Rattray Marlin Zulu

papipeguy · Sep 20, 2016

I just got this Rattray Zulu from smokingpipes.com. It is a nice little pipe and smokes very well. I like everything about it EXCEPT it will not pass a pipe cleaner all the way through. This is my second Rattray pipe; the other being a Highland straight apple. The Highland won't pass a pipe cleaner either.

These pipes are made by Chacom, as I understand it, and one would think that a manufacturer of their many years and reputation could drill a straight hole.

I'll live with this minor inconvenience as I like both pipes a lot but I think these the last Rattray pipes I'll buy.

pagan · Sep 20, 2016

Too Bad, sharp looking smoker :puffpipe:

aldecaker · Sep 20, 2016

I've been wanting a Rattray's "Blowers Daughter" Zulu for a while now, trying to talk myself out of it. Along with the price tag, this may have helped! I really like the look of yours, BTW. Is it shape # 49?

hmhaines · Sep 20, 2016

My Peterson doesn't pass a cleaner, either. Makes me kind of sad.
Still, that's a lovely pipe, man! I really like Zulus

jackswilling · Sep 20, 