Tag Archives: pipe related topics

Choosing a Blend of Tobacco

Leave a reply

I wrote this about a year ago and it was published in the Pipe Collector. I was just rereading it and thought I would add it to the mix here.

As a member of several online pipe smoking forums and a member of the North American Society of Pipe Collectors (NASPC), I find I am exposed to an endless stream of potential tobaccos that I can read about and try. There are so many reviews of tobaccos on the Forums and also in the NASPC newsletter – consider Lou Zisholz’ articles alone and you are left with a boatload of options to try. I rarely see a review of a tobacco that says, “This is awful so don’t smoke it”. So how does one go about making choices that work and don’t just leave you with a pile of tobaccos that you did not like? How do you wade through all the reviews and all the “sounds good” propaganda and make intelligent choices? I for one don’t want to buy a tin of something I will “maybe like”. I am particular about what I like and don’t like and with a large family that I am still paying to raise I am careful about what I pick up to try. I would like some relative certainty that the tobacco I choose to try will be a keeper for me and not one that will soon be on the forums for trade. I know that the process can never be boiled down to absolute certainty but I think it can be worked into a system that actually minimizes the blends that I have piled up that I don’t like.

Some pipe smokers I have spoken with put a lot of weight on the reviews they read on various websites to help them in the process. I too have read those reviews and found that they cover the spectrum from like to dislike. I don’t particularly find that helpful and now find I rarely turn to the review pages until later in the process. Often the reviews wax eloquent about the flavour of the smoke being creamy and buttery. In fact I have written those kinds of reviews myself. I read of a tobacco being rich and smooth. This too is not altogether clear to me as to what the writer means. I think I understand what is being said but I am never really sure. What I want is something, whether a written process or a mental one, or a combination of both, that provides a measure of clarity for me in my choices. I want a process by which I can make a decision that has some relative degree of certainty. Of course there will always be exceptions to the process but at least there will be some method for a guy like me who does not have the time, energy or desire to just take the risk to buy something and just give it a try.

With that purpose in my mind, and being somewhat of a systems guy, I decided to try to put together a method for future tobacco purchases. I asked pipe smokers on two of the Pipe smoking forums I frequent how they go about choosing a tobacco. Their responses ranged from those who say “I try everything” to a very structured method with simple steps. I read all of the responses and thought through my own method of choosing tobaccos to purchase. After reading the responses from others I decided to write down my approach as to how I have chosen and tried tobaccos throughout the past 10+ years. I chose that time frame because I know that for the 20+ years before that I was much more random in my approach. If the tin looked interesting or the pouch was nice I would grab it. My cabinet was filled with all kinds of tins and bags that had a mere one pipe load smoked from them. It was truly a motley assortment of tobaccos with no real rhyme or reason to them. Around 10 years ago that changed for me. I became focused on Virginias and found that they became my go to smoke. As time went on I gave away or dumped the partial tins and bags into a jar of scrap tobaccos that I labelled “Hoover Blend”. I still have several of these mixtures jarred and sitting in the cupboard. Other aromatics I had, I gave away. The English samples I had, I also gave away. I focused my purchases on Virginias. From that settled place throughout the past 10 years I have branched out to try some Virginia Perique blends with good success and have added them to my cellar. In the past two years I have also begun to explore Balkan and lighter English blends. My cellar has a growing representation of them in the inventory.

Here is my process. I decided that my starting point would be to use my go to tobaccos as a base and to look at the components of each of those blends. I have smoked a pipe long enough to know what I like and don’t like. Thus my favourites would provide a place to start as I consider adding other blends. Once I have clarity on what each of my favourites is composed of then I have a mean by which to look at other potential blends. For me that meant creating what would act as a base tobacco in each of the following tobacco types: Virginias, Virginia/Perique, Balkan and English. I would know what tobaccos each of my go to blends was composed of and that would provide a basis for a comparison with the composition of potential blends. This is not something that I slavishly write out or list as it really is a small base – 1 of each blend that for me is the mean. Actually this is quite simple for me as the make up of those blends is easily committed to memory.

Once I had the baseline in place I took my wish list of potential tobaccos to try, those tobaccos that have piqued my interest from what I read and hear through my pipe smoking connections both real time and online. I divided the list into the categories above as I was able. There are always variants to the categories so I have added a category to my list that I label “other” for those that just do not fit into the main headings. My list is always in flux as I add and subtract tobaccos that catch my interest. I find that it has been helpful for me to categorize them by tobacco type as it helps me to keep in mind what it was about them that caught my eye. I don’t know if it is my “old-timers” setting in or what but I seem to easily forget why I put them on the list in the first place. This at least can serve to jog the memory a bit. It also is a help in the ordering process to match tobaccos to my palate at the given moment as well as plan for different seasons where I know I will smoke different tobaccos.

Under each tobacco type in my list I have begun to group tobaccos that I want to try by blender or company. For instance under the category of Virginia Perique blends I have subdivided the different blends into those done by McClellands, S. Gawith, Gawith & Hoggarth, Solani, Friborg & Treyer, Shop blenders, etc. you get the idea. The same is true for just Virginia blends, though there I make a distinction between flakes and rubbed out blends. Balkans and English also have categories. In terms of the few aromatics that interest me, I smoke them so infrequently that I have one blanket category for them. For me this helps me to focus an order to stock up my cellar on what I have been smoking. I can also do the order pretty quickly as I have found that some of the e-tailers I use arrange their sites by blenders. So use it if you like, but it works for me.

Periodically I go through my new tobaccos and visit the blender’s site or Tobacco Reviews and get info on the makeup of each blend. This helps me refine my list a bit and discard the ones that upon looking at them more closely don’t fit what I am interested in smoking and for some reason just don’t intrigue me enough to risk a try. I am not particularly interested in reading the PR hype regarding a blend from the maker or the reviews unless it is a blend with which I am totally unfamiliar. If I look at the reviews at all it is to see if the few reviewers that I have come to trust are weighing in on this one. For me the reviews generally come down to a matter of personal taste and that is a hard one to match for any of us. We have all loved tobaccos that others hate and vice versa. Once I have cleaned up my wish list, I note the ones that interest me in order of priority for ordering.

