Don't Smoke Varnish!

jpmcwjr · Aug 18, 2015

I recall a brochure, or ad campaign, or signs in a tobacco shop with the above admonition, but of course cannot recall who or where. East coast for sure, possibly at Wilkie in NYC, or Tint and Sons in Philly, maybe Iwan Ries, Chicago. It may have said "Don't smoke paint". Lots of unfinished pipes for sale!
Anyone know?
Anyone have a view on "to varnish or not to varnish"?

aldecaker · Aug 18, 2015

The only way I think you would be "smoking varnish" would be with a dipped pipe, or one where finishing agents are slopped into the bowl. I don't like bowl coatings of any kind, even if they are put there on purpose. My first bowl in any pipe is in bare wood, even if I have to resort to sandpaper.
As far as varnish as an exterior finish goes, well, I just don't like the look of glossy, varnishy finish. I generally sand it off of my Grabows to give more of a natural matte finish. I have a couple NOS Royal Duke bulldogs that already came with a matte finish, so I left them alone.

pitchfork · Aug 18, 2015

Could have been Wilke -- almost all they sold were pipes with a natural finish (stain) and wax. Very few pipes have actual varnish on them, but many sandblasted pipes (shhh!) have a coat or two of lacquer on them to make them shiny.

dmcmtk · Aug 18, 2015

The other shop I can think of is maybe Connoisseur NYC.

foggymountain · Aug 18, 2015

Just to set the record straight about Wilke, there was NO finish on their pipes originally. No stain, wax or varnish. They were completely unfinished. I hung out there in the 1950s and knew the Wilke sisters well. When someone bought the unsold stock later, she waxed the pipes not knowing they were made to be sold unfinished.

Re varnish, very few pipes are varnished. Brebbia is one, and I suggest not smoking a varnished pipe.

pitchfork · Aug 18, 2015

Thanks for that, Foggy.

wyfbane · Aug 18, 2015

I don't set out to buy pipes with varnish. That said, I have 2 Cristianos that are shiny as hell... and smoke FABULOUSLY.
I think that the less you meddle with something, the less chance you have of screwing it up.
If you only drill the pipe and smoke it, it will smoke well or it won't. The instant you start adding stingers or any other factors that may mitigate the smoke, you increase the risk lessening the smoking quality.
So it isn't that my Cristianos smoke well because of the varnish, but in spite of it, for example.

phil67 · Aug 18, 2015

Not at all too sure about the use of varnish on pipes, but if by chance I knew that was used on a pipe there is no way in hell I’d ever purchase one. However, the use of shellac on pipes is used by many artisan pipe makers, but it’s not applied in thick layers like you might see on a piece of furniture, etc. It is applied in very diluted layers which is used to help set the stain and provide a base for the application of carnauba wax. There are many pipes out there that might use some type of polymer, varnish, lacquer, etc., so that the pipes stay shiny, but that is not the purpose when shellac is used on a pipe. There is nothing wrong whatsoever if shellac is applied properly by a pipe maker and you would never have any idea that it was used.

chalbach72 · Aug 18, 2015

I don't know about all, but the Rossi Rubino line has a sort of matte clear coat on them, and when getting relatively hot (Varnish, to me, seemed to make the pipe smoke hotter,) the clear coat would bubble, leaving an unruly finish on the pipe. I prefer waxed or unfinished. Clear Coats/Varnishes are just a no go..

jpmcwjr · Aug 18, 2015

Thanks to all. I am now guessing it was the Wilke shop that perhaps had that slogan on the wall. The point was they didn't feel any finish besides wax was O.K.. And the slogan didn't mean there was anything in the chamber, so you were not actually smoking paint. A bit of advertising license!

I've e-mailed the successor company on this and the Wilke pipes I have.

zack24 · Aug 19, 2015

Anyone have a view on "to varnish or not to varnish"?

Not sure what nasty concoction gets used on the outside of commercial pipes...but most artisan pipes have an extremely thin coat of ultra-blonde flake shellac diluted to a lbcut and applied to the outside only- some call it a "spit" coat. That is buffed out and then waxed...and it definitely makes a difference in the look of the pipe and preventing stain from rubbing off on your hand...

pitchfork · Aug 19, 2015

Thanks for chiming in, Zack. I mentioned "lacquer" above, but I meant to say "shellac."

smokinfireman · Aug 20, 2015

When it comes to pipes, the less you mess with them, the better. As long as there is no kind of coating in the bowl, I have no hesitation smoking a finished pipe.

jpmcwjr · Sep 30, 2015

Followup: Carole of Wilke's told me she didn't recall any poster in the shop to the effect of not smoking paint/varnish. But I do remember the phrase from some pipe shop or mfg, most likely NYC and in the late 60's. (Perhaps created by a Mad Man)

carver · Sep 30, 2015

I used varnish to some of the pipes I made. I am extra careful not to slip any in the bowl though.

jpmcwjr · Nov 15, 2016

Again, thanks for the input. Resurrecting this in case one of the folks who've joined in the last year might have come across that.
Wilke, Barclay-Rex, and Nat Sherman are the stores I recall from my early smoking days in NYC, ca. 1964-1970.

didimauw · Nov 15, 2016

Nice topic! I'm expecting an unfinished pipe in the mail Thursday! The university billiard.

jabo · Nov 16, 2016

Only natural waxes and water/alcohol dyes.

Don't Smoke Varnish!

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