What sort of oil is used? And are there conspicuous benefits (observed by you owners) other than bragging rights?
Oil Cured Italian Pipes
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Usually a mixture of rapeseed (canola?) oil and linseed oil. The real benefit comes from a very easy break-in period with no burnt briar taste. Instead, you get a creamy nutty flavor. Originally, Dunhill and Sasseini etc did oil curing to get all of the sap out of the burls. Then, the mills started boiling the blocks and reduced the benefits. Apparently, according to Alfred D., when the oil-soaked stummels were placed on heating pegs for days on end then they would have to pipe off the pipes to get rid of the resins that came out of wood. If they did not wipe the pipes regularly then the linseed oil would leave a hard-gummy layer.
I have a suspicion that Dunhilll developed the shell finish as an attempt to remove this layer off of some stummels. When they stopped the oil process then the sandblast finishes changed significantly in apprearance. I would suggest that the oil process is, at least in part, responsible for the unique look of the patent era Dunhill Shells.
I have a suspicion that Dunhilll developed the shell finish as an attempt to remove this layer off of some stummels. When they stopped the oil process then the sandblast finishes changed significantly in apprearance. I would suggest that the oil process is, at least in part, responsible for the unique look of the patent era Dunhill Shells.
Go further, and the idea becomes that the shell patent is the oil curing patent, and the corollary is that smooth pipes were never oil cured. The shell was indeed a "shell" for real, a hard and yet gummy coating (anyone who has ever worked with linseed or tung oil will be well familiar with what happens if a glob dries). All the text in the "About Smoke" catalog would back this up - the smooth pipes were ostensibly all Calabrian briar, Dunhill believing that to be the tightest and least likely to foul, and all the shells (according to the book) out of some fairly poor algerian wood that Dunhill had been sitting on and wondering what to do with. I doubt very much that every Calabrian block produced a smooth, but that's beside the point. As stated, oil curing is a way to stabilize the wood both in terms of flavor and moisture content. Entirely unnecessary if you have well cured wood (the proof being Castello pipes and other good marks which are not oil cured being perfectly acceptable pipes). Pineseed, linseed, olive oil, mineral oil, flax, peanut oil etc have all been used (any decent tasting, hardening oil with a high smoke point, really).
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The only specific reference to a particular oil I have seen is linseed. But I suspect others have been used, as well as blends. Giancarlo Guidi was an inveterate experimenter and was fascinated by the possibilities of the process, both from the standpoint of aesthetics and smoking. There is, or was until very recently, a Ser Jacopo L2 (smooth) coral dot era oil cured Jucunda on eBay. Undoubtedly a Guidi experiment. I have held in my hand a Coral Dot R2 (rusticated) Jucunda. And within the last year or so, I saw a picture of a new silver J era R2 on a European web site. Other than that, every Ser Jacopo Jucunda I have seen has been sandblasted. To me, once past the break in process, there really isn’t a discernible difference between an oil cured pipe and one from the same maker and era from a smoking standpoint.
One Italian maker has started making oil cured pipes again after a lapse of a few years. Why? Market demand, principally Asian. Nothing dictated by the briar.
Apparently, Savinelli DeLuxe Milano pipes were treated with oil.
Quote from Savinelli site -
Pipe of De Luxe series, dating back to the early seventies, matt finishing. The matt finishing is produced with special ventilations and use of boiled linseed oil that enlivens the flaming and leaves the pipe very natural. This series consists only of models in big size. Vulcanite stem. Here we propose you model 606 EX. This bent pipe, in true Billiard style, boasts a high and spacious burning chamber. A super classic shape always appreciated. Here in extraordinaire size.
Quote from Savinelli site -
Pipe of De Luxe series, dating back to the early seventies, matt finishing. The matt finishing is produced with special ventilations and use of boiled linseed oil that enlivens the flaming and leaves the pipe very natural. This series consists only of models in big size. Vulcanite stem. Here we propose you model 606 EX. This bent pipe, in true Billiard style, boasts a high and spacious burning chamber. A super classic shape always appreciated. Here in extraordinaire size.
I don't agree with your proposal that the smooths were not oil-cured. There is documentation of the process and the labor intensity of periodically wiping the warm stummels. They had the patent numbers for the oil curing on them. That said, it would have saved a great deal of labor had they simply not wiped all of the stummels that were intended to be blasted.
At the same time, there is some sense in your view of different briar being used. Alfred had written that he thought that the best briar for a bowl came from the center of the burl (little to no pretty grain). Oil curing and blasting this wood may well produce that odd finish of so many of the 1920-1930s shells.
Anyone who has blasted before knows that it is a bit odd how it reacts to different materials. A simple piece of tape, or a bit of chewed up chewing-gum, is enough to block the blast, yet it cuts into hard materials. I would suspect that all of the oil in the wood may alter its density, or resistance (via surface tensions?) enough to affect the blasting. At the very least, one would suspect that the fibers are swollen with the oil and thus more pliable.
