Enlarging Draft Hole on Half Bent Peterson Pipe

I doubt enlarging the draft hole in the shank will do much. If the airflow is restricted when the pipe is assembled, the draft hole would need to be ramped downward, or the tenon cut shorter (what I'm saying is, there's a chance the tenon is getting in the way of the airway inside the mortise, have a look).
I gave up on new Petes years ago. They just don't "get it" as a manufacturer, or rather, they have a legion of fans who are happy enough with the pipes, so there's no real reason for Peterson to make big changes.
Start buying Castellos, this stuff goes away.

I have one Peterson, a 1/4-bent Donegal Rocky bulldog 80s. Arguably one of the most comfortable pipes to hold or clench. But it has a draft hole misalignment between shank and stem. I never bought another Pete, reasoning that if they can't make a 1/4-bent that can pass a pipe cleaner, they don't deserve a second shot -- no matter how attractive the shape.

All you guys who have sworn off Petes for QC issues, give their higher grade lines a shot. I'm a seriously picky SOB, and have found little to complain about with them:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/peterson-quality-today-example

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/peterson-silver-spigot-shape-107

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/peterson-supreme-bent-billiard-shape-9s

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/peterson-silver-spigot-shape-01

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/peterson-royal-irish-poy-2003-no-shape-number

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/peterson-royal-irish-shape-106-wlong-and-short-stems

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/peterson-gold-spigot-dublin-shape-120

George, I agree, the better Petersons are a much nicer product and a much nicer smoke. I got a 140th Anniversary pipe 10 years ago, and it's excellent in all ways. It took me about a 1/2 dozen "factory run" petes to figure out that mostly they are pretty middling.
But if you tell me I gotta spend 300 bucks on a Peterson, I'll just spend 340 and get a Castello at this point.

I won't criticize a $100 pipe for having mediocre grain -- or even surface finishing -- but all their pipes should be technically sound. 'Squatch expressed my feelings pretty well. But thanks George. It is reassuring to know that their higher grades don't suffer from these sorts of problems.

Funny, I got about 80 Petersons that I smoke, lower and higher grades including systems, without problems.
Something wrong with me ?[*]

I agree with others here, my two Petes are both a waste of my time. I have plenty of other cheaper and pricier pipes that smoked the Petes out of town, so why bother with a lousy smoke?
Someone will enjoy them, just happened to not be me.

Jensen, there's a few ways to answer your presumably rhetorical question.
It's possible your Petes are "lucky draw" ones and better than average.
It's possible your smoking style - cadence, tobacco choice, packing is somehow more ideal for the pipes.
It's possible that your Petersons are poor, and you simply have no idea what a better pipe smokes like, not having had one. I don't know you and I don't mean to make that sound nasty; I have however had many conversations which started out with someone claiming that pipe X was a "terrific smoker" and the conversation turns to me saying "funny, I always found them to need a few pipe cleaners to stop them gurgling" and the answer is "Oh, yeah, I run at least two pipe cleaners every smoke, for sure, but other than that, it's a great smoker."
And this type of answer, this weirdly apologistic routine where pipes that taste foul or gurgle, pipes that are drilled weird and block up with tobacco, these are all "great smokers". And of course, under a certain definition, a lump of pine with a hole in it is a "great smoker".
To me, if I have 2 pipes and one of them performs flawlessly - no gurgle, great taste, easy burn etc and another one under the same conditions performs less well, then the second pipe isn't a great smoker. That's what great doesn't mean. Again Jensen this isn't directed at you per se - perhaps your Petes are excellent and lucky you if so. And I don't want to turn this into corn-cobs vs Artisan pipes or anything like that.

hank you sasquatsch.............over the last 55 years I have smoked at least 300 pipes,most English brands.

I have two Dunhills which are bad smokers but I would never say Dunhills are bad pipes as I also have some

which smoke fine.

The pipe world would be poorer without Peterson.

(Talking about pipes only smoked by me)
Regards Jørgen

I agree completely - Peterson represents a long tradition in the pipe world and hopefully they can continue to do so.

Before you start altering the pipe, I suggest you send them back to the retailer or contact Peterson. Dr Grabows seem to have less issues, and Peterson needs to know the issues their pipes have. And yes, if someone is going to get a Peterson, avoid the hell out of those lower level pipes. Some of them may be perfect, but even if only 10% of them are lemoms, that still makes the roll of the dice stacked against you.
Did the draft seem blocked before you bent the stem? If so, you may have pinched the draft while the stem was warm while you were bending it. Trying to file out a bent stem, without straightening it is an impossible task. I’d just send them back to let the company, so that they’ll know that they need to fix QC issues.

Peterson and whomever you brought them from thanks you for not bothering them about their shoddy work.