Pipe Terminlogy

sparrowhawk · Jul 25, 2013

Greetings, All,

I'm new with this strange addiction to pipe smoking and pipe collecting, and have a few questions about the specialized description of pipes. For instance, what is a "Shell" pipe that I've seen used to describe Dunhill? And "Cumberland," "Fishtail," "Billiard," and "Pot?" BTW, my current collection includes two Peterson Dracula pipes, a Brebbia (with a curious cone shaped interior bowl; this pipe doesn't smoke very well at all) and a LaRocca Piccalo pocket pipe which ironically smokes better that all the larger pipes. Any and all advice is appreciated. Sparrowhawk

captainsousie · Jul 25, 2013

what is a "Shell" pipe that I've seen used to describe Dunhill?

That is Dunhill's term for a sandblasted finish (as opposed to a smooth or carved/rusticated).

"Cumberland,"

A swirled red and black stem material.

"Fishtail,"

The standard bit shape as opposed to a Peterson style p-lip.

tjameson · Jul 25, 2013

Shell refers to the finish of the pipe as in how the pipe is carved to achieve the texture on the outside of the bowl. Cumberland is a type of stem material usually kind of a tiger stripe/ swirl of dark and light brown and is "rubber" so it is usually softer than an acrylic stem. Fishtail is a type of stem shape that flares out more at the tip and is usually flat not tapered from the shank to the button. Billiard is a pipe shape usually defined as a bowl with straight walls that cants slightly forward between 0 to 2 degrees, round shank, tapered stem, either straight or bent. A pot is also a pipe shape similar to a billiard but usually the bowl is wider in proportion to its height. Hope that helps a bit and welcome to the forums!

captainsousie · Jul 25, 2013

"Billiard," and "Pot?"

A billiard is the "standard" bowl shape that looks like this.

or this

A pot shape has a bowl that is similar but shorter and wider like this. (this one has a p-lip stem while the ones above have fishtail)

lordnoble · Jul 25, 2013

I believe "shell" is for Dunhill's sandblasted finished pipes.
A Cumberland stem is made from a vulcanite rod with red and black rods in it which are processed to get the brown/red marble effect. It's very soft, and can oxiydize pretty quick if you don't take care of it.
Fishtail refers to the button end of the stem. I'd wager most stems are fish tail.
I'll leave the billiard/pot description since I'm not positive when a billiard becomes a pot.
-Jason
*EDIT* Everyone beat me, so if my info contradicts previous posts please disregard as per my signature below.

captainsousie · Jul 25, 2013

Here are a couple of cumberland stems courtesy of The Old Cajun.

46CC55DB-45D0-418C-8415-3B9DFC17264F-14529-00001E243B97FECB.jpg

tunek · Jul 25, 2013

hi,
this is what I've found:
http://agentlemanknows.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Pipe-Shape-Chart.jpg
May be helpful for someone...it was to me anyways...

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