Sasieni - Bowls Coated?

[buroak]

dmcmtk, I was left with the same question.
Thinking about the carbonizing bit, it makes sense that they would change the heat curing process to something less labor-intensive at some point between the 1930s and the 1960s. Hiring "girls" to watch and wipe the bowls would, I imagine, have become much more expensive.

 

[jvnshr]

perhaps their heat treatment was performed by directly subjecting only the bowl interior to a heat source.

Hope it helps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDAgaz5VLGE

 

[ssjones]

That carbonising process looks horrific.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Holy cow! Horrific, yes, but at least it shows the briar can withstand intense immediate heat!

 

[buroak]

jvnshr, Nice find! I wonder if Sasieni used the same technique. That process does not look like something conducted under the "scientifically controlled conditions" Sasieni claimed, but there may have been a gap (or gulf) between their claim and reality.

 

[neverbend]

Jvnshr, thanks for the video of the Blakemar carbonization process.
The Sasieni Ashford (that started this thread) probably was done with a similar process although I'd believe that it had a sweet wash beforehand (builds a little cake as seen).
A lot of companies used a sweet wash, only some carbonized it. Carbon wash was used a as well but early washes sometime flaked.
Buroak, Thanks for this link.
Sasieni Seasoning Process
Fun read but... Did you guys follow it and if so, what did they do to the bowls and what to the briar?
The techniques mentioned were could warp (bowl) or fissure (block). Sounds like the briar that they were buying was soaking wet (that's possible) but more likely marketing mumbo-jumbo.

 

[ssjones]

I wonder how many pipes were ruined if this was the process?

 

[buroak]

neverbend, I am unclear on the specifics of either process. As dmcmtk says, the pictures and description in the 1930s catalog do not mesh. Both processes sound like they produced failure.
ssjones, I, too, wonder what percentage of bowls failed at the heat treatment stage.

 

[prairiedruid]

Probably not many failures......most of the heat is transferred from the heated metal so it's more like a hot iron treatment than totally open flame. Flash heating like that would just sear/glaze the surface. Similar to how wood spears used to be strengthened/hardened by heating the blade/point in the campfire.

 

[neverbend]

PrairieDruid said...

Probably not many failures....

Agreed, this was a cosmetic touch, not a test of materials (like deep sandblasting). Sometimes the char was a touch more than superficial and this could be a problem when pipes (usually bought as gifts) were brought in for exchange because they looked and felt smoked.

 

[jvnshr]

@buroak and @neverbend, you are welcome. Thanks for the nice thread guys.

 

[misterlowercase]

Just now getting back online after a feverish work schedule,

catching up here.
I was particularly interested by this:

Buroak, Thanks for this link.
Sasieni Seasoning Process
Fun read but... Did you guys follow it and if so, what did they do to the bowls and what to the briar?
The techniques mentioned were could warp (bowl) or fissure (block). Sounds like the briar that they were buying was soaking wet (that's possible) but more likely marketing mumbo-jumbo.

The image is a glorious snaphot indeed.
I count around 6 or 7 ovens and maybe two dozen girls attending them, surely labor intensive with expensive wages to be paid, no wonder that the process couldn't continue into the post-war years.
A while back I did a post about the oven and the involved patent, which is pretty interesting, it seems that Sasieni did improve upon the Dunhill process to some extent, perhaps/

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/a-look-into-the-sasieni-oil-curing-method
Interesting stuff.

 

[ssjones]

Well, I can attest to the fact that they did use a bowl coating. I'd like to think a lovely, young maiden applied the coating to this unsmoked Natural. Ok, if I'm dreaming, two young maidens.

 

[buroak]

Misterlowercase, Thank you for connecting us to that thread. A lot of what has been discussed here now has more context and makes more sense
Ssjones, That looks exactly like what I have seen on other unsmoked Sasienis from the same era.

 

[marvich]

Hi. Took a few photos yesterday, and took a shot of the inside of the bowl of my unsmoked Bewlay Spiral Patent. The pipe looks coated to me. This has been thinned by sanding, which stops neatly at the point where the bottom radius begins. I believe this to be a 1920's Sasieni, and having noticed this thread, I thought you'd like to see it. Sodium silicate filled with carbon black, would be my guess.
There's more photos of this pipe on the Bewlay thread. Have a look.

 

[misterlowercase]

Much like Parkers which in many cases didn't get the Dunhill oil-cured process,

I'd speculate that many Sasieni 2nds didn't receive the oil curing and that most likely the treatment was exclusive only to proper Sasieni Dot pipes.

 

[buckaroo]

When P&C just first started selling estates they had a handful of unsmoked family era Sasieni's. The two I purchased had factory coatings. They are great pipes and I'll have them for a long time.