Re: Latest Pipe-Related Purchase Thread
 

Can't wait to see your New pipe when you get it. I am sure it will be a awesome looking pipe. There are so many great pipe carvers out there. Wish i would have stayed in wood shop as a kid but no. I had them move me to Small Motors. Now I see where things could have been different LOL.

James

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That is a very nice looking pipe for sure. I like the way the stem is made for it. I haven't seen one like that before. Congrats. The Sickness don't go away, You can put it in check for a little while. But with my little collection there are always more pipes I could buy.. and will. I like collecting them. I think they are Art. Best part is they can be smoked.

Awesome Pipe for sure

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It's never too late to start, James :) Take a wood shop class?

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That's the word on the street Darren:tu

Thanks Brian. BTW, www.crawfordpipes.com has some very nice looking pipes on his web page:dr

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I'm excited to see how it comes out, Mark.

Is there a way for you to learn the origin of those 2 pipes? I like the bulldogs. It's a good size.

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Its gonna be like pulling teeth Brian. The bulldog does not have any markings or stamps. The billiard has the capitol letter "B" stamped on one side of the stem, up near the tenon. Its a capitol "B" and not "b" and is simply a stamped letter, all black impression (i.e., there is no white within the stamped line).

I've looked-up a few different references, but nothing really hits the nail on the head, and it would only be speculation at this point.

I'll shoot a micro photo of the stem and post it here tomorrow for your review...

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It is called PAD (Pipe Acquisition Disorder). Scratching the itch caused by it can also cause one to fall into an equally disabling TAD (Tobacco Acquisition Disorder).

Be careful.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

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Thanks Mark, I can almost hear my bank account draining. How are his prices?

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Thanks Rev!

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Crawford quoted me $375-$450 and required a $50 deposit for the billiard. I'm not sure why the $75 range? Perhaps it's hard to tell what the quality of the grain will be until you start cutting into the wood? I also think the high contrast stain I requested adds a bit more labor. He said the sandblasted ones are closer to $300 - $350.

It's actually pretty spendy for a newer pipe maker. It seems as though there are plenty of hand-made offerings in the sub $300 range. However, I specifically went to Crawford simply because he lives in my city and I want to support him. I also like the idea of having something hand-made specifically for me. It could be a family heirloom if I have kids some day. I don't plan on buying many more pipes this expensive, but who knows, if it smokes great maybe I'll send him more of my business.

Once I receive it I'll be sure to post some pics.

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Here's a micro shot of the stem with the letter "B" for your review. It does appear to have had some "white" laid-in the stamped "B" at one point in time.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps047f62ff.jpg

This particular stamp does not appear to be available for review in some of the websites with "marking" references. So, the search continues...

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Only one has the B, or both?

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Only the billiard has the "B" on the left side of the stem. No other markings on the stem or the shank.

Bulldog appears to have no markings period...

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http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/lett...ne-lettre.html

Bristol or perhaps Doctor Boston? Possibly Benaderets, but that seems too bold compared to what you have.

Seems to be quite a mystery. I assume the owner had no info?

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Not a Doctor Boston. i used to have one and you can't really make it out well iin the picture but the upper curved up and the lower curved down. Look at the pictures of Marks it looks like the upper is straight and the lower curves up a little. It has all the classic markings of a (Briarcraft) Smokemaster. Even the bottom of the pipe is cut like others I have seen only thing missing is the Stamp on the Briar and across the bottom where the nice cut flat spot would normally say Aged Imported Briar. (in a nice font) The only Smokemaster I have left is a bad example seeing it is a different age and class of Marks. Mine has an Orange Funny shaped diamond on the stem because mine is from the 30's before 1939 but after 34. Only thing I can say is that from looking at the Stem and pipe it calls out a Briarcraft company. They made many pipes like Airo, Cavalcade, Smokemaster and Sterling hall. I know that Smokemaster had on some of the Pipe a B a few Airo i came across did. It was a Second pipe (Basket Pipe) between 20 and 50's seeing Briarcraft closed down in 1950.

