Peterson Mark Twain Redux

[Idlefellow]

I am looking at another used example. I've only seen photos but it appears that the distinctive gap between the silver bezel and the stem is not there. Frankly I'm not familiar with how this is created; does the tenon bottom out in the hole thus creating the gap, or...?

The seller claims to have no pipe knowledge and can't explain it. If I'm correct in what creates the gap then I can only think that either the mortise hole has been deepened (unlikely) or the tenon shortened, either on purpose or by breakage.

If any MT owners can enlighten me, and/or give their opinion of the cause of the missing gap, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[ftrplt]

Just checked mine. The tenon is ever so slightly angled so as to only go so far into the mortise hole. There is plenty of depth in the hole to go deeper. Without seeing the pipe, I'm gonna' guess someone trimmed the tenon sides just enough for it to go all the way into the mortise or they made the mortise just a wee bit larger for the tenon to slide all the way in. Just my 2 cents worth of an uneducated guess :cheers: FTRPLT

And upon further inspection...I really need to clean this pipe!!! I've been enjoying it a bit too much :roll: :roll: :cheers:

 

[docwatson]

I'm with FTRPLT on this one. I believe someone has altered the pipe to bring the stem into the shank. Some people just don't realize that these are space fitted stems and should have a significant space between stem and shank shoulders. I have not seen a photo of the pipe but that would be my guess as well.

 

[Idlefellow]

Well duh; I have two Pete system pipes so I should have realized that. Mine are tapered up to the flair rather than to the flat stop like the MT so I guess I wasn't thinking. Thanks for the responses.

 

[ftrplt]

Don't be too hard on yourself!!! I didn't know about the taper until yesterday when I looked so as to be able to answer your inquiry. Your supposed to learn something new every day...And we did :cheers: FTRPLT

And I still need to clean my Mark Twain :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[RDPipes]

I have a Peterson Deluxe 9S that when new had a gap between the shank face and face of the stem.
I bought it as an Estate and it had hardly any gap, maybe a 1/16" best but, this was a cherished pipe and smoked a lot and I found the the over size tenon had worn a lot explaining why the gap had closed so much. Whether this is what happen to yours I don't know, just wanted to relate my experience.

 

[Idlefellow]

Well, while I was negotiating with the seller someone bought the pipe out from under me.  I had some misgivings about it anyway; wasn't happy with the "no gap" and the condition looked pretty rough; still, it was a MT in my price range :evil: .  So, disappointed as I was, I found another. Appears to be in much better condition, nice visible gap :cheers:, for $25 more than the ask on the other; still a bit less than I've been seeing them go for.  We'll see when it arrives if I did good.

 

[RDPipes]

I found this while doing a search, don't know who the original person was who stated it but, it made sense to me having seen a lot of pipes with loose stems. Quote: "space fitting mouthpiece" which is meant to last for decades (not that normal bits won't). The idea is that as time goes on your shank will swell in and out as it adjusts to use, humidity etc and that mouth piece on deluxe/house pipes is meant to adjust to that difference in diameter. "Unquote

Also found this on Peterson of Dublin site, "Each Peterson Deluxe is made from carefully selected, age mellowed root briar by master craftsmen. In golden brown finish which accentuates the beautiful grain together with hallmarked sterling silver mounts and a unique space fitting mouthpiece to allow for years of wear.