Show us your Pipes

[Edward]

You might want to take some elbow grease to that stem. That's some serious oxidation. You'll be amazed how a little stem polish and wax can make it look brand spankin' new.

Oh, yes - I'm gonig to hit it with something when I gt the time. I'll probably pick up some polish when I pop out for some tobacco at the weekend - planning to hit a good place i know in Oxford Street.

 

[Edward]

Gah... so it's been longer than I thought. Turns out Bond's of Oxford Street closed down the bircks and mortar shop in 2005 (due to rapidly rising rents) and are now an online business only. http://www.bondsoflondon.com/About.html Not ideal - their store is great online and I have ordered some tobacco from them, but really there's no substitute for being able to walk in somewhere... A couple of small places exist close to me locally, but they aren't exactly what I would call pipe specialists. The one thing I don't seem to be able to find (probably using the wrong search terms...) is a polish / cleaner for the exterior of my pipes. Some sites seem to recommend alcohol - perhaps a cheap blended malt for flavour would do the job?

 

[Edward]

An update on this particular pipe... last night I spent a couple of hours rubbing the stem with some alcohol (actually a semi-decent whiskey), and, much to my shock, it appears that it is actually black under there - I thought it was supposed to be brown! Have to find some stem polish and do it properly. Presume that should take out the scratches too?

 

[phinz]

You can use a MicroMark polishing kit to polish it. That Vulcanite stem should most definitely be black. You can also use an automotive rubbing compound.

Do *not* use alcohol on the briar. It will strip the finish. I use Everclear to strip bowls for a new polish. Only use hard carnauba to wax it if you have a buffer/grinder. Dunhill makes a bowl wax if you don't have access to a buffing wheel.

I have this kit: http://www.walkerbriarworks.com/html/stem_restore_kit.html and it works amazingly well. It's my go-to polish/wax setup, even before I hit the buffer. I've saved several pipes with it. The big thing is to try not to round off the hard edges.

One of mine went from this:

to this:

 

[phinz]

Oh, and a little spit and cigar ash will brighten the silver on your shank.

 

[phinz]

Also, for your aromatic desires you might try some of the Cornell & Diehl or GL Pease blends. C&D makes a blend called Autumn Evening that smells like pancakes but still has some flavor too. Benjamin Hartwell's Evening Stroll is nice too. Heck, I'm even known to light up some old-fashioned Capt. Black White every once in a while.

 

[Edward]

Jinkies, that's made a fair difference to your pipe! I've ordered some polishing compounds, so hopefully they'll be here for the weekend (ordered 'em yesterday).

Also, for your aromatic desires you might try some of the Cornell & Diehl or GL Pease blends. C&D makes a blend called Autumn Evening that smells like pancakes but still has some flavor too. Benjamin Hartwell's Evening Stroll is nice too. Heck, I'm even known to light up some old-fashioned Capt. Black White every once in a while.

Sounds great, I'll look into that, thanks. For noe I've ordered some stuff listed as a 'peach' and some cherry blend - I'll see how they turn out. I'll have to fire up and make sure I can get the hang of it in private myself before I attempt to smoke it socially. (Heady memories of my first cigar, on a friend's stag night back in University days.... yeah, I inadvertently inhaled....).

 

[Edward]

Well, my polish compounds arrived this morning, so that's part of the weekend taken care of... My Bonds of Oxford Streef tobaccos arrived today (both labelled, in big letters, "Smoking Kills!" and "Smoking is highly addictive, don't start!"... but, you know, I laugh at death. In rather a more sedate fashion than those extreme sports fellows, it's true, but still... lol). 50gs of Sweet Peach and 50gs of Black Cherry. Both smell very nice indeed. Looknig at the physical quantity, I'm estimating at least ten fills out of each bag, which already renders the pipe a much cheaper operation than a decent cigar.

 

[shortbow]

Speaking of bricks and mortar tobacconists, when I lived in Victoria, B.C. there was a place right downtown called E.A. Morris. They had been in the same location since the 1890's. Tile floors, big alabaster gas-fired cigar lighter in the middle of the floor, whole place was all mahogany and glass with hundreds of pipes. When you bought a pound, it was presented in a glass jar. The scent of Latakia was so strong you could smell it out on the street. The clerks wore suits. They had dozens of brands of Cuban cigars, snuffs and cigarettes from all over the world. Last time I was in was in the 1980's.

Since then it has sold, hardly any stock, ridiculous prices, you can't smoke in there and it now sells all sorts of erzatz tourist junk.

What a damn shame. But I will always remember with great fondness this last vestige of Victorian mores, architecture and service. I would give anything to be able to visit such a place again.

I'm put in mind of the place every time I fire up a blend with Latakia in it.

 

[Edward]

I had an experimental fill of each of my new tobaccos when I got in last night. The Sweet Peach is light and pleasant, but the real star is the Black Cherry - beautiful rich flavour and a lovely bouquet.

 

[waffle]

very nice pipes!

 

[Nick D]

I picked this up off the 'Bay recently. According to the seller the hallmarks put it at 1941, though I haven't checked it myself. I gave it a clean, though the outside could use a buff. There are a couple small nicks on the bottom of the bowl and shank, I don't know if they're damage or fills, but I don't think they'll affect the pipe. It's pretty long, too, and a nice shape. Unfortunately I've run out of tobacco so I haven't had a chance to try it. I'll pick some up tomorrow. The local tobacconist has a whisky tobacco I've wanted to try.

 

[waffle]

nick.. i love it! it looks great, and it would be amazing if it's actually from the 40's. two thumbs up!

cheers

 

[Edward]

very nice pipes!

Thank you! The surprising thing to me is how much I enjoyed using the straight pipe - I've always preferred the aesthetic of a curved pipe, but I'm fast coming around to the user-experience afforded by a simple straight shape. I have taken a fancy to an aluminium-shafted Falcon, a design first developed in the thirties. We'll see what crops up on eBay when I next have the cash to spare...

 

[shortbow]

Neat pipe, Nick. You can tell it's from the days when a guy would stick a pipe in his gob and leave it there while he went about his business. Nice and long, out from under the nose, light weight, slim and trim. Now days with the 'one or two bowls a day out behind the wood shed' ethic that has been foisted on us by the antis, it's all big, heavy bents and free-hands.

Nice find.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Snagged this neat little rig at a vintage shop over the weekend.

"Aristocob" lol

 

[Vintage lover]

An interesting concept. Wouldn't that half metal stem make for cooler smoke? (forgive me if that is a dumb question, I am not exactly a pipe expert)

 

[waffle]

..... i want.

very nice pipe!

 

[shortbow]

GREAT score! That'd be worth some simoleons to the right collector. I was just recently looking at an article on those.

And, just fyi, there's a company in business right now which sells cob pipes that goes by the name Aristocob.

Just today I got 4 Missouri Meerschaums in the mail from Walker Briar Works with custom lucite bits. Sure wish I had a camera so I cold post them here. They's jeepers, bygum, crackerjack dandies. Mayhap when the daughter next visits I can get them on here.

 

[Edward]

That Aristocob is an interesting beast. I love its little holster too, something like that would be handy for events where one wants to carry the pipe. I also fancy the idea of a lidded pipe for occasions where I might want to take one out for a leisurely after dinner smoke with minimal hassle - carry the pipe loaded and ready to go....

On the way from eBay I have two pipes, one a Falcon Alco Universal, and the other an unbranded one which might be a Dunhill second, of a very interesting shape. I can't post the photos from the eBay auctions as they only have those little photos at the top, but photos will follow next week when they arrive.