Peterson Questions

[olkofri]

Going all the way to the bare wood removes the stain in the bowl completely

How to accomplish this? I have a pipe (not a Peterson) that I just found out was dip stained too.

 

[Jack T]

I've never owned a Peterson. I'm curious about quality issues, which seem to be connected to this thread. I read a few things online that suggested the quality of Peterson pipes had dropped considerably in a variety of ways, including fit and finish. I have no opinion at all on this, but am wondering what other people--particularly those who are Peterson fans--think about this. I've thought about buying one, but tend to hesitate because of the negatives I've read.

 

[irishearl]

All I can tell you is that I'm a Peterson fan and have been buying them, new and used, for the past 20 or so years and none have had a QC issue. In fact the first thread I started here was entitled "I've never had a bad Pete" just to give another perspective on the debate. Some people have no doubt gotten clunkers based on observations here and at other forums, but those seem to be the small minority of experiences.

 

[kola]

Peterson lost me a long time ago. I'll only buy older estate Petes. 1980's and down.


And despite the claims the slopped up dipstaining continues. And QC still sucks.

 

[Jack T]

Peterson lost me a long time ago. I'll only buy older estate Petes. 1980's and down.


And despite the claims the slopped up dipstaining continues. And QC still sucks.

You really shouldn't be so mild in your opinions. Don't hold back!

 

[lawdawg]

I've never owned a Peterson. I'm curious about quality issues, which seem to be connected to this thread. I read a few things online that suggested the quality of Peterson pipes had dropped considerably in a variety of ways, including fit and finish. I have no opinion at all on this, but am wondering what other people--particularly those who are Peterson fans--think about this. I've thought about buying one, but tend to hesitate because of the negatives I've read.

I have a 2018 Peterson Christmas pipe that I really like. I posted a pic of it the other day which I'll include below for reference. I think it's a great looking pipe, and it delivers a great smoke. I'm happy with it in all regards. It's not dip stained or laquer coated, and it's as good in all regards as any of my other pipes in the $100 or so price range.

Peterson was acquired last year (or thereabouts) by Laudisi Enterprises (smokingpipes.com) and as good as the people at SP are about everything, I can only anticipate that over time they will correct whatever issues there are with Pete pipes. There have been complaints about the dip staining on some Petes (which they might not do any longer), as well as complaints about lacquer coatings which is really more of a cheap pipe issue than a Peterson-specific issue.

My only real problem with Peterson is the drilling on their bent pipes which is done in a manner that won't allow a pipe cleaner to be passed all the way through the pipe without removing the stem. Some people have no problem with this, but many do. I should also note that their "system" pipes won't pass a cleaner, but the pipe is designed that way, and that design is intended to collect any moisture that might accumulate and get it out of the airway, so it might be a good design, but I have no experience with the "system" Petersons myself.

 

[kola]

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Petersons.

But only the older ones. I hope things get better, they still sell a shitload of new pipes, that's for sure.

For now, I'll sick with old petes ---- and old tobacco. And hey, I'm old....so WTH.

 

[unadoptedlamp]

2018 Peterson Christmas pipe

That is a nice looking Peterson, with the brass. It would be nice to see this brand shake off the negative feedback, which is supposedly from older practices.

I think that's going to be a challenge though, with so much "old stock" out there from whatever time period it was when they slipped in quality.

How many people are still going to buy the older faulty pipes and discover a problem with it? Maybe if they accepted (without any hassle at all) pipes with defects to refurbish or replace them, it would help.

They might already do this. With some of the issues around dip staining, etc., I think it should be automatic.

But, of course, it's not my business and I can imagine that would be costly in a tight market. It's a big challenge for smokingpipes to inherit.

 

[Jack T]

What does that mean? "It's a big challenge for smoking-pies to inherit." Didn't really follow that.

 

[olkofri]

What does that mean? "It's a big challenge for smoking-pies to inherit." Didn't really follow that.

Smokingpipes.com, he meant. The owner of SPC, Laudisi, is also the owner of Peterson, having bought them last year or so.

 

[Jack T]

Thanks for that. I had no idea and was wondering what that was about.