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Its a mystery to me for the time being. As James mentioned, the billiard is missing the stamp on the bottom and either side of the shank. A definite mystery pipe for the time being:D

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Have you smoked it?

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Nope. Gonna sell the billiard and bulldog once they have been cleaned, reamed, and polished. They've finished their salt/alcohol phase. The billiards tobacco chamber was reamed this morning, and I'm currently working on cleaning its draft hole and mortise on the shank. Alot of gunk in the mortise. Obviously, the prior owner(s) did not perform a regular maintenance in between smokes:rolleyes:

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I've been dealing with SAD (Stogie Acquisition Disorder) for a while, too. :r

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I did it again. This one shows up tomorrow:

http://img.pipesandcigars.com/p/500/...pcccse0005.png

The Capri with the pinched stem had a slight right-hand bend to the stem so I'm sending it back. The one above is its replacement/up-grade. The funny thing is, the wife isn't sweating the expenditures. :sh Gee, I wonder what the hell she's been buying.:confused:

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Nice looking pipe!

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Thanks! I seem to be hooked on Chacom. This'll be three in as many weeks. :fp

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Darren, sharp looking pipe.

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Nice looking pipe Darren. Really love the stem on that one. Your wife? Better check under the bed or her closet:D;)

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That's flashy, Darren. I like the contrast. Interested in a chacom bent bulldog? The stem has some issues and could use a repair, but it smokes. I was quoted $18 to drill it out.

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It's funny you should ask...P&C sent me the wrong pipe; they sent a brown bent bulldog instead of the one I ordered, fugliest thing I ever saw. I'm sending it back. It's the second time this week I've had to do that. Not happy.

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Ouch 2 pipes needed to be sent back. I guess QC after the ownership change don't seem as good as things were before CI took them over.

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Ah! That explains a lot. Needless to say, I'm a little irritated. It has become the foundation of a truly crappy day. Not any kind of Earth shattering crappy, just the kind that makes me wanna break stuff. :bh

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Sorry, Darren. At least they made it right. The Peterson I got with the high draft hole came from them too.

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They haven't made it right quite yet. We'll see. How did it turn out with your Peterson?

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I smoked it :) I'll fill the bottom with pipe mud and avoid Peterson in the future.

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I don't know what I'll do in the future; I don't want to avoid P&C but I may have to.

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I blame Peterson for drilling a poor draft hole, P&C for selling a flawed pipe and myself for not doing any due diligence with P&C. Live and learn I suppose!

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Sending back the Capri was easy enough, but I'll see how they handle this. If they make it good, I'll probably still use them. If not, screw 'em. They really need to fix all the errors on their web site.

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Aren't the same staff people working at P&C as before? If so, it would be nice to blame CI, but the problems would still be P&C's issues.

Bad hole drilled is a Peterson QC issue. Should P&C caught it? Possibly. Maybe you check such things regularly. But, if you get busy, can things get missed, especially if you do not expect such things from a company like Peterson?

P&C has been too good a company, for too long, to just write off.

Peace of The Lord be with you.

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Agree! I should have asked them to look at it, so it's really on me. Then I smoked it, so it's really, REALLY on me :)

Rev, you are a true asset to these forums. Thank you so much for all of your help!

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In addition to Todd' comments, I myself have never had an order issue with P&C to date. However, if one ever does present itself, then a telephone call to the CS dept is in order to calmly resolve the issue. I've had a few issues in the past with other companies which were easily resolved over the telephone. So, moving along here...

Finished a restore on a recent unknown billiard from an *Bay win:

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...pscc7c764c.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...psa20dfa21.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps447190cc.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps6d8f2a9a.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps8db64302.jpg

It came out fairly good. The bowl received about four coats of Halcyon II (which had been recommended for sandblasted or rusticated type bowls). Around the third coat, I used my wifes hairdryer set to low heat which helped dissolve the Halcyon II and penetrate the briar. Applied quite a bit of elbow grease with a terry type cloth, and we be done. I can see where a buffing wheel or maybe a Dremel tool with a buffing wheel would come in handy in the future.

The only issue is a slightly loose stem. After cleaning the mortise and tenon, this apparently opened things up just a smidge. There is some resistance, but not enough to my satisfaction.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated on how to tighten-up the tenon /mortise issue. I hear that Beeswax is one way. Any others?

And yes, I know, I do have duct tape out in the garage, but...Ha!

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Here is the Gresham Giant estate I recently got off of Ebay. Apparently these are made by Comoy. I believe it is the Smooth Apple model. Needs a little work although structurally it looks pretty good (in my noob opinion). I scraped out the bowl and it's getting a salt bath now. The stem also may need to be replaced. After the salt bath is it ready to go after you get all the salt out or is there another step to clean it out?

Pretty happy with what I'm seeing for $11.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps0rpf169t.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...psjdq7xvge.jpg

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Looks like a nice blast.

As for the loose stem, smoke it. When I have a loose stem, oftentimes just smoking a bowl will tighten up the stem. Hey, it is a very quick fix if it works. If you are afraid of it falling apart while smoking, a little scotch tape will hold it together till you are done.

If that doesn't work, then the beeswax is the next step.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

Todd

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My apologies. The red colored "you"s above were meant to apply to P&C, not to "you." I was meaning that working in the store when stock comes in can often mean you get distracted from one task by an immediate customer or something - then you come back and maybe pipe gets missed. Or, you (P&C or any other Sales Co.) expect quality product, the day is busy, you just stock the shelf without really looking.

Hey, I remember getting a pipe from an online store. It was a higher end pipe from a well-known, reputable store. Got the pipe and a cleaner would not pass through the stem. As it was a straight pipe, I tried to look through the pipe, couldn't see light through it. When all was said and done, we determined that all the drill shavings were still stuck in the stem. Smoked great when I got them out, but it passed QC at the manufacturer and the store.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

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My frustration is that it happened twice within a week.

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A little update: I don't know why I didn't notice it before but the emails regarding my issues with P&C come from "CI Fulfillment/ Cigars". At any rate, everything has been pretty easy; they even sent me paid return shipping labels. I think they already shipped my replacement, as well. I'm hopeful.

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Good deal!

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Thanks for the info Todd. May have to burn a couple of bowls;)

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That is awesome. Sounds like they are looking to take care of you. Just sad the problems to start with. But like been stated before others have had some drill shavings. In fact worse yet is one was a gift and when they person that got it as a gift went to smoke it They seen it didn't want to draw. Took the Stem out and found out that the pipe hadn't been drilled out. They said because it was a gift they took it and drilled it out and smokes great now :)

I am almost thinking that that pipe may have been a display to start with. Back in the day they would put blanks on display. They looked like the real deal but were not smoke-able. I don't know how long ago they stopped doing that because it was about 23 years ago when I wanted a pipe and the shop owner was like sorry i am out of that one right now. I said I will buy the display one. That was when he showed me that it was not a drilled pipe. May have been because it was in a High crime rate area too LOL. Or that was just the way it was I don't know.

Good to hear they are looking to take care of you. Maybe they will toss in some extra Tobacco for the trouble :)

James

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With my luck it would be some horrid aromatic. :r

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Out in the field today, and decided to stop by one of the oldest tobacconist in the Beverly Hills area before returning home. A couple of ounces of "Father Demsey" blend:

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps6e33dde9.jpg

You can find a review of "Father Demsey" here:

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/3809/kramers-pipe-and-tobacco-shop-father-dempsey

Its a cozy little shop on Santa Monica Blvd, and if you're in the area one of these fine days, you owe it to yourself to stop in and make a purchase, cuz they have a nice variety of everything. Including history and a few boxes of beetle bitten pre-embargo Cubans on display:

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps7a1e6f0c.jpg

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Hey Mark, I just checked out their web site. It sounds like great place and a nice blend.

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Update: It seems that the pipe I ordered is out of stock. :lr They called me and asked if I had another choice. Fortunately, there was another one from that same line I wanted, so it's on its way. I also got my refund for the first pipe. Upon reflection, I think I'm gonna like this one better; it's a bit more understated.
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/pictur...pictureid=8594

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That's a really nice looking pipe! I like it a lot.