Biggest Pipe Disappointment

[Slartibartfast]

No dunghill rats, ehh? Ah well, prolly just me then. Seriously tho, I'm down wit da lip. :cheers:

 

[tyler]

...but it seems all of the "cool" pipes are big and clunky.

This comment surprises me a little. Perhaps the surprise rests in a different sense of what the "cool" pipes are?

To me the cool pipes are the super-high grades of the Scandinavian and North American carvers. This might not be what is meant though. These are, in my experience, on the small side. Shockingly so to my inexperienced eyes at my first pipe show. I too prefer a small pipe because I prefer to smoke while in the shop and like a hands-free clenched that is comfortable to clench because of its light weight. So it's a match that the carvers I admire also often make pipes in the size I prefer. Unfortunately my budget doesn't match!

Without taking the time to find it, someone else asked why all artisan pipes are huge. While I think the sentiment largely untrue, let me take a stab at theorizing why someone might make such an observation. Many people's familiarity with artisan carvers is with the newer carvers. This is naturally so because forums like this are a great sales outlet for a new carvers, and because new carver's is less expensive for obvious reasons. A common "theme" among new carvers is large to huge pipes. Why? They are easier to make, lots easier. There is a lot more margin of error. Also, for especially new carvers, it is natural to quit shaping as soon a serviceable pipe shape appears in the block. That shape is often "immature", but naturally, larger.

So anyway, I am surprised that the perception is that artisan pipes are bigger. My perception is the opposite. :scratch:

Fun to ponder on though.

To come back on topic, my biggest disappointment in pipes were two Danish high-grade pipes I picked up on the cheap due to fortunate timing. Both gurgled. I was able to fix them both, but it surprised me that the masters were human. I would still buy from both makers if given the means and opportunity because I think both have modified their internals to match today's high standards.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Subjectivity in pipes? What is the world coming to?

:lol:

When the Danes seemed to burst into the pipe production scene (I'm assuming, please correct me) in the mid 1960s, from then on it seems they've struggled per maker to be the cheap, mass-produced, knock-em-out-and-sell-em-quick types and mastery-of-carving types. I have one no name Danish-made vintage classic shape, a straight billiard with a square shank which cost me two bucks, that I dubbed "The Danish Thrift." That pipe was made extraordinarily well. It was the second pipe I ever owned. It also smokes great, and even though my first new pipe, the Nording I refer to as a pretty problem child, was more expensive, more recently made, etc--there's a world of difference. I know the Danes can make decent pipes, and Nording too, but my own account and others I talk to are making me think they still haven't (as a whole) decided to make pipes to smoke rather than making pipes to sell.

There's a $200+ Nording "Ace," a new pipe a friend bought recently that gives him tons of problems. He's going to turn it over to me for a short time to try and apply a few of my techniques I've picked up to improve the shortcomings I almost know are going to be there. Hopefully it will work, or off to a real pro it goes. :|

8)

 

[peckinpahhombre]

You know, today I was smoking for the very first time a Radice estate pipe I recently bought. This is one big pipe - a bent dublin and a tobacco chamber that could house a small rodent. It apparently was made in the 80s. I was smoking some EMP in it and this thing just smoked brilliantly. I mean, I could not be more impressed. Here was a fantastic looking large pipe, that cost me less than my new Nording, and it all just seemed to "work". I don't know if all Radice smoke like this, since this is my first one, but call me a believer. Maybe I could trade the Nording for another Radice?

 

[Sasquatch]

Radice's shortcomings might be their bulk and their stem work, but the smoking properties are not to be questioned. They smoke fantastic, and that's all there is to it. Far better off buying Radice pipes than many other brands at that (and higher) price points for how they smoke.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

The Radice is a monster for sure. Here's a shot that doesn't quite do it justice:

 

[Zeno Marx]

Radice's shortcomings might be their bulk and their stem work, but the smoking properties are not to be questioned. They smoke fantastic, and that's all there is to it. Far better off buying Radice pipes than many other brands at that (and higher) price points for how they smoke.

I'd like to hear more about this questionable stem work. I haven't purchased a Radice since the early 90s, and I don't remember the stems being a problem; typical high-grade stem work from the many I had. Consistent, specific problems? I know I wish fewer Retros had the twin bore. No thanks on the twin bore.

 

[Anonymous]

an older gold mustache Caminetto . . . was a bit of disappointment, mainly due to a cone bowl shape that I did not expect in a short, bent pot. I could just never get the thing to smoke "right".

