@PappyJoe figured since you were breaking out that calabash, I would ask here. I picked one up a while ago at the thrift shop. It's in decent shape but the previous owner really gummed up the inside of the gourd with one hell of a sticky soupy tar heavy tobacco. The best I could do for cleaning was take a small ball Burr and grind away at it as carefully and as far as the tool would reach. Do you have any other tips for cleaning the inside of the gourd?
@vtgrad2003 The bowl isn’t as canted as some of the photos suggest. Especially the pics with the pipe (leaning) against the leather pipe holder. If you look at the pics where the pipe is stripped and in profile, you can see it is mostly upright, not forward canted. I like all of the Canadian, Lumberman, Lovat, Liverpool group of pipes. I like them even better if they have a Dublin bowl. A flattened diamond shank on a longer pipe is cool too. The Savinelli flat, rounded corner, triangle shaped, shank is also sweet.
Ok. For those of you that have known me for a few years, you know I LOVE to give old, "throwaway" pipes a second chance when possible. Here's a pipe that I think most, if not all, would agree was ready for the trash bin...
Since the crack didn't go all the way through, I decided to fill the crack with black gel epoxy. I knew I wasn't going to restore the pipe to original, so my objective was to simply fill and seal the crack...
Next came sanding the stummel to get it ready to rework the pipe into something different. After all, with a crack like that, the pipe was going to no one except me in my garage...
Sidenote: Just gave that little lovat a spin a while ago... It didn't blow up in my face, so hopefully the epoxy will continue to hold... time will tell... 🤞
Ok, not really a refinish as it is a rework and just for @vtgrad2003 to hack on Peterson quality…or lack thereof. I bought this Peterson Barley Spigot 03 expecting it to be a “high grade” pipe, heck, it has a full Sterling spigot mount. Well, anyway, it must have been chucked incorrectly or something because it has so many issues. Severely canted rim, shank cut off-angle from bowl, airway off center and a bit high, stem bent left/right, and the bit twisted as well…maybe to match the severally canted rim? The Barley Spigots were a pretty rare model…at least so far, and I really liked the blast pattern on this one (it kinda looks like dragon scale from the front) so I didn’t want to send it back, because there were no more available to replace it. So, me being me, I took a brand new never smoked “high grade” Pete and modified/fixed it….a scary proposition. It went into the milling machine, worked over with the belt sander and stem got the heat gun treatment. I straightened the stem, topped and chamfered the rim to square it up, and bored the bowl to 13/16” to try to get it back on center….I missed and went too far to the other side by a little😖. I will have to fix that later with a 7/8” ball mill which I don’t have at the moment. I have one more chance to get it right with the 7/8”… I can’t go any bigger, it will get too thin. Here it is new, brutal.
I can only polish a turd so much. I have to say, it is smoking like a dream though🙂. No gurgle, no wet, no hot, no bite….great. Oh, I also tapered the airway in the stem and chamfered the tenon. I might drill a “Peterson” well at some point too, but so far, it is smoking so dry it won’t need it👍🏻
@RockyMountainBriar So sorry you had to go to all the trouble, of the Peterson pipes I own the 03 is by far my favorite (I have 3).
The irony is that if you read Peterson's description of their high grade class of pipes, your pipe, should be perfect.
And I quote "Representing the pinnacle of our regular production, our High Grade
designation is reserved for only the very best pipes to leave our
factory. Each pipe in this range is distinguished by its plentiful
grain, either smooth or sandblasted, and expert metal fitments, shaped
and applied by the hands of our most experienced craftsmen. Our
silversmiths are among the most talented in the world, having undergone
traditional five-to-eight-year apprenticeships under a senior craftsman;
each smith has engineered his own mandrel, meaning that every metal
fitment is imprinted with the subtle, personal style of the one who
machined it." so much for their marketing blah, blah, blah.
I agree with you on the finishing, that is a nice blast and if I could find one at a reasonable price I would buy it, and while they are available from Peterson direct Ireland, $167 before shipping is more than I am willing to part with, especially since the ones I looked at were not sterling and to be honest I prefer them in the system configuration.
It's a shame, really, because with Peterson's heritage, you would think they would be far more consistent in the quality control area. I also expected quality enhancement when SP bought them, but instead of improving quality, all they did was offer up a few new designs and increase prices from what I can see. Oh well.
@RockyMountainBriar you are a brave, brave man! Nice save. There is nothing more irritating that having to fix a new product. I would still bitch to Peterson.
@Zouave Oh, believe me I have (no response). SmokingPipes.com heard from me as well. They would have taken it back, but I didn’t want to give up such a (so far) limited pipe without a replacement, of which there were none. I love the “dragon scales” look of the blast on this pipe🙂
Went to an estate sale this morning. Bought these 6 pipes for a song! Looks as if I have some projects to look forward to. Note: The meerschaum lined Whitehall on the left has never been used...
Decided to work on the Whitehall since it had never been smoked and was probably going to need the least amount of work. Right away I knew I was going to lose the stem stamping since almost half of it was already gone, and knowing the oxidation was going to mean taking what little was left. The stamp was so thin I touched it with my thumbnail and over half the white just flaked off. Yet the stamping on the stummel is perfect...🤔 Anyway, here's the before...
Comments
Not really. Mine wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t wipe it out with a small cloth dipped in grain alcohol. You might check out rebornpipes
You and @KA9FFJ work some serious magic.
The bowl isn’t as canted as some of the photos suggest. Especially the pics with the pipe (leaning) against the leather pipe holder. If you look at the pics where the pipe is stripped and in profile, you can see it is mostly upright, not forward canted.
I like all of the Canadian, Lumberman, Lovat, Liverpool group of pipes. I like them even better if they have a Dublin bowl. A flattened diamond shank on a longer pipe is cool too. The Savinelli flat, rounded corner, triangle shaped, shank is also sweet.
Thank you.
Finishing “Mission Briar” is akin to polishing a turd, but I’m sure this shiny “turd” will smoke😬.
My bad, but I swear in the pictures you posted at 12:29 am they look canted forward...oh well, sucks getting old
After I looked at the pics, it looks very canted in those pictures to me also….but I have “old balls”🧐 too😬.
Here's a pipe that I think most, if not all, would agree was ready for the trash bin...
I've missed your restorations, hope this is the first of many!
You should name that pipe Lazarus. Another amazing demonstration of your skill and expertise!
Just gave that little lovat a spin a while ago... It didn't blow up in my face, so hopefully the epoxy will continue to hold... time will tell...
🤞
It went into the milling machine, worked over with the belt sander and stem got the heat gun treatment.
I straightened the stem, topped and chamfered the rim to square it up, and bored the bowl to 13/16” to try to get it back on center….I missed and went too far to the other side by a little😖. I will have to fix that later with a 7/8” ball mill which I don’t have at the moment. I have one more chance to get it right with the 7/8”… I can’t go any bigger, it will get too thin. Here it is new, brutal.
Milled with a 20mm end mill to start, scary.
Oh, believe me I have (no response). SmokingPipes.com heard from me as well. They would have taken it back, but I didn’t want to give up such a (so far) limited pipe without a replacement, of which there were none. I love the “dragon scales” look of the blast on this pipe🙂
Looks as if I have some projects to look forward to.
Note: The meerschaum lined Whitehall on the left has never been used...
Right away I knew I was going to lose the stem stamping since almost half of it was already gone, and knowing the oxidation was going to mean taking what little was left. The stamp was so thin I touched it with my thumbnail and over half the white just flaked off. Yet the stamping on the stummel is perfect...🤔
Anyway, here's the before...