has gone,
Mr Bayley and Mr Roberts can hardly be doing there selfs any good
but harm, treating customers the way they have lately without any
apology. it will certainly effect there future orders. There are also other
makers sites that are not obtainable on the NPU.
It certainly makes one wonder
A makers website isn’t the pulse you should be monitoring to find out what shape the uilleann piping world is in. Some of the best pipe makers don’t even have a computer!
Patrick.
I totaly agree Patrick, but if they have a site why are they not up and running some have not been available for more than nine months on NPU
makers list.
Last time I was in Ireland (spring '99, yes, too long ago…), Cillian O’Briain gave me a booklet from NPU that listed numerous pipe makers that would fit in Patrick’s profile of non-computer owners/users.
Any suggestions about where to find the pulse of the piping world?
All the best.
How long had some of those makers been in the business? (Lambe, DuVey, Davy S., et. al.)
It seems to me that there was more of an explosion of makers in the 90s, in response to what may have been perceived to be an explosion of interest in the instrument. This sort of shakeout happens in all manner of industries.
My $0.02.
BrianC
I know Eugene Lambe was making pipes for about twenty years anyway.
It seems to me that there was more of an explosion of makers in the 90s, in response to what may have been perceived to be an explosion of interest in the instrument. This sort of shakeout happens in all manner of industries.
True. Just as a lot of people got into playing pipes due to their popular exposure in the 90’s a lot of people got into making them also. Many makers in the 80’s also improved in the 90’s as they honed their skills and customers knew what to ask for and expect from a set of pipes. This was partly due to the internet and the sharing of quality information at tionól all around the world.
Patrick.
such is life
Has Ben Koehler given up on Quinn and Koehler, also? I’d heard as much.
According to my conversations with Desi, he’d rather be making pipes, but has an explosion of business in flutes, mostly. He also prefers to work with local customers for pipes, rather than sending a set out into an uncertain world.
Kevin Krell, webmaster Seery flutes
say, it isn’t so!!!