Hardcastle....your experiences?

[bergxu]

Hey all,

Picked up a Hardcastle prince from Tinder Box last week and wanted to share a few observations..

The best feature of this pipe is the soft vulcanite bit. Much more comfortable than my other vulcanites. I imagine that's due to the higher quality material that Dunhill (correct?) used. The bowl is by far the most shallow of any of my pipes, and I'm not sure yet if I like that or not. It's nice that I can puff down a bowlful of 1Q without leaving any dottle, but on the flip side, I have to pin this pipe as an "average" smoker.....which is a bummer given its price. Granted, I don't own any super high grade pipes, mostly just average stuff such as Peterson, Kaywoodie, Bjarne, etc...and I suppose I had higher expectations for this Hardcastle, being that it's a Dunhill 'second' (or am I incorrect in that notion?). I do have one Dunhill Bruyere that I inherited from my great grandfather, but I've yet to smoke it as I still have to send it off for a refurbishment, but I imagine it'll smoke like a dream.

Anyhow, back to the Hardcastle. I figured it must have been in their display case for a long time, as the mouthpiece was rather dull and after the first smoke, the end turned the dreaded nasty grey-ish/white color. I know that will be able to be rectified easily enough, but I'm considering putting this baby on eBay and cutting my losses....shoulda bought that Savinelli Oscar which was next to the Hardcastle in the case.....and was $40 less :roll:

Anyone else have any experiences with Hardcastle pipes they'd like to share? I'm interested to hear..

 

[ftrplt]

I have two or three Hardcastles; all older pipes, but with "Dunhill-like" stampings. One is a dead-ringer for a DH 127 Root Briar. All smoke extremely well. Maybe yours just needs a little more break in time. FTRPLT

 

[Centurian 803]

Don't know anything about Hardcastle but the Prince is one of my favorite shapes. I have an Alpha Kappa Prince that smokes like a dream.

 

[jeremyt]

I have a Hardcastle Hallmark; mine is also an older pipe with "Dunhill-like" stampings. Mine smokes like a dream, maybe like Ftrplt says it needs some more breaking in.

 

[Winslow]

Go to the supermarket and buy a Mr.Clean Magic Eraser sponge pad,it
will take that oxidation off the stem pronto.Smoke it some more,give it a
chance before you dump it.You always lose money selling so fast.

Winslow :sunny:

 

[Jack Straw]

I had a stem that did that right off the bat, a well buffed coating of wax or even chap stick will make the blackness last a whole lot longer. Hope it works out for you!

 

[Strongirish]

It is a Dunhill second. But I have never found Dunhills to be that special. I have never fallen for the white dot mystique. Clean the stem with the magic eraser and if it's too bad for that, some of the rubbing compound by Dremel, can be bought at any place that sells Dremels. Then buy some Paragon wax to seal it and it will be awhile before it turns again.

 

[Al in Canada]

You are probably right about them having it for a while, given the look of that mouthpiece. That discoloration is the oxidation of the sulfur in the rubber, yech!

Clean that sucker up and give it a protective coating of wax. The magic eraser is a good starting tool, you might want to finish with tooth paste, the old style with the mild abrasive in it, not one of the "whitening" gel types.

My Hardcastles are very good smokers, but don't mistake a "second" with a "second line". Some Hardcastles and some Parkers are definitely pipes that didn't make the cut as Dunhills, but some were never in the running. Pipe carvers generally buy briar by the bag and some cuts of briar just don't have it in them to be "great", at least in the sense that a company like Dunhill was ready to put their name on them. Others develop flaws in the carving process and are there fore disqualified.

I have read that at one time Dunhill used to toss these "flawed" bowl in the woodstove, and then someone said well why don't we sell them, they'll still smoke well, and that's why they have the secondary lines. One of my Parkers has the two smallest pin hole sized fills, and otherwise could pass for a twin to one of my Dunnies, both smoke great, only one is "worth" a great deal more than the other.

happy puffin',
Al (in Canada)

 

[bergxu]

I gave the mouthpiece a quick polish with original Chap Stick, which is what I had on hand, just to try out, and it seemed to bring back the lustre of the vulcanite. Of course, when I smoke it again, we'll see how well it holds up...

I took it to the workshop today to smoke throughout the day and I have to say I'm still not smitten with this baby. But perhaps in time....

 

[Al in Canada]

I gave the mouthpiece a quick polish with original Chap Stick, which is what I had on hand, just to try out, and it seemed to bring back the lustre of the vulcanite. Of course, when I smoke it again, we'll see how well it holds up...

I took it to the workshop today to smoke throughout the day and I have to say I'm still not smitten with this baby. But perhaps in time....

Bergxu,

Out of curiosity, is the pipe the size and style you would usually purchase, or was this simply a case of name and the price seemed right?

While I have a fair number of small to medium bowl pipes, that work well for me with most of what I smoke, some tobaccos seem to demand a larger bowl to show their true colors. Most of the Hardcastles and Parkers that have passed through my hands have been modest bowl sizes, and very traditional shapes. They do not smoke the same as my Pete 314 XL, nor do I expect it of them.

Curiosly,
Al (in Canada)
brigham Cambridge Blend in Hub "Jet"

 

[bergxu]

Al,

I purchased it simply because the shape was attractive to me. It was one of those moments of utter PAD attack, as I had initially only chosen a Bjarne Viking from the display case when the Hardcastle caught my eye and I had to have that one too. I guess now that I think about it, I don't really own any other pipes with such a shallow bowl. My regular smoke is 1Q with some of the other aro's listed under my profile on occasion, and I've tried both 1Q and Blue Note out of the Hardcastle and the BN does seem to smoke a little better out of it. Maybe I need to reserve the Hardcastle for the rare occasion that I smoke some Frog Morton or other English......

 

[Al in Canada]

Al,

I purchased it simply because the shape was attractive to me. It was one of those moments of utter PAD attack, as I had initially only chosen a Bjarne Viking from the display case when the Hardcastle caught my eye and I had to have that one too. I guess now that I think about it, I don't really own any other pipes with such a shallow bowl. My regular smoke is 1Q with some of the other aro's listed under my profile on occasion, and I've tried both 1Q and Blue Note out of the Hardcastle and the BN does seem to smoke a little better out of it. Maybe I need to reserve the Hardcastle for the rare occasion that I smoke some Frog Morton or other English......

By Jove, I think you've got it. Try a bit of Rattray's Highland Targe or maybe S Gawith's Balkan flake and I think the pipe might start purring at you. They are a tad bolder than 1Q, and you will enjoy the smaller bowl. Besides how better to justify a PAD attack, than a little TAD.

Al (in Canada)

Brigham Cambridge blend in a Brigham 337