With my focused list, I go to my favourite web e-tailers and see what they carry in terms of these tobaccos. I read any write ups they may have (knowing that they are generally sales pitches, though some are better than others). I check the prices and availability of the blends. This also helps me to categorize what I will try next. Often I pick the top two or three blends on my list for my order. I usually take one tin of each before I have tried them. I am conservative in that I don’t want a pile of tins of tobacco around based on another person’s likes or dislikes. I want to have a cellar filled with stuff I enjoy. So after I have tried the sample tin – I find it takes me a full tin of tobacco before I can make an informed decision – then I will order some for the cellar. I find this way I rarely have stuff to get rid of by sale or trade and I always am smoking what I enjoy. If for some reason it falls out of favour I can put it aside in a jar and let it sit for awhile. For me one of the beauties of pipe smoking is the fact that my tastes are always in process. What I like today my change, but then again the circle turns and I may like it once more.

All of that may seem like a cumbersome process, but it really is not. It has become second nature and for me it has truly focused what I try and what I order. The one thing it does not take into account is the samples of tobacco that I receive from other pipe smokers and from some of the e-tailers. Those require a few adjustments but the method still works.

A Perfect Alignment of 54s

Leave a reply

I wrote this one on my birthday a few years ago now. I love the alignment of events and items that made that a special day for me. I wanted to share it here as well.

It is funny how it takes me some time to finally get around to writing some things down. But today I decided it was time to sit down and write about a special event in my life. I celebrated my fifty fourth birthday December 7, 2008. Periodically I find myself going back and reflecting on all the individual pieces that came together for a perfect smoke that day. It was a combination of planning and serendipitous discoveries that made the event work out better than I could have ever imagined.

I spent the previous year gathering the actors for the event – each of them would play a major role in making the day memorable. Each of them came with its own unique story to contribute to the day. In almost every case their past was shrouded with a bit of mystery and certainly a lack of definitive information about their existence before finding me.

The first character I went looking to recruit was a pipe for the occasion. Not just any pipe would do as I wanted one that really fit my birthday in a special way. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to have a pipe that was as old as me. It would be great to smoke a pipe from 1954 on my 54th birthday. So I began the hunt for just such a pipe. My decision imposed limitations on me to just a few makers. The only ones that I know that can be dated to 1954 with any degree of certainty are those made by Dunhill and Peterson. There may well be others that bear a silver hallmarked band, but in my experience the banded ones I have seen were all made in the late 19th or early 20th Century. That gave me a focus for my hunt – an older Dunhill and/or a Peterson pipe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I emailed Mike Hagley to see if he had a 1954 in his collection of Dunhill pipes that he might be willing to part with. Of course as is often the case in my experience, Mike had several from other years but not a 1954. We ended our correspondence with a promise that he would keep his eyes open for one. I cannot remember the details but eventually Mike emailed me an eBay link to a 1954 Dunhill Shell Briar in a Canadian shape. It was in decent shape but had a replacement stem that had been poorly made. The stem was not seated properly in the shank and appeared to be at an angle. I decided to bid on the pipe and see what I could do. I entered my highest bid and let it sit. I was surprised to see that I was the only bidder. The pictures were rough so it did not give a clear idea of the condition of the pipe. The short and long of it was that when the auction closed and the pipe was mine.

Two weeks went by and Canada Post finally delivered my birth year Dunhill. Upon inspection it appeared to be in very good shape. The finish and the condition of the rim and shank were very good. The reason for the misfit stem turned out to be an angled tenon and not a misdrilled shank done during the repair. What a relief. I cleaned and polished the bowl and shank and re-bent the tenon to straighten it out. (Though even with this work it still did not fit flush to the shank.) As I held it in my hands I began to wonder about getting a new stem made for it. I contacted Dr. Dave at Walker Briar Works to see if he was interested in making a new stem for me. He was up for the challenge and I sent it off to him. He researched what a 1954 Dunhill Canadian stem looked like, took an old Dunhill stem he had in stock and cut it to fit. This allowed for a properly sized white spot for a ’54. He also was able to match the taper on the stem to the original. Once it was finished he shipped it back to me and I was pleased both with his work and to have the first character for my celebration in place.

My attention shifted to the next character I needed to have in place for the day – the tobacco I would smoke in the 1954 Dunnie on my 54th birthday. I looked through my stash of tobacco and I set aside several potential favourites that I could open. But nothing struck me as the right one. I still had time to work on that so I put the search aside for awhile. I knew something would come up and be just right for the occasion.

While I was on holidays in the US, visiting family in Idaho, I decided to check out an old junk shop/antique mall that I always shop at when I am there. I have frequently found some good pipes to refurbish and some other unique tobaciana items. I walked through the many booths of things for sale – three floors worth – and picked up endless old pipes to check out and old tins that on handling proved to be empty. I did find a one pound tin of old Prince Albert that was unopened and added it to my pile but still nothing that fit the bill for what I was looking for in a birthday smoke. I carried my “treasures” to the cash register by the front door on the first floor to settle up and leave. Just as I was taking my cash out of my pocket I happened to glance over my shoulder at a shelf by the door. A small round tin on the middle shelf caught my eye. I put my money back in my pocket, left everything on the counter and went to check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I got closer I saw that it was a small round tin. It looked like the older 3/4 ounce tins that were available a long time ago. I could see that it was silver with some green squares. I moved the clutter away that made it hard to see and lifted the tin out to have a better look. It was clearly an old one. It had the label Dobies Four Square Mixture. It was full of tobacco and the seal and the tax stamp were still intact. I examined it carefully and found that there was no rust on the outside. The tobacco on the inside did not rattle around as I shook it. All of these are good signs when buying old tobacco. I then inspected the tobacco tax stamp and found that it was dated 1954! I could not believe my eyes. I took it to the counter and immediately added it to the haul and paid for it. I might have found my birthday tobacco to smoke in my 1954 pipe – I just needed to verify its age. I did a web search on the blend and on the importer that had its sticker on the back. The way the address and zip code were set up it pointed to a date of the 50’s. As best as I could determine I had a tin of tobacco from 1954!

