I will never disparage Dr. Grabow pipes. Nothing wrong with a Grabow. Pretty dependable brand. Machine-made guarantee of repeatable quality. That's what automation is about: cost-effective, repeatable, production. It's just that they call some of their pipes "freehands," and that stumped me a while.
I LOVE my DG Freehands. Especially this one:
But that's not mine. The only way I know it's not mine is that I never allowed mine to pose for this picture. Despite DG advertising, in my observation, their freehands are *not* snowflakes -- more like, formed in themed ice cube trays. Cookie cutter pretty.
To me, running a thousand of these off and then just doing one thing different to this or that one isn't a freehand. Limited number of choices: different stem, rusticate sides only, rusticate the shaft where it meets stem and top of brim only, rusticate shaft where it meets stem and brim and sides of bowl ... . But there's still a limit to the permutations. There are going to be some dupes.
You know, right, that there was government-funded research so some college could prove that there are indeed snowflakes that look alike? Not kidding you. But it makes sense: limited number of water and environmental characteristics, so a finite number of permutations. So much more finite is it to make automated "freehand."
Must be a different definition of freehand than I was working from. At first I thought the only way I could call this a "freehand" is a personal problem: I can't clench pipes without gagging in 30 seconds. Therefore, you will only find this pipe... in my free hand.
Then I reconsidered: You know, I bet they just mean the shape doesn't fit any classic pipe shape, and so it is then "like" a freehand, for lack of another label for its silhouette. And I've seen that definition somewhere online. Not Pipedia, though, which does describe freehands as "snowflakes," which the artist creates around briar/wood character and his/her own fancy.
I have another DG Freehand. A half bent rusticated. This one's bowl is cone-shaped, making it fall way farther down in my rotation, not even a close second to this first one. The bowl walls get too thin toward the bottom. Half a bowl in, and you're holding it by the stem. Other than *that*, it's a good smoker. Nice open draw, stays fresh a long time with little maintenance -- like the first. But I will only smoke this one when I have already smoked the slight bent and maybe four or five of my other pipes. And then I'm wary of it.
A few weeks back I went to my DG specialist (Walgreens, a venerable ol' American drug store chain) looking for another Grabow Freehand like my first, having seen the exact same one on eBay and on Google images and certain they must be mass-produced, not true freehands. But instead I found the half bent rusticated cone-bowl again. It was just like mine! And... so was the bubble wrapped one behind it. I picked them both up to study side-by-side, interrupted shortly by people trying to get past me to pay for their items. The pipes were identical, far as I could tell in that short time. Behind that second freehand one was a billiard straight stem DG. Broke the mold, I guess. So... I only have proof of triplets, I haven't seen an entire ice cube bucket filled with this one type yet to know if there are more, though I suspect it.
When I see dealers advertise their Dr. Grabows as "each one is one of a kind," my nose wrinkles a bit. That can't be true, right?
No problem for me. Just an observation. But definitely not a problem -- because if ONE DG design smokes well, all the rest are pretty much going to be just as pleasurable.
More of a good thing is usually not a bad thing.
I LOVE my DG Freehands. Especially this one:
But that's not mine. The only way I know it's not mine is that I never allowed mine to pose for this picture. Despite DG advertising, in my observation, their freehands are *not* snowflakes -- more like, formed in themed ice cube trays. Cookie cutter pretty.
To me, running a thousand of these off and then just doing one thing different to this or that one isn't a freehand. Limited number of choices: different stem, rusticate sides only, rusticate the shaft where it meets stem and top of brim only, rusticate shaft where it meets stem and brim and sides of bowl ... . But there's still a limit to the permutations. There are going to be some dupes.
You know, right, that there was government-funded research so some college could prove that there are indeed snowflakes that look alike? Not kidding you. But it makes sense: limited number of water and environmental characteristics, so a finite number of permutations. So much more finite is it to make automated "freehand."
Must be a different definition of freehand than I was working from. At first I thought the only way I could call this a "freehand" is a personal problem: I can't clench pipes without gagging in 30 seconds. Therefore, you will only find this pipe... in my free hand.
Then I reconsidered: You know, I bet they just mean the shape doesn't fit any classic pipe shape, and so it is then "like" a freehand, for lack of another label for its silhouette. And I've seen that definition somewhere online. Not Pipedia, though, which does describe freehands as "snowflakes," which the artist creates around briar/wood character and his/her own fancy.
I have another DG Freehand. A half bent rusticated. This one's bowl is cone-shaped, making it fall way farther down in my rotation, not even a close second to this first one. The bowl walls get too thin toward the bottom. Half a bowl in, and you're holding it by the stem. Other than *that*, it's a good smoker. Nice open draw, stays fresh a long time with little maintenance -- like the first. But I will only smoke this one when I have already smoked the slight bent and maybe four or five of my other pipes. And then I'm wary of it.
A few weeks back I went to my DG specialist (Walgreens, a venerable ol' American drug store chain) looking for another Grabow Freehand like my first, having seen the exact same one on eBay and on Google images and certain they must be mass-produced, not true freehands. But instead I found the half bent rusticated cone-bowl again. It was just like mine! And... so was the bubble wrapped one behind it. I picked them both up to study side-by-side, interrupted shortly by people trying to get past me to pay for their items. The pipes were identical, far as I could tell in that short time. Behind that second freehand one was a billiard straight stem DG. Broke the mold, I guess. So... I only have proof of triplets, I haven't seen an entire ice cube bucket filled with this one type yet to know if there are more, though I suspect it.
When I see dealers advertise their Dr. Grabows as "each one is one of a kind," my nose wrinkles a bit. That can't be true, right?
No problem for me. Just an observation. But definitely not a problem -- because if ONE DG design smokes well, all the rest are pretty much going to be just as pleasurable.
More of a good thing is usually not a bad thing.