Blew my combined Christmas-Birthday allowance on a Caminetto from a guy here last year -- an Ascorti/Radice era smooth kind-of-a-billiard (narrow moustache which, of course, fell out long ago & nobody makes replacements). Always wanted a reasonable size smooth A/R, so I jumped on it. It has the arguably most ridiculous airway drilling ever : 4 mm at the end of the tenon going as far back as the stem design would allow, then finished for the last 25 mm. @ (guesstimating) < 2 mm. Getting a cheap (narrow) cleaner through the stem is a tricky job.

Compared to proper airways (benchmark : LL's), it's (in GLP's phrase) like trying to suck cookie dough through a straw. And the extra-thin stem design leaves no (as in, zero) room to open the diameter unless it's sideways. For a while, I seriously considered giving it away before deciding that wouldn't be the kind of thing one friend would do to another.

But I persevered, found the right tobacco (Union Square) & pack for it, and it smokes well in spite of itself. Had it been an el-cheapo, I doubt if it'd still be here.

Sometimes they're worth getting adjusted to.

:cat: :face: :study:

 

[Zeno Marx]

-- an Ascorti/Radice era smooth kind-of-a-billiard (narrow moustache which, of course, fell out long ago & nobody makes replacements)

can you explain this logo and stem? Until the 80s, with the white inlay mustache, I wasn't aware they ever had an inlay of any kind.

 

[Anonymous]

The first moustaches were narrow, metal wires.

http://pipedia.org/index.php?title=File:Caminetto_27.JPG

:cat: :face: :study:

 

[Zeno Marx]

The first moustaches were narrow, metal wires.

hmmm...it doesn't say anything about a wire logo. this is honestly the first I've ever heard of such a thing. I've been watching eBay for several years now, too. Caminettos are something I check a few times a week. I know some of the early pieces had silver/white ink in the logo and not gold. no mention of wire at the other sites talking about logos and markings, either. I'm going to have to ask around and see if I can get anyone to take a photo if they have one. I have to see one now that you say they exist. kind of cool.

 

[Anonymous]

The link shows one half of one.

:cat: :face: :study:

 

[sisyphus]

any maker can turn out a bad smoking pipe. Perhaps it's easier to name marques that seem to consistently produce pipes with above average engineering:

Castello: I'm no longer into Italian neoclassical, and their shaping ranges from good to wtf?, but every Castello I've ever smoked was brilliant

Ser Jacopo: I think they wanted to be Castello for a long time, and at those prices I'm not nuts about them. They seemed to have a shift in philosophy a couple years ago, and reasonable pipes with a J on the stem are common. Don't like the looks, often too big, but these are really good smoking pipes most of the time.

Amorelli: sensibly priced Italian midgrade maker turns out inexpensive pipes that smoke well, and unusual for an inexpensive Italian handmade, they mostly use handcut vulcanite stems. I generally loathe acrylic.

Ligne Bretagne: just walk by all those Italian midgrades and get a $150 Ligne Bretagne if you want a window to what those vanity brand pipes offer. Phenomenally good smokers for the money.

Ferndown: worth mentioning for the sheer fact that Dolly Wood is the world's greatest living stem cutter. Often I am not crazy about the cut, size and finishing of Les' pipes, but Dolly's stems always redeem them. You have to smoke a Ferndown to understand that statement.

Charatan (pre-Dunhill): there is a reason these pipes pull what they do on the estate market. Next to Ferndown they cut the best stem I've ever put between my teeth too. Have fun keeping them free of oxidation though, they turn while you're looking at them.

James Upshall: Barry Jones knows how to make a pipe that smokes well

GBD (pre-Cadogan): these weren't a vanity pipe back in their day, just solid, reasonably priced traditional pipes. Today they represent a great estate value, and they smoke consistently well.

Dunhill: despite the fact that you pay the white dot tax to own one, Dunhill pipes are consistently well made. Not worth the asking price compared to other marques that perform as well for less, let's just acknowledge that they're good pipes. Generally very good to great stem work too. If money is a concern, go buy 10 GBD estates instead of a Dunhill, you won't be missing anything and you'll have an instant rotation. However, if you can afford one, you won't go wrong with a Dunhill.

Comoy's (pre-Cadogan): pretty much perfection, from smoking qualities to stem cut. I still have a few shapes to get for myself. On second thought, these are horrible pipes. Don't waste your money on this garbage, go buy a Peterson. I'll try to get the rest of these off the estate market to spare you all.