The two major players were in place for the birthday celebration – a 1954 pipe and a 1954 tobacco. All that was left was for my 54th birthday to arrive, or so I thought. It was only a few months until my birthday. I had no idea of what lay ahead for me in the drama of my life. I had no clue as to how the third player in my celebration (me) was to be prepared.

In May of 2008 I was greeted at 2AM one morning with a crackling of fire and the flare of light that comes from flames illuminating my bedroom. I looked out the window to see the three houses next door to us on fire. I woke the kids and fled the house. And yes I left the Dunhill and the tobacco in the house. By 8am that morning we were back in the house and found that with all the soaking of fire hoses our basement had 3 inches of black water in it. Everything was in ruins. This time I dug out my favourite pipes and some tobacco to keep as I knew we were in for a long haul with restoration. I had the foresight to pick up the Dunhill and the Dobies Four Square Mixture. This would turn out to be a smart move in the long run.

In July my position at work was closed and I was declared redundant. I was out of work with our house being an unsellable mess. The restoration company was hard at work contacting contractors to do the restoration. I ended up being the general contractor for the repairs and was in charge of coordinating all of the trades. Those were hard days for me but my pipes helped lend moments of sanity to an otherwise insane time in my life. By the end of November we were allowed back into our basement and settled back into the routine of our lives. Only a few days before my 54th birthday we were able to finally get back to some sense of normalcy.

On December 7, 2008 – my 54th birthday I woke up early in morning and made a cup of strong Ethiopian coffee. I picked up one of my favourite books and settled on my front porch with the 54 Dunhill and the 54 Dobies in my 54 year old hands. The sun was shining and it was relatively warm in Vancouver – not something to be taken lightly in December. I popped the old tin of tobacco with a 1954 dime (I thought that would be a nice dramatic touch), removed the paper disc that was on top of the tobacco and which verbally guaranteed a great smoke or my money back and lifted the open tin to my nose. What an amazing aroma! The pungent smell of well aged Virginias and the tantalizing sourness of Orientals came together in what smell like a delightful mixture.

I pinched together a wad of tobacco and packed the pipe. I loaded it as I usually do and checked the draw to make sure it was the way I liked it. I used an old Zippo to light the pipe and drew the smoke into my mouth. Wow what a smoke! The alignment of 54s was complete! I had the 54 Dunhill loaded with a 54 Dobies tobacco and smoked in my 54 year old mouth. What a perfect way to begin the day of the celebration. What ever happened next would be bonus and I would end the day the way I began it – another bowl for this 54 year old in the old 54.

 

A Pipe Refurbishing Journal

Leave a reply

I have worked out a process of refurbishing old pipes as a hobbyist that has worked for me with ongoing improvements and learning being added almost every pipe I work on. That is not to say that I am even a wannabe professional because I am not. For me it is a way of doing something that I find relaxing and rewarding as well as something that I can actually finish. With my work I am involved in ongoing dealings with people and issues that seem never to really come to closure so to take a pipe and bring it back to life and enjoy a good smoke in it is something I take great pleasure in. I thought I would write a bit about my process using and old pipe that came in the mail that I picked up off of ebay as an example.

… I got home from Budapest, Hungary last week to find a package of pipes had arrived that I bought on EBay before I left. I opened the box to find a real mess waiting for me. The photos on eBay were not good and I was in no way prepared for what awaited when I opened the box. There were four pipes there – two Dr. Plumbs, a Stanwell with a broken tenon and a White Cliff meer-lined pear. The two Dr. Plumbs were what interested me in the lot and why I had initially bid. Dr. Plumb was an older second’s line of GBD and these two interested me. The first was a 9438 – GBD Rhodesian shape that I find is an all time favourite of mine. The second was a silver spigot Oom Paul – a shape that I have wanted to try for a long time.  I figured the Oom Paul would be one I kept – not sure of the others in the lot. The White Cliff and Stanwell went back in the box and I turned my attention first to the Oom Paul.

I took it out of the crumpled newspaper that wrapped it, being careful not to spill the ash and crumbling cake all over the place. It really was an ugly mess. I wanted to assess what needed to be done with it and whether it would be worth the effort. Sometimes even if it is really not worth it I will still clean it to practice methods and the use of new tools. This one was in desperate shape. The bowl was filled with crumbling cake and torn remnants of tobacco. The top was covered with a sticky and thick tar or lava that was about the thickness of a dime. The outside of the bowl had dark grime deeply embedded in the finish. It was muddy and dark enough that I could not see the grain at all. Now before you think it was an old patina finish – I assure that it was not. There was no way of even seeing the finish. It looked just like one of my dogs when he has been playing in the mud on a rainy day. I know somewhere underneath he has a black coat but it is not visible at all under the dirt and grime. This pipe was just unbelievably dirty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working my way back along the shank of the pipe I came to the silver shank cap which was loose and very tarnished. It appeared to be sterling or at least silver plated under the tarnish. It had pulled away from the shank and was turned to one side. It appeared to have something engraved in it at about 1 o’clock but it was not clear under the tarnish and grime. The stem, a faux spigot, no long fit in the shank as it sat among the grime and crumbling build up of tars and a yellowish residue that erupted around the edges of the union of shank and stem. It was solidly embedded in this mess and was immoveable. The stem was an oxidized brown colour at the saddle and the curve. It had a silver cap at the end of the stem before it disappeared into the grime. That union of vulcanite and metal was a mottled edge of tarnish and grime. The button end of the stem was grimy and oxidized but it did not appear to have tooth marks or pits in it. It was merely encircled by that hard, white coloured material that can collect under a rubber bit protector. I moved to the lip of the pipe and looked at the slot. Unbelievable!! The airway was gone. The slot was filled and all that was left was a tiny hole the size of a pencil lead. The tar was erupting out of the slot and was a hard black semi circle that enclosed the button end.

