Ah, it makes sense now. Shirley talking about all his supplements and whatnot, he wanted us to think he was a buff, not just a fat dude walking around in the buff (fat sure, but perfectly clean shaven from head to toe).
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Well my new Nording has arrived and has been thoroughly cleaned and refurbished. This stem was very oxidized and the rim of the bowl was pretty charred, both are now looking nearly new .
I'm going to take it with me to New Orleans this week, so it'll get its first smoke sometime down there
Well by charred I didn't mean like burn to a crisp but was completely blackened. I used alcohol to and a cloth diaper and a hell of a lot of elbow grease to rub it off then hand buffed it back out with savinelli briar polish.
I have been out of the loop for a little while but I am back. Grabbed up a cheap pipe at the PX and some Captain Black as that was all they had. Was out smoking it and another soldier came up and asked about pipes. He went out and bought a cheapie as well and just loves it. He smokes far more than I ever do that's for sure. A lot of people look at us funny for smoking a pipe. I don't get it. It smells better than a cigarette and pipe smokers don't litter butts all over but everyone seems to think that is ok. Got a lot of the younger guys started on cigars lately. They of course go crazy for the Cubans but when money is low, they grab up anything. Good to see the pipe thread still active even though it's a cigar forum. Keep on smokin!
No, the pipe is a Grabow and was about the only thing they had here. It works so I am pretty happy. Can't wait to get back to the states to my real pipe collection. I have some nice briar. Il Ceppo, Savinelli, Stanwell and Nordings.
Cool, there a ton of ppl that love those Dr. Grabows. I have a Jobey gifted to me by a friend who is going to get paid back here soon and I just picked up a Nording not too long ago.
The B&M has a numbered Freehand I'm in love with. Has a mixed lucite and vulcanite stem and is huge. But at $350 its been a little hard to justify in the current economic climate.
I feel ya. I paid $400 for a big, gold-banded, anniversary-edition Dunhill about 15 years ago, but that's the only one I've dropped that kind of cash on. My other Dunhill is an estate pipe, from 1964. Some of the more modern shapes from some of the Danish and Italian makers are upwards of $2k, these days. They're gorgeous, but cripes, I just can't bring myself to pay that, even in good economic times.
I have a pipe that is a sitter. The bottom is flat and it is a really nice pipe with some great briar. Being thicker, it smokes very cool. I do like the Nording freehands. I used to be able to justify why I needed to spend so much on pipes but just can't now. They are nice but just way overpriced. I still like my old Savinelli 2nd that was something like $12.95. I probably smoke it more than all the others combined.
Mine's a sitter, too. Not flat on its bottom, but tilted forward about 45 degrees. And I agree -- a damn handy feature.
If I had the money, maddy, I would have no trouble spending it on some of those pipes. I have tremendous respect for real craftsmanship, and, if I have the money, will happily pay a premium to reward a true craftsman (rather than paying for something machine-made, now matter how wonderfully precise the machine is). I see that as money well spent.
My favorite pipe is probably either that 1964 Dunhill, which is just a classic, straight billiard sandblast that weighs next to nothing and smokes great, or a Savinelli straight-grain I bought at Iwan Ries in Chicago. I forget what that line is called. It's the ones that they make for their flagship hand-made line, but, once finished, there's something not quite perfect enough about them to put in that line, so they call it something else. "Signature" line, maybe? I dunno.
Sometime I will post some pictures of my pipes. I don't have any good pipes here in Korea, they are all in storage and the pictures are on the computer that is also in storage. They are beautiful pipes. The briar is just amazing and the grain so straight it's just amazing. I don't care much for rusticated pipes as I feel it covers up the grain or hides defects. I do believe they rusticate them because the briar is inferior. I just can't see doing that to quality briar. I head back to the states fairly soon but won't get my things out of storage until I am out of the army which should be by summer. Post some pictures of your pipes if you can. I always like to admire the craftsmanship in them.
Urbi, I hadn't thought about it but you are correct. Pipes are art IMO as well and rewarding the artisan shouldn't be an issue.
I also believe you are correct about the signature line.
dtrwngs, I'm with you on rusticated pipes, I'm not a fan. However, I do love the Nording freehands which he tends to rusticate in spots. Mine is not rusticated though and I love it. And of course, you are correct that the briar has a blemish of some sort otherwise they would not be rusticated.
I'll agree about rusticated pipes, but only if we're using the word as it's properly used. That is, rusticated pipes and sandblasts are not the same thing.
I'll agree about rusticated pipes, but only if we're using the word as it's properly used. That is, rusticated pipes and sandblasts are not the same thing.
Please enlighten. As I've seen them used interchangeably. Nording tends to call them sandblasted if its only done in one or two places on a pipe and rusticated if its the whole pipe.
Nording is using the terms exactly backward, then. Rustication is the roughening of a few spots on an otherwise smooth pipe. It's done with a special tool for the purpose, not by sandblasting. And it's usually done to hide flaws in the briar.
To make a good sandblast, OTOH, the briar cannot have such flaws. They cause thin, weak spots in the bowl when they're sandblasted. A good sandblast pipe requires just as good a piece of briar as a good smooth pipe.
Many top quality high grades are sandblasted, a technique that requires a fine grain in order to produce an attractive pattern [of ridges and valleys].
Sandblasted pipes (sometimes referred to as shell, rustic, relief or thorn finishes by various manufacturers) . . . have a rough, textured finish and are somewhat lighter in weight because there is less wood on the pipe.
It takes a good grade of briar to create a truly fine sandblast, as it is the actual wood grain that creates the dimensional dips and ridges which make a sharply defined sandblast so desirable. Unfortunately, sandblasting is also used by many pipemakers to cover up flaws and imperfections in a briar bowl of lesser character.
On page 53 (in my edition), there's a picture of the handtool used to rusticate.
Comments
Oops.. I did it again, didn't I?
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I'm going to take it with me to New Orleans this week, so it'll get its first smoke sometime down there
My Nording is also a sitter. I love that about it bc I can stand it up when I'm taking a break from it.
If I had the money, maddy, I would have no trouble spending it on some of those pipes. I have tremendous respect for real craftsmanship, and, if I have the money, will happily pay a premium to reward a true craftsman (rather than paying for something machine-made, now matter how wonderfully precise the machine is). I see that as money well spent.
My favorite pipe is probably either that 1964 Dunhill, which is just a classic, straight billiard sandblast that weighs next to nothing and smokes great, or a Savinelli straight-grain I bought at Iwan Ries in Chicago. I forget what that line is called. It's the ones that they make for their flagship hand-made line, but, once finished, there's something not quite perfect enough about them to put in that line, so they call it something else. "Signature" line, maybe? I dunno.
I also believe you are correct about the signature line.
dtrwngs,
I'm with you on rusticated pipes, I'm not a fan. However, I do love the Nording freehands which he tends to rusticate in spots. Mine is not rusticated though and I love it. And of course, you are correct that the briar has a blemish of some sort otherwise they would not be rusticated.
To make a good sandblast, OTOH, the briar cannot have such flaws. They cause thin, weak spots in the bowl when they're sandblasted. A good sandblast pipe requires just as good a piece of briar as a good smooth pipe.