I just purchased a pre-transition Barling's Make Ye Olde Wood diplomat off eBay. It had a nicely done repair of a small crack in the stem using a sterling band, along with what I believe is a nice replacement stem. This was intended to be my really great smoking knock around pipe, bought on the cheap, so I didn't care too much about the collectibility aspects. I was disappointed, however, once I started cleaning up this puppy. First, the draft hole was remarkably filthy and then I began to notice that it seemed a little too big. I stuck my 5/32" drill bit in it and it sailed through with barely any friction. I haven't tried 11/64ths, but my guess is that someone opened this pipe up to 11/64ths.
Then, I noticed the real issue which prompted this post. There is a depression about 1/3" in diameter in the center of the bottom of the bowl that I estimate is 1/8" deep. The draft hole already looks kind of high for a quarter bent pipe. In total, the bottom of draft hole is 3/16" above the lowest part of the bowl. It looks to me like someone used a pipe knife to ream this in the past and made this divot. That's not how it's supposed to be, right? I have a full bent Barling's Make Ye Olde Wood that also has a relatively high draft hole, but no weird divot. I'm still waiting for the pipe to dry out before testing it, but with the combination of the size and height of the draft hole, my expectations are exceedingly low.
What do you think? Should I fill the divot with pipe mud in the bottom of the bowl? I've heard some suggest JB Weld, but I would be concerned about the unknown health impacts of that stuff.
Then, I noticed the real issue which prompted this post. There is a depression about 1/3" in diameter in the center of the bottom of the bowl that I estimate is 1/8" deep. The draft hole already looks kind of high for a quarter bent pipe. In total, the bottom of draft hole is 3/16" above the lowest part of the bowl. It looks to me like someone used a pipe knife to ream this in the past and made this divot. That's not how it's supposed to be, right? I have a full bent Barling's Make Ye Olde Wood that also has a relatively high draft hole, but no weird divot. I'm still waiting for the pipe to dry out before testing it, but with the combination of the size and height of the draft hole, my expectations are exceedingly low.
What do you think? Should I fill the divot with pipe mud in the bottom of the bowl? I've heard some suggest JB Weld, but I would be concerned about the unknown health impacts of that stuff.