I turned the pipe over in my hands to look at the underside of the bowl. I always like to check and see if I am going to be surprised by a burnout or a blackening spot that could signal an impending burnout. I scraped some of the grime off the bottom of the bowl and found a spot that appeared to be the size of a pencil eraser on the bottom. It was black but did not appear to be burned or soft in anyway. I used saliva to clean away the grime a bit for a better look at this spot. It cleaned up slowly and with a soft cloth and a bit of spit it showed that what I was dealing with was a repair in the bowl bottom – a plug of briar that had been inserted. It was a bit darker than the briar around it but it was a good solid repair and did not appear to be loose or damaged. That was a good sign.

I laid the old pipe down and gave it a good hard look. Would this be worth the effort or would I end up pitching it at some point in the cleaning process? That is always a question I ask before I get everything out to do the cleaning. I picked up and turned it over in my hands again. I checked it over one more time and figured I would start and see what happened in the process. I set up my desk top work bench with newspaper as a base and then laid out the tools of the craft! I put out a variety of reamers and brushes of different sizes. I put out the dental picks that I knew would be needed in the stem and the shank. I put out the pipe cleaners – bristle, thin and fuzzy, the alcohol and the alcohol bath that I keep handy for bowls that need a soak. I drizzled some clean alcohol around the shank stem union and with a bit of wiggling and more dripping the stem came free. I use an ear syringe for that part of the work as it allows me to control the placement of the alcohol.

I set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I wiped down the outside with a soft cloth and Murphy’s Oil Soap (undiluted) to get the grime off and get some idea of what was underneath the mess. It took several applications and wipes with the cloth to get through the grime. I also wiped it down with an alcohol wipe to get the last of it off. As I was planning on refinishing the pipe anyway I was not concerned with the finish. Underneath the grime the briar was actually quite nice – birdseye on one side and a variety of grains the rest of the way around the bowl. The shank was flame grain. It looked promising. I took a sanding block that is fine grit and sanded the top of the bowl to get the grime off. It was rock hard and since I was refinishing the pipe anyway it was the preferred method of removing the grime. Once that was done I reamed the inside of the bowl and the inside of the shank. I used my Senior Reamer to start with and then the T reamer with the four different cutting heads. The bowl was lined with a crumbling cake that needed to be taken back to the bare wood as it kept letting go and falling apart. Once it had been cleaned out I was able to inspect the bowl for cracks and burned out areas. Fortunately it was clean and uncracked.  The bottom of the bowl was below the airway so once it was cleaned I would need to use some pipe mud to build it up to the proper height.

The shank was really a mess. I could not fit a standard pipe cleaner through it and had to use a dental pick to open it up. Because it is a full bent a drill bit was unworkable past about the middle of the shank. I have a dental pick that have I straightened out a bit and it worked like a champ. The pipe had a sump in it like the Peterson system pipes and it was absolutely jammed packed with tars. The stem would not even fit in the shank it was so full of junk. I used a small brass battery terminal brush to work over the inside of the shank and the sump area once I had opened it up. I blew air through to make sure it was open. I used pipe cleaners and q-tips to clean it up. I kept at it until the airway and shank were clean. Once I finished with the interior of the pipe I put the bowl in an alcohol bath over night. I have found that this takes off all the grime that is rubbed into the finish and any remaining interior grime.

While it soaked I turned my attention to the stem. I opened the airway in the stem with my dental pick from the button end. I was able to remove the stinger apparatus in the tenon and then began to work on the interior of the stem. The stem itself was a mess on the inside – a pipe cleaner would not fit through so again the dental pick did the trick. I opened it up a bit then used over a 100 pipe cleaners and a bunch of q-tips to clean out the gunk. I also used a bristle shank brush to loosen things up. Once I cleaned it with lots of alcohol and many cleaners the inside was clean. The outside needed lots of attention. The Dr. Plumb painted logo (not stamped at all just a surface paint) was sacrificed to cleanliness.  I sanded the stem with 1200 and 1500 grit sandpaper to get the brown out that even the buffer did not remove. After that was done I polished it on the buffer with red Tripoli and White Diamond. The stem was actually in very good shape once the grime and oxidation was removed. I cleaned the silver portion of the stem and the faux military mount with silver cleaner and then polished that and buffed it with a soft cloth. I also used steel wool on the stinger apparatus until the roughness and grime was gone from it and it shone. I inserted it back in the pipe for the first smoke to see if it would remain. The stem was in great shape and ready to be inserted in the shank of the pipe once it was done. It still needed to be buffed with Tripoli and White Diamond before a good coating of Carnuba was applied to keep the oxidation at bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I removed the bowl from the alcohol bath and found that bath had done its magic. All the grime was off and the finish as well. What remained was a soft reddish briar that was clean and smooth to the touch. After bowl dried I sanded it with 1500 and 1800 grit sandpaper, being careful of the stamping that showed up on the bottom of the shank once the grime was gone. I finished the sanding with micro mesh pads in 1800, 2400 and 4000 grit. The top had some minor burned areas and the bowl was out of round so I bevelled the bowl top into the bowl to take care of the unevenness. When I finished sanding it I washed the outside down with a damp alcohol soaked rag to remove any dust and show any scratches that needed a bit more attention. Once those were taken care of I filled the bowl with cotton boles and using the ear syringe filled the bowl and shank with clean alcohol to remove any ghosts and residual tars in the bowl. I let it sit over night while the leaching process did its work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While bowl was undergoing that treatment I took silver polish and a soft cloth and worked on the stem metal work. For the stinger apparatus I used some 0000 steel wool to clean off the staining. I buffed the stem with Tripoli and white Diamond and laid it next to the bowl.

The next day I removed the cotton boles and let the bowl dry out. I opened a can of cherry stain that I use on these old timers that matches the original colour really well. I shook the alcohol based stain until it was well mixed and then using a soft rag and a folded pipe cleaner I applied it to the whole bowl. Once it was well coated in the stain I lit it on fire with a lighter to set the stain. Once that was done I set it aside to dry well.

In the afternoon when the stain was dry I took it to the buffer and lightly buffed the stummel until it was smooth and shining. The finish looked really good. I gave it a good coat of wax and then polished the silver on the shank cap. I was able to turn the cap a slight bit and the initials that were engraved in it became visible – WGW. I took it back to the desk and inserted the mouth piece. It fit snugly into the shank and the look was as it should have been.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(In the last picture on the bottom right the plug in the bottom of the bowl is visible. I re-stained that area of the bowl and the plug is a little less visible.)

I then turned my attention to the inside of the bowl. I needed to raise the bottom of the bowl to meet the bottom of the draught hole and protect the plugged bottom of the bowl. I mixed a batch of pipe mud – cigar ash and water mixed to a pasty thick consistency and painted it with a folded pipe cleaner and packed it in place with a pipe tamper to raise the bottom of the bowl to the bottom of the airway. I let it dry for a day until it was hard and then prepared a bowl coating with activated charcoal and my secret ingredient and painted the inside of the bowl with it. I wanted this old timer to have a chance and with the cake gone I did not want to take a chance on burnout with it. I wanted it to have a fighting chance for a long life ahead. I set it aside to dry for two days and waited for the initial smoke once it was dry.

Two days went by and the bowl coating was dry and the mud was hard in the bottom of the bowl. I had packed the pipe in my brief case and took it to work with me for the ride home that evening. After work I packed the Dr. Plumb Oom Paul with Doc Piedmont and lit it with the Zippo. Wow what a clean, dry smoke. It was smooth and full of flavour. It is a great smoker and did not heat up at all during the smoke. I carefully knocked out the ash and inspected my bowl coating and the bottom of the bowl. It looked undisturbed and solid.

When I got home I removed the stinger that was in it to give it a go without the stinger to see what that does for it…my gut feel is that this pipe will be one of my go to pipes in the future.

A surprise gift awaited me at the door

Leave a reply

I was just going through some files on my hard drive and came across this one and relived the event that I had written about. Do you ever have those moments when the event you are recalling comes alive again and you can see the people, hear the sounds and smell the scents yet again? That is what happened to me. I was up with my dogs early this morning as our alarm went off with a malfunction. Instead of going back to bed I decided to look over some older files and see what could be deleted. I came upon this one and just sat and relived the moment again. I remember very clearly getting a call from my daughter saying “Dad, Don dropped by a box for you. He says it is pipe tobacco that a friend gave him. Since he does not smoke a pipe he wanted you to have it.” Throughout the day I kept thinking about what could possibly be in that box. You will see why I wondered about it, beyond just curiosity when you read the rest of this tale. Here is what I wrote that afternoon when I got home and opened the box from Don.

…Over the past four years my family has been saving bottles for a homeless fellow who dumpster dives across from our house. He has an organized route through the lanes in our area searching for bottles. He pushes a grocery cart with his dog attached by a tether. He climbs into the rubbish bins and ferrets out empty returnables. He makes enough on them to provide for himself and his dog, Spaz, a little wiry terrier cross that looks a lot like Don. Over the years as I was walking by I would talk with Don. Over time we have become friends. He has been in our home for dinners on many occasions and a guest at Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. My wife will often make him a sack lunch and leave it on the step when we are not here. Don has become part of the family. He stops by almost weekly for a visit and a cup of tea or water. He brings his dog for a visit as well.

This morning he came by to deliver a package for me while I was at work. Some buddy of his was given a big express post package of pipe tobacco and he knew I smoked a pipe so he thought of me. My wife and girls called me to let me know. I spent the day wondering what he would have found. I also wondered about the reality of the story and if I was not just getting some of the fruit of his dumpster diving. The girls would not give me any hints other than it was a fairly large box. They certainly know how to wreck my concentration. When the day was over I packed my bag and headed home with expectation for what awaited me on the dining room table. What was it that Don brought me?

I got home and my wife and the girls were sitting on the porch with Don and Spaz. They were sipping tea and just visiting. Don had that twinkle in his eye that I had come to learn meant mischief and I really wondered what he had brought me. I grabbed a chair next to him on the porch and in front of it waiting for me just like a Christmas present on Christmas morning was a large box. It was a little worse for wear from the ride in his shopping cart. I fully expected it to be full of some tins of Amphora or something of a similar ilk. I opened the box and found a large bag inside. That bag was tied shut. I untied it and inside, double and triple bagged were these baccies. I was flabbergasted. I could tell by the look on Don’s face that he was enjoying my surprise and wonderment at his gift.

The Pease Classic Collection: (Sample 1 ounce bags)
Charing Cross
Abingdon
Blackpoint
Kennsington
Piccadilly
Stratford

The Pease Top 5 (Sample 1 ounce bags)
Barbary Coast
Haddos Delight
Cairo
Cumberland
Robusto

Aromatic sampler (1 ounce sample bags)
McClellands M55 Georgian Cream
Peter Stokkebye PS31 Optimum
Peter Stokkebye PS38 Highland Whiskey
Lane Hazelnut
McClellands 715 Raspberry and Cream

Dunhill (2 4 ounce Sample bags)
Dunhill A2000 Toasted Cavendish
Dunhill A3000 Black Cavendish

I opened my work bag and took out a pipe. I opened some Charing Cross and loaded the pipe. Don fired up a cigarette from his own makings and we sat and drank iced tea and enjoyed the beauty of the day. These were blends that I had not tried and were on the list to get. If I was to put together a list of baccies that I wanted to smoke it would have included many of these blends. I was grateful to my friend for this opportunity. I will never forget his kindness to me. One who had little in terms of the goods of this earth gifting me like this was incredibly moving. I just publicly want to acknowledge his gift to me! Thanks Don!

