Why I Prefer Rusticated Pipes
ghostsofpompeii
Master
Old habits die hard. And one habit I'm having a really hard time breaking is buying a smooth pipe over a rusticated one. And my reason goes back to my days working at US Steel in Gary, Indiana.
As a Millwright you might find yourself working in all sorts of inhospitable conditions. You might be crawling around in an enclosed dust collector changing filter bags while stirring up clouds of lime dust, or drenched in sweat while changing a broken metallic hose feeding water to cooling panels directly over the furnace making the steel. Steel melts at 2800 degrees Fahrenheit. So temperatures can get so hot that the metal you're standing on will actually begin melting the soles of your boots. And in winter you might find yourself outdoor one minute in the sub-zero weather changing a gearbox on a conveyor or trying to thaw out a frozen water line, when just moments before you were indoors repairing a pump and still saturated head-to-toe in muddy water. The moment you step outside your wet cloths begin to ice up and crunch as you move.
And through it all I had my pipe clenched between my teeth, puffing up a cloud of smoke that engulfed my head as I exerted myself. Huffing and puffing like a locomotive. And as you might imagine I suffered from a chronic case of tongue bite.
And knocking my pipe out of my mouth while turning wrenches or simply dropping it from my pocket was a common occurrence. Sometimes the fall was no farther than from my mouth to the floor - other times when the job took me to higher elevations it would tumble several levels down, striking assorted girders and beams along the way before making contact with the ground. If it landed on concrete chances are it wouldn't survive. But sometimes you might be lucky and it landed on gravel. Then it was only badly nicked and ready for a re-light. And other than dropping my pipe into a screw conveyor and watching it get crushed into powder, the worst damage I routinely did to my pipe while performing my duties was when I'd be burning with an acetylene torch. The sparks coming from the piece of metal you're cutting are actually tiny balls of melted steel ... or slag. When the sparks make contact with exposed skin it sticks and burns into the flesh - and I have scars to prove it. But when one of those little balls of steel lands on the bowl of your pipe and make contact with the wood it adheres to the wood and pits the pipe with tiny pock-marks. The damage is even worse if it hits the stem.
And that's why you don't want a work pipe with a nice smooth finish. Slag burns, dings, scrapes and scuffs are clearly visible on the smooth finish. But rusticated pipes are more forgiving and conceal a lot of work related cosmetic imperfections. And even though I'm retired now and smoke in comfort, seldom working up a sweat - I still automatically reach for the rusticated pipe when making a purchase. Old habits die hard.
Comments
@Londy3 Smoking on the job was unfortunately never meant to be a pleasant experience - only a momentary diversion from the job at hand. Something to get me through the day, and keep me from always saying something that was bound to get me in trouble. It wasn't until I retired that I really appreciated the relaxing meditative quality the pipe brings. I went from a type 'A' personality to a happy-go-lucky slug. It was only then, after retiring, when I transitioned from a 'pipe smoker' to a 'pipe enthusiast' or 'hobbyist' that I learned proper smoking techniques like the breath method and not puffing my pipe like a locomotive. And it was also the first time I realized that pipe smoking and tongue bite was not a normal affliction of the pipe smoker. Today I do as both you and Aaron Rodgers recommend R.E.L.A.X. As a Bears fan just mentioning Rodgers name un-relaxed me.
As most of you know, I use a dremel and various sized burr bits to get the job done. However, in looking for a more gnarly look, I'm going to use a tried a true method of twisting sharpened nails into the briar. For that I needed to make a tool.
I started by sharpening some long finish nails and then used a small piece of pvc to hold them tightly together:
I then used the rest of the epoxy around the base where a good seal was made.
I'm now letting it set up as I post this.
I have cut and glued the pieces together and will start sanding, turning and drilling it out at a later date...
Anxious to see it in action.
Here they are: