hmm... got a pipe... now what? :confused:

Information on basic care and cleaning.

Information on refurbishing old pipes.

Information on removing off flavors.

[Mister Moo]

Wow.

See the FAQ and Shape Chart links at the top/left of this page for more info still. http://www.aspipes.org/

You have a lot to choose from. Start your cleaning experiments on something, uh, less special. Which is that? Ask. Stems on most (but not all - Kaywoodies in particular) pipes are intended to be twisted off (and put back on, too) in a clockwise direction. If something won't budge with only gentle force, stop and ask. There are tricks for unsticking things without snapping stems or shanks. (Don't mess with the Dunhill 'til you know what it is and how to fiddle with it properly.) If you lay in some olive oil, a reamer, some MicroMesh paper (3000 to 12000 grit), cotton balls, Everclear and Halcyon or Paragon pipe wax they can all look like new (before winter is over, maybe. )

I would be a kid in a candy shop with that collection. Have fun.

[colimo]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Wow.

See the FAQ and Shape Chart links at the top/left of this page for more info still. http://www.aspipes.org/

You have a lot to choose from. Start your cleaning experiments on something, uh, less special. Which is that? Ask. Stems on most (but not all - Kaywoodies in particular) pipes are intended to be twisted off (and put back on, too) in a clockwise direction. If something won't budge with only gentle force, stop and ask. There are tricks for unsticking things without snapping stems or shanks. (Don't mess with the Dunhill 'til you know what it is and how to fiddle with it properly.) If you lay in some olive oil, a reamer, some MicroMesh paper (3000 to 12000 grit), cotton balls, Everclear and Halcyon or Paragon pipe wax they can all look like new (before winter is over, maybe. )



I would be a kid in a candy shop with that collection. Have fun.

VERY nice collection there francis....
first thing you want to do, judging from the pics is give many of those pipes a good reaming....if there is not a reamer in the accessories you found with them, the pipe shop can sell you one...
that meershaum is a beaut and a very valuable collectors item....and there may well be some other similar ones in there....any names like dunhill, savinelli, costello, (most of the italy ones) are all very good pipes....then find a couple of the less valuable ones, i.e. kaywoodie and start with those as far as reaming and cleaning....

you can also probably get some good samplers of tobacco at your pipe shop to experiment with flavors until you find one you like best.

good luck, enjoy....im envious of that collection...

p.s. you can always send em to me.....

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by colimo

VERY nice collection there francis....
first thing you want to do, judging from the pics is give many of those pipes a good reaming....

Looked like PaPaw smoked one until it needed to be reamed and then got a new one. If so, lucky Savo'Stick.

Further to that, Savor' - if you get a reamer take care NOT to use it on the meerschaums and risk damaging the clay. Also, some of those briar pipes may have meerschaum-lined bowls - examine the pipes before reaming to avoid crunching clay. I made that mistake once and still feel bad about it.

[spectrrr]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Looked like PaPaw smoked one until it needed to be reamed and then got a new one.

looks like that's EXACTLY what he did. A number of them have a hell of a buildup on them (too much) and many of them still have a half-smoked charred bowl loaded up!

No worries Rev, I totally understand . I also get that this will be a BIG project. Good news is I only need a few to smoke now, I can take my sweet and careful time restoring the nice ones into proper condition. Hardest part is going to be identifying the different grades and which ones are worth the extra attention to. But I'll get there... a long sitdown with the local baccy shoppe is almost certainly in order. I just got back from there and picked up a few 1oz bags of random baccy that looked interesting, I'll experiment in the one pipe that I've got cleaned out that doesnt look too expensive

LOTS of info posted in the links, thanks, I'll be doing a bit more reading before I continue with my questions

[JaKaacH]

That is cool. I'm envious.
Thats one reason I go to garage sales, in hopes of finding a box full of pipes like that.
Give this stem cleaner a try. Works great.
http://www.walkerbriarworks.com/html...store_kit.html

[Neuromancer]

Originally Posted by JaKaacH

That is cool. I'm envious.
Thats one reason I go to garage sales, in hopes of finding a box full of pipes like that.
Give this stem cleaner a try. Works great.
http://www.walkerbriarworks.com/html...store_kit.html

Wow...that's a helluva find, Francis...since you're new to pipe smoking I'd reconsider trying to refurbish any of those yourself without knowing whether the pipe is a good one or not...perhaps list the names here (or at least the ones that have names and are readable) so we can give you a bit of guidance as to what you've got...then I think if it were me, I'd take a couple of the decent ones and send them to Dave Wolff, above, at Walker Briar Works, for cleaning, sterilizing, and general refurbishing...he does great work...if you want to try your hand at it yourself, good luck, and make sure you start on what would be called basket pipes...the kind you used to find for $10-$15 in a basket, in a pipe store, i.e., the low end ones...you might have a few there with some value in them once they're restored...