When I look back at that moment and the gift Don brought me I am still blown away by his generosity. Many of these tobaccos I had never had before. The Dunhill Tobaccos were ones that I was not familiar with and the aromatics were not ones I had tried before. The Pease samples were the first to go under the flame and I enjoyed them all. About a year ago now Don disappeared. I don’t know if he moved on or if he died. He struggled with major health issues and was literally wasting away. I will never forget him or his kindness to me. It was good to relive this moment today.

A Pipeful of reflection

Leave a reply

Yesterday I had an appointment with the old Doctor for some problems I am having with blood pressure. I have this inordinate white coat syndrome that sends my blood pressure soaring when I go to see him. So when I woke up and throughout the morning wait for the doc I was reflecting on all of the things I was “sure” he would tell me to give up in light of the impending visit. I don’t know about you, but when I am in those settings I always jump to the worst possible scenario and my mind works overtime on what is “certainly” going to happen. Not the best strategy for high blood pressure folks to be sure, but it is my way. After deleting wine and beer, red meat, adding more exercise, I was certain my pipes would have to go according to the new regimen he was going to give me. That caused me to pause and reflect for moment on my pipes and pipe smoking. I gave it some thought as to whether he would tell me to say good bye to this piece of my life in which I have come to take a lot of delight. As I thought about the possibility of quitting, I asked myself what my pipes and pipe smoking do for me. I mused for awhile and then I wrote this:

My racks of pipes are in the cabinet next to my desk in my study and a few on top of the desk and behind me. I can with a quick glance look at and enjoy them all. From my desk I can swivel my chair and look through my pipes for the one that is going to take the tobacco choice of the moment. It hit me that this for me is the point when the actual pleasure of a smoke begins. It doesn’t wait for the fire to hit the tobacco or the first puff. The entirety of the process is pleasurable and my particular restful time. The tactile experience of handling the pipes, moving through my racks and choosing just the one for the moment is a big part of the pleasure. Once the pipe is chosen I pick up a soft pipe cleaner, another tactile pleasure and run it through the stem and then place the stem between my teeth and blow any dust or fuzz from the bowl. The sounds of the air through the bowl, the slick feel of the stem, the smooth or rough or blast of the briar, all combine for a fine moment of quiet and pleasure. Often before I fill the pipe and put the match or lighter to it I just sit with the bowl in hand and reflect.

Then the tobacco of the moment is cracked open – the jar or the tin – I run the tobacco through my fingers and enjoy the feel of the flake or the ribbon or the cube cut as it drops between my fingers. As the tobacco is picked up there is a sweet aroma that slips into the room around my desk – the scent of fine Virginias, the aroma of a clean but smoked pipe. All of these combine in the moment before I pack the pipe. The tobacco goes into the bowl pinched between the fingers or rubbed out on a paper on the desk. The tobacco springs in the bowl, the feel of just the right pack, the quick flick of the flint on the steel or the match across the striker to get the light, the momentary spark and then the flame as it licks the tobacco and then the first puff of smoke. All these intersect with the just the right place to take my mind off of my troubles or my work and transport to a tranquil zone.

The amazing thing to me is that all of this occurs for me before the smoke begins to calm my soul. Before the bowl begins to warm to the touch as the fire in its belly consumes the tobacco the earnest smoke has begun. The rhythm of the puff and the exhalation of the smoke all build on the previous time to add to the pleasure of the restful thing we call pipe smoking. As the tobacco continues to burn and the smoke is blowing and snaking upward, the room fills with an aroma that surrounds the pipe and me. The aroma is sweet and satisfying. The cloud of smoke that fills the room adds to the mystique of the moment. I close my eyes and enjoy the quiet that this alone time brings to me. I guess at heart I am a solitary, an introvert and I need the retreat and the quiet to rejuvenate me in order to take on the rest of the day’s work.

The tamper and the lighter work together to bring the bowl to its maximum pack and burn. Just a bit of a tamp around the outer edge of the bowl, tilting the tamper just so to leave a crown in the center of the bowl, are part of the mystique of the smoke. Another light, with match or lighter, and the renewed cloud of smoke after the initial light has died down. The fiddling with the bowl to get it just so is part of the ritual for me that disengages my brain from all other concerns and sends me to a quiet spot. The tools of the piper are just as much a part of the ritual of the smoke as the pipe itself. It is no wonder that over the years I have collected an odd assortment of tampers, from the ordinary and utilitarian shape of the pipe nail to some beautiful sculpted tampers by a variety of tamper makers. For me the fussing with the pipe is all part of the process of the enjoyment.

When the smoke comes to an end, the pleasure continues for a bit. The taste of the tobacco is still on the lips and gums. The room note still lingers with memories of the taste in my mouth. The bowl of the pipe smells of it as well. The pipe itself is warm to the touch and worth a few minutes extra in the hand. The ash is tapped into the ash tray, or if I am on the porch into one of my plants. A pipe cleaner plunges into the bowl through the button and down the stem and shank and takes care of any ash or moisture in the airway. Folded in half it works well to swab out the bowl of any remaining ash or bits of tobacco. All of this ritual is still part of the pleasure. Once cleaned and wiped off the pipe is returned to the rack and I sit.

What is it about pipes and pipe smoking that relaxes me? The entirety of the ritual from the choice of pipe through the smoke itself and to the restoration of the pipe to its place on the rack is all part of the restfulness of the pipe to me. From start to finish and everything in between all are part of the pleasure.

