Killer Straight Grain Barling Re-stem

[georged]

The guy this belongs to uses this board from time to time, so I thought I'd let him know his pipe is finished by sending him a link to here, instead of dealing with Gmail's pic size limit hassles.


Also figured it's worth showing off in general for being a Fred Hanna-worthy straight grain. Not many of those around.

 

[georged]

Some pics of the old and new stems side by side.

The oldie is one of Barling's "slab style" stems that (I think) were offered for dental reasons. If you don't need one for bite security, though, they're pretty uncomfortable. Square sides, quite thick, and have little button height.

The replacement is their conventional design and should be muchacho grande morer comfortable-er.

The saddle portion had to be made slightly longer to fit Barling's standard-size stamp because I didn't have their teeny one. (Looks better in visual mass balance terms in any event).

I also relaxed the bend a few degrees, since the original was unusually severe in that regard (maybe part of the dental thing?). It's now the standard seven degrees below the rim plane.

 

[ssjones]

The oldie is one of Barling's "slab style" stems that (I think) were offered for dental reasons. If you don't need one for bite security, though, they're pretty uncomfortable. Square sides, quite thick, and have little button height.

The replacement is their conventional design and should be muchacho grande morer comfortable-er.

Viewing the new pictures only, I smiled. I never cared much for the Baring's stems and immediately noticed the difference. The Dibos button looks far more comfy (which I know from experience).

And wow, that grain. I haven't seen a pipe sporting that kind of grain in a long time.

 

[jguss]

Beautiful pipe George, and irrefutable evidence that post-transition pipes can be stunners. Ironically if this is anything to go by the new owners of the company took the Straight Grain designation much more seriously than the Barling family often did.

And I agree with Al. Your stem is a big step up in class and comfort.

 

[Sigmund]

Very nice. Yes, I dont think I would care too much for the original. It knid of looks like a mouthfull.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Beautiful work!!! FWIW, I think your stamp is better than the original one.

 

[captpat]

Well done.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Viewing the new pictures only, I smiled. I never cared much for the Baring's stems and immediately noticed the difference. The Dibos button looks far more comfy (which I know from experience).

And wow, that grain. I haven't seen a pipe sporting that kind of grain in a long time.

Al, you must not ever browse the WAYS thread!

Beautiful pipe George, and irrefutable evidence that post-transition pipes can be stunners. Ironically if this is anything to go by the new owners of the company took the Straight Grain designation much more seriously than the Barling family often did.

And I agree with Al. Your stem is a big step up in class and comfort.

Post-Family, yes, but not by much I'd think. It's difficult to make assumptions and levy quotations about Barlings made in the early to mid 60s without sounding garish, or at worst a charlatan.

If I had to guess though, I'd say this one was made no later than the late 60s. A touch of that old family charm may have still existed in residue around the factory.

Thanks George!

 

[jhowell]

Leave it to George - his stems are always an improvement over OEM! Great job George!

 

[Bbailey324]

Nice work befitting an impressive piece of briar!

 

[AroEnglish]

Killer straight grain and killerer stem work.

 

[sablebrush52]

Beautiful pipe George, and irrefutable evidence that post-transition pipes can be stunners. Ironically if this is anything to go by the new owners of the company took the Straight Grain designation much more seriously than the Barling family often did.

And I agree with Al. Your stem is a big step up in class and comfort.

Al, you must not ever browse the WAYS thread!


Post-Family, yes, but not by much I'd think. It's difficult to make assumptions and levy quotations about Barlings made in the early to mid 60s without sounding garish, or at worst a charlatan.

If I had to guess though, I'd say this one was made no later than the late 60s. A touch of that old family charm may have still existed in residue around the factory.

Thanks George!

It's an unfortunate myth that upon the sale to Finlay's the product went straight to hell. I own pipes from this period and they're excellent smokers. The decline was more gradual.
I'll second bluegrassbrian's assessment, though the pipe could be earlier, 1963 onward, based on the nomenclature. The lack of a TVF stamp suggests earlier to me, as Finlay initially dropped the use of it when they made the switch to the cursive logo in late 1962, then brought it back by 1965 and perhaps earlier. Heck of a beautiful piece of wood!

 

[FurCoat]

That's a beautiful pipe.