Just received 2 brand new Peterson system pipes today, the large ones, 302XL and 307XL. It's probably not fair to infer from a sampling of 2, but both of these pipes had really obvious flaws which should have never left the factory. On the 302XL, the tenon was loose and wobbly in the shank. On the 307XL, removing the stem and looking down into the shank, the draft hole had been drilled at about 1:00 vs 12:00, and drawing through it sounded like a whistle. However, the 307 had a nice deep moisture well, whereas the 302's was quite shallow. Also, the 302's tenon was funnel-shaped at the end, whereas the 307's was flat (not sure if that was a QC lapse or done purposely, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.)
So, I applied a thin film of my wife's discarded lipstick on the stem part that fits into the shank, which left marks where it was binding prematurely, and then with a Dreml and sanding bit, gradually sanded and re-marked and sanded again until I had the 302's stem fitting perfectly. I also deepened the moisture well so it will actually function as designed. The draft hole was already 5/32 so I left it be.
On the 307 I funneled the tenon end and drilled out the misaligned draft hole to 5/32", keeping the drill biased toward 12:00 to straighten it as much as I could. Then I chamfered where the draft hole emerges into the shank, which cured the whistle effect.
All of the above took about 10 minutes per pipe average. Idk Ireland's labor rate, but maybe that much added would push these pipes past their intended price point, so maybe I should not complain, I mean, at least the draft holes weren't drilled through the bottom of the bowls...
And maybe, no definitely I should have packed them up and sent them both back to the retailer asking for an exchange. If people did that, Peterson would have to get on the stick with QC. So it's my bad. But I would have to have paid the return shipping, and what if the exchanges were the same? Or worse? At least I could rectify the issues with these. But I shall not be buying any more Petersons, at least, not sight-unseen, and my local B&M doesn't stock them.
So, I applied a thin film of my wife's discarded lipstick on the stem part that fits into the shank, which left marks where it was binding prematurely, and then with a Dreml and sanding bit, gradually sanded and re-marked and sanded again until I had the 302's stem fitting perfectly. I also deepened the moisture well so it will actually function as designed. The draft hole was already 5/32 so I left it be.
On the 307 I funneled the tenon end and drilled out the misaligned draft hole to 5/32", keeping the drill biased toward 12:00 to straighten it as much as I could. Then I chamfered where the draft hole emerges into the shank, which cured the whistle effect.
All of the above took about 10 minutes per pipe average. Idk Ireland's labor rate, but maybe that much added would push these pipes past their intended price point, so maybe I should not complain, I mean, at least the draft holes weren't drilled through the bottom of the bowls...
And maybe, no definitely I should have packed them up and sent them both back to the retailer asking for an exchange. If people did that, Peterson would have to get on the stick with QC. So it's my bad. But I would have to have paid the return shipping, and what if the exchanges were the same? Or worse? At least I could rectify the issues with these. But I shall not be buying any more Petersons, at least, not sight-unseen, and my local B&M doesn't stock them.