Oh and the good news… the doc told me that he does not even consider me a smoker and that the pipe was not a problem for my BP… All my fretting was for nothing… or was it? At least I got to think about why I like my pipes! Now I am off to fire up another bowl, sip a good glass of red wine, and enjoy a good steak!

The Solitary Pipe Smoker

1 Reply

I know, a lot of pipe smokers love the comradeship of a gathering of pipe smokers who sit together and jaw away time as they chat about their hobby and the solve the crises of the world from the comfort of a wreath of smoke. But me, I need the quiet reflective time of being by myself. The rest of my life is full of people around me all the time making demands either implicitly or explicitly on my time and attention. I come home each evening tired of people and the demands of a day of work. To me at that moment the last thing I need is to sit and talk with anyone… pipe smoker or not. What I long for and seek is a quiet solace that is created by my pipe and a bit of time to disconnect from the day that has past.

I find a corner in the house, on the porch or under a tree in the yard whose only requirement is that it must be quiet – maybe the hum of passing traffic, maybe a dog barking or some other external noise that is non human is present as ambient noise, a white noise. That kind of noise is acceptable and a welcome addition to help quiet the noise in my head. In that quiet space I settle into a comfortable chair from which I can observe the life of the neighbourhood around me. The twittering of birds, the squabbles of the squirrels over the walnuts in my yard are a pleasant change. I take out a trusted and well broken in pipe and handle it carefully. I rub it down and feel the gentle curves and the variety of textures that make up stem and bowl. I sniff the warm memories of bowls that had been smoked in the past and just take time to savour the moment. Life is good. There is no rush to pack the bowl. No frantic need to get to the point. No sense of having to pack the bowl and smoke pressing upon me. I can move at my own pace in my own time with no one defining the time.

I take a deep breath and exhale slowly and just enjoy the pleasure of being for a moment. Far removed by time, space and mental thought from the demands of doing. I take out my pouch or tin of a good tobacco that I know will deliver a good smoke and begin the process. I remove a couple of flakes of sweet smelling Virginia and smell the sweet grassiness of the tobacco. I rub them out to the texture I love or I roll them into a ball in my palms and enjoy the feel of the tobacco as it is readied for packing. This ritual in itself is a moment of solitude that is hard to find in the norm of my life. Once the tobacco is just right I begin to load the bowl of my pipe. I want to make sure it is loaded just right, but I am not anal about it – that would wreck the moment. I take the tobacco and begin to tamp it into the bowl. I feel the springiness beneath my fingers and know from the years of the process that it is just right. I put the pipe in my mouth and feel the draw. While doing that I clean up the remnants of tobacco and roll the pouch or close the tin and set it aside. I sit like that for an immeasurable moment and just taste the tobacco – unlit in my pipe. There is freshness and expectancy in the taste. There is a promise of good flavour that will be released by fire. But I want to just take the time to enjoy the moment before striking the fire.

Then without knowing why, the moment of fire has arrived. I take my Zippo or a match – no reason for the choice, just what happens to be at hand. I circle the bowl with the flame drawing deeply on the pipe as the fire is drawn into the tobacco. I can feel the warmth in my mouth as it begins to catch fire. The tobacco begins to smoulder and the smoke curls out of the top of bowl and around the edges of my mouth. Ah the tastes and the sensations of that moment as the smoke rises from the bowl and I gaze at the world through the haze of a good smoke. I cannot quite explain the sensation of the moment for you – you just have to be there. There is no one talking. There is no demand on the time. There is no pressure to converse or respond to the need of another. There is no pressure from inside or outside to act. It is just the quiet moment of solitary time when my pipe delivers me to that place where I can be alone and unencumbered by anything or anyone. That is what I love about time with my pipe. It is time I cannot get in a group of pipe smokers. It is time I cannot get with another piper next to me. It is that sweet alone time that slows my life down and gives me renewed perspective to enter into the next moments of my life.

All too soon the embers smoulder out and the bowl is finished. The pipe is warm to the touch and the air around me is full of the smell of the smoke. Time begins to once again move forward. I can hear my wife and daughters moving around in the house working on dinner. I can hear their laughter and their bickering that is all a part of my life and I chuckle to myself. It is good! I can now fully enter into that piece of my life and be engaged with them. I have been able to lay aside the encumbrances of my day and become free to re-enter my family and enjoy them. Those private moments, those solitary times give me the space to disconnect from one moment and enter the next more fully. This is not to say I don’t enjoy the energy of a group of pipers together but it is these moments that energize me and keep me smoking my pipes. They have an uncanny ability to calm me and grant me serenity.

Pipe Refurbishing or Pipe Carving?

Leave a reply

Over the past few years I have carved more than 30 pipes and then re-carved many of them several times over as I grew to understand more of what I should be looking for in a pipe. It was also during this time period that I lost my apprehension of removing too much briar and the reworked pipes became more streamlined and lighter in weight. Much of what I have learned about what makes a good pipe has come from having worked on 400-500 pipes during the same time period. Some of these remain in my own collection, many have been given away to new pipe smokers and more recently some have been sold. I may have worked on more than 400-500 pipes over the years but I’ve not kept any records. I only have the pictures of some of them and a cupboard full of the ones I have kept for my collection by which to estimate. Since I’ve had experience with these different aspects of working with briar I thought it would be good to take some time to consider and write about which of the two draws most of my attention and interest and why that is so.