The passage I find fascinating is this: Lines 1 through about 20 of the 2nd page of the patent. "The result of the treatment is that the grain of the wood is hardened and stands out in relief to a certain degree, but the oil coming to the surface creates an impervious coating. For the purpose of a further treatment with oil it is therefore necessary to remove the impervious coating. This cannot be done in the ordinary manner by "buffing", which simply removes the projecting portions or parts in relief, before the abrading tool reaches the lower portions...."
The claim here is that the oil cycle has already made the pipe into something that isn't a smooth, really. The "shell" process is not yielding smooth pipes. Is there some other process going on with smooths? Why didn't Alfred mention it in the catalog? He spends all kinds of time talking about the benefits of Calabrian briar used on the "Bruyere" pipes, but never once mentions any kind of oil curing process.
The claim here is that the oil cycle has already made the pipe into something that isn't a smooth, really. The "shell" process is not yielding smooth pipes. Is there some other process going on with smooths? Why didn't Alfred mention it in the catalog? He spends all kinds of time talking about the benefits of Calabrian briar used on the "Bruyere" pipes, but never once mentions any kind of oil curing process.
The member who used to go by the name Hagley, had his account inadvertently deleted by accident not of his making, and chose a new handle I cannot remember would be as likely as anyone to have an answer.
Yes. You need to choose a reasonable oil mixture, soak the thing, then cure the oil with low heat. The heated peg of the Dunhill apparatus is ideal, pushing the oil outward with the controlled, even heat in the bowl, but really it doesn't matter, you can do it in the oven. Prepare for a smelly house and a few failures. Also be prepared for the pipe to smoke exactly that same as if you hadn't done it, after about 5 smokes. The first few smokes you'll taste whatever oil you use, so something that tastes better than Pressed Coyote Oil would be smart.
Oil curing, as I wrote earlier, was kinda standard and nothing to brag about in 1920. Sasieni also has an oil curing patent for getting the oil out of the stummel. This was not pegs on a wall, but rather it was a sort of metal dome with an open flame inside. It had hangers all over it to hold the stummels and holes in it to allow for heat ventilation. I have oil-cured several dozen stummels. The oven at low temp does not burn nor smell bad. One of the Italian pipe makers dipped stummels into hot oil.
If someone wants to try it then I found that heating the stummels in the oven first and then putting the warm stummel into oil was the preferred method. Once I just poured oil into the bowl of a warm stummel (circa 75C) and I was shocked how quickly the oil ran through the wood. There is some change to the surface but nothing overly pronounced, nor negatively effecting the surface that a light sanding doesn't fix.
Interesting that the Dunhill patent mentions that he had to use oil again to dissolve the dried, gummy oil remains. I suspect that a number of different techniques were developed. This lends to my sandblast theory.
If someone wants to try it then I found that heating the stummels in the oven first and then putting the warm stummel into oil was the preferred method. Once I just poured oil into the bowl of a warm stummel (circa 75C) and I was shocked how quickly the oil ran through the wood. There is some change to the surface but nothing overly pronounced, nor negatively effecting the surface that a light sanding doesn't fix.
Interesting that the Dunhill patent mentions that he had to use oil again to dissolve the dried, gummy oil remains. I suspect that a number of different techniques were developed. This lends to my sandblast theory.
I just re-read the 1918 patent for Shell finish. It is clearly a combination of oil cure plus blasting.
"Although the sand blast has been used previously for the treatment of the surface of wood, to accentuate the grain, I have found in practice that this treatment in itself does not give satisfactory results as there is a tendency for the wood to become cracked and injured, a result that does not occur with my process where it is used as an auxiliary to the treatment by steeping (in oil) and by heat."
Therefore, the 1918 Patent IS an oil-cure/blast combination and NOT a blast patent. This explains my 1927 Kaywoodie that is blasted.
"I (then) submit it to the action of the sand jet or sand blast, which removes the hardened coating of oil and also has the effect of cutting away the softer wood between the grain and leaving the harder portion -the hardness of which has been intensified by the process of steeping and heating- in very high relief. If the article is again steeped in oil, it will take up a further amount and the treatment by heat and the sand jet or sand blast may be repeated; and so on for as many times as may be required according to the extent to which it is desired to accentuate the grain or make it stand out in relief. The resulting article is extremely hard and constitutes an admirable tobacco pipe for the smoker."
His 1912 patent is for his process of getting the oil out of the wood (I.e. heated pegs). Previously, the oil soaked stummels were left for years to dry. I cannot find this patent at the moment but did find some notations I made about it. The 1915 Patent was for the inner-tube.
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