Scottspipes (Scott Klein): an Apprenticeship Story From Chicago to Nashville

Scottspipes is the brand of American pipe maker Scott Klein. The brand is less the product of a single workshop sign than of a long apprenticeship: Klein's name is inseparable from the years he spent training at Alex Florov's bench in Chicago. His workshop today is in Nashville, Tennessee.

An Apprentice's Formation

Klein grew up in the Chicago area of Illinois. His years before encountering pipe making were spent in technical work; during school he worked in wood and machine shops, and afterward took part in construction and renovation work. His connection to Florov came through a family friend; after seeing the master's work, Klein reached out to say he wanted to learn, and Florov took him into the workshop.

Training reportedly began in 2009 and, depending on the source, lasted five to seven years. The rhythm of those years was punishing: Klein worked full-time days at a coffee distribution company in Chicago, then covered roughly an hour's commute each evening to reach the bench, working sessions that often ran past midnight before heading home. According to accounts, the apprenticeship also carried mutual conditions: not to take the methods learned in the workshop elsewhere, and not to teach them to anyone else for a set period.

The most defining feature of this training is that the stage of working from pre-drilled body kits never happened at all. Because Klein entered straight into a production process where the body was shaped on the lathe, milled, and assembled by hand from the start, he learned questions of measurement, balance, and tolerance from the very beginning of his career.