I can honestly say that I enjoy the creativity involved in designing and carving a new pipe. Taking a block of briar and drawing out a pipe shape on the block before drilling it is enjoyable. The scent of fresh briar as the drill cuts the chamber and airway has a wonderful room note to me. I enjoy the sweet scent of the briar dust. It is an amazing process to bring out the shape that was hidden within the briar as layer after layer of briar becomes chips and dust under the saw and the sanding drum. The fine repetitive details of sanding and shaping with papers, sanders, files and knives is part of the mystique for me in bringing a shape out of the block. The progressive use of increasing grits of sandpaper and micromesh pads to remove the scratches and marks of the carving is pleasing in that it has a very specific end in sight. The mixing of stains, staining and the buffing/polishing process is also something that feeds my sense of creativity and lends itself to experiments and fine-tuning. The final pleasure is that incredible first bowl of tobacco in a pipe of your own creation. In my normal daytime job of working with people I rarely see things completed so this is one of the reasons that carving a new pipe intrigues and gives me pleasure. Those are just a few of the things about pipe carving that I enjoy. I will continue to putter away at the process for the rest of my life.

As a novice at carving a pipe I have to say that when I’ve finished carving a pipe, I feel a lot like I did when I was a young kindergarten student bringing home my masterpieces for the admiration of my parents. I expectantly waited to hear them declare me a modern day Rembrandt or Picasso (of course that never happened but I kept bringing them home to be displayed on the gallery of the refrigerator). I want to hear how great they are to assuage my own sense of seeing that there is still something lacking in them. I look back at some of those early pipes and blush at the primitive sense of craftsmanship that went into them, even after the second or third reshaping. I know I am not there yet in making that truly beautiful pipe that causes me to know that I am a carver! But I am finally getting to where I like the look of what I make. I know that I still have a long way to go. I am not even close to Mr. Medico let alone the likes of a Bo Nordh.

Even as I re-read what I have written about the carving of a new pipe, I know that I still would much rather repair or refurbish old pipes than create new ones. I have been thinking about it a lot while I work on pipes and go through my pipe cupboard. I have talked with other folks who make their living doing pipe repair and others who, like me, do it as a hobby. I have asked them about their repair and refurbishing work. We have batted around a lot of different ideas and topics from methods to processes and tools, but the conversation always comes back to these central questions: what is it about repairing pipes that keeps us intrigued and continuously working on old briar?; what is it about the process that attracts us to that particular hobby and practice?; and why do we enjoy reworking, refurbishing, re-stemming old briar more than we do carving new briar?

When I have an old pipe in my hand to repair or refurbish it presents a variety of challenges in that one project. Contrary to when it was crafted as a unit I now have the task of matching new work to old. To make a new stem that matches what appears to be a round shank that in reality is not round is generally the case with every pipe I re-stem. The minute shaping and cutting away of the diameter of the tenon and stem to fit a shank that is not truly round is one of those challenges. It really cannot be done on a centre point lathe as nothing truly is round. For example, I re-stemmed an old English pipe that to the naked eye appeared to have a round cylindrical shank. In examining it more carefully I found that it was not round. One side was heavier than the other. The measurements of the radius to different points on the circumference of the shank are all different. To craft a stem for this old pipe was all hand work. It can be shaped to a point with tools but all the fitting had to be done by hand. I love that challenge. I always am working for that seamless looking junction of stem and shank. Honestly, there are times I’ve achieved it better than others.

Once the stem is fit to the shank there is still much work that needs to be done to the stem before it is finished. The shaping of the angles of the plane of the stem needs to be done to reflect the flow of the shank and bowl. The button has to be shaped and thinned for comfort. The slot in the end of the stem needs to be opened to give a better airflow. If I am trying to match an original stem then research needs to be done online to find a pattern of the stem to try to duplicate. When that pattern is not available then I am free to creatively shape the stem. All of this is done before the sanding and polishing of the stem to get a glossy smooth surface. To me this is also a challenge.  I am always seeking new tools, papers and micromesh products that will facilitate the work. There are always minute scratches that have to be worked over, seams on precast stems that need to be removed, and shaping that needs to be done with rod stock and hand cut stems. Whether working with Vulcanite, Lucite or Horn I have found that many of the same tools and products are used but different tactics are employed to get the final look that is desired.

With the stem work finished, I turn my attention to the bowl and shank as there are repairs that must be done to them. I find that on these old timers the rim has often been damaged and is very rough. None of the sharp edges of the surface remain and it looks as if the pipe had been used to drive in nails or hang pictures. When deciding how to best handle the rim damage it is important to study the angle and surface of the rim. Only then can you decide regarding the need for topping or not, how much to top, how to maintain the integrity of the original shape or how to create a new shape out of the ghost that remains. Each of these steps contributes to the pleasure I derive from refurbishing these old timers.

Another aspect of the draw of rejuvenating old pipes is the creative use of tools and papers and wedges. It always seems that necessity is the motivation for crafting new and different ways to use a tool or a process. This keeps the work incredibly interesting to me. I have reworked drill bits and screw drivers, sanding blocks and pads, all to the purpose of allowing more intricate access to the nooks and crannies of the pipes. I have employed dental picks and bent them at different angles to use in the stem and button as well as in the mortise itself. I have worked old doweling to use as sanding blocks inside of bowls. I have learned to maneuver the sanding drums on my hand held Dremel to work down the diameters of the stems and tenons as well as using them inside a pipe bowl to smooth out the cake. I have been able to experiment with the speeds to arrive at the optimal speeds to use for various aspects of the work.

The parts of the refurbishing picture include all the hidden and not so hidden stories that are attached to these old timers. Some of the ones I work on I know something of the history behind, but with others it is only an educated guess based on care of the pipe or lack of it, smells of the tobacco smoked in the bowl or the remnants still in the pipe. Yet each one belonged to some pipe smoker who took delight in firing up a bowl in his pipe. These all come together for me and cause to me visit the bench more frequently as a refurbisher rather than a carver. Refurbishing old briar involves a very different set of skills and abilities than those used in carving a new pipe from a fresh block of briar. While both take skill and patience, to me refurbishing and restoring an old pipe is more engaging. While all the pipes I work on take the same basic skills each presents unique challenges that push my abilities and skills in new ways.

Those are my thoughts for now… I am sure that the longer I work on old pipes the more these thoughts will mature and grow. Now off for a bowl of some good Virginia in an old restored Sasieni Liverpool.