 

[unadoptedlamp]

Thanks olkofri.

I think they can pull it off, because smokingpipe's service is generally reported as very good and it shows they know how to do it. I have had great service from them myself.

I guess time will tell.

 

[BROBS]

I agree. Yes they had QC issues for a while and I do believe a lot of the problems are from that period and the stock of that time. Especially on non silver mounted pipes there is no telling how long they have been in stock.

One way to avoid this is buying a pipe freshly in at Smokingpipes.

Also a lot of these “complaint estates” are from this period as well dumped by a pissed off previous owner. Or dumped as a known product of that time period to another unknowing party.

I just bought (couple months ago) a brand new (2019) Premier System Sandblast which is red in color and it exhibited no issues and smoked great from bowl 1. If there was still a stain or a acrid taste problem this sure should be a pipe that would display it.

and my personal opinion is that the stain isn’t the problem it was the bowl coating used during this period. It tasted like plastic or something. Acrylic or paint like in taste.

 

[billjohnso20]

I can't make it out the marking on the sterling collars of either of my deluxe system pipes. They are too worn down. One was made before 1985 according to the guy I bought it from. That was the time he smoked as he said he quit in 1985 and had decided to sell off his collection. That one was the worst and was filthy inside. The stinger on the stem was black and took over awhile to clean after it soaked in alcohol for a couple of hours. It's the only one I haven't taken down to bare wood in the bowl.

I spent some time in the stems today. I reamed them all a bit with my pipe knife removing a lot of built up tar in all the off my estate pipes and remind what I could with Q-tips and alcohol. I an nite doing an alcohol soak on four.

My new Peterson had no tar but was full of stain. The alcohol Q-tips all came out red, the same color as the pipe's stain.

In all, I think the tar build up on all three estate pipes and the stain in the stem of the new one is why the three of them that I reamed out to bare wood still tasted bad. I decided not to take the oldest one down to wood just yet. I want to see how the alcohol soak does first.

 

[billjohnso20]

How to accomplish this? I have a pipe (not a Peterson) that I just found out was dip stained too.

I used a drum sanding bit like those made for a Dremel rotary tool. It's best to use a slow turning drill for this but with care a Dremel on the lowest setting will work. However, if you have little to no experience using high speed rotary tools you could more safely use a drill. It can also be achieved "old school" with sandpaper wrapped around a dowel of the right diameter to fit just loose enough to protect the roundness of the chamber.

The hardest part of this is the heel of the bowl. A dowel that is rounded at the end and wrapped in sandpaper is perfect. One could also wrap sandpaper around a rounded rotary steel brush bit to remove enough material. Regardless of how one chooses to complete this task, extreme caution must be used. One can always remove more material; it is impossible to put removed material back.

It also certainly helps more if a person is "good" with his or her hands and is used to improvising and knows how to create the tools he or she needs to do a particular job. I'm fortunate that my dad and growing up poor taught me how to do just that.

 

[olkofri]

All I've is a Dremel. My drill is high speed. I live in an apartment and have no such thing as a woodwork workshop or a place where I don't have to worry about fines, dust or wood chips. I think it might be best to leave this pipe alone till the spring.

Thanks for the tip, though. At least now I know what I need to do/buy.

 

[billjohnso20]

I live in an apartment too. All you need do is turn on your vacuum with the hose next to what you are working on. It works great to take care of the dust and it covers the sound of what you are doing if that is an issue with your neighbors. Besides, it doesn't take very long with either a Dremel or a drill.

 

[bullet08]

13 petes in last yr and a half. no smoking issues. some fills on outside, some cosmetic issues, but don't mind them at all. to me, they make my pipes unique. all silver band, mostly holmes series. couple of natural finish, couple of system pipe. all smoke wonderfully.

 

[mingc]

And despite the claims the slopped up dipstaining continues.

Not true. I just received my Black Friday standard system and I see bare unstained wood in the mortise.

 

[kola]

^^ Nice to know, thanks. May I ask where you bought it from?

I'm a big Peterson fan but there are still reports of Petes being dipstained, whether coming directly from the factory or sitting in the B&M shelves for sale, that I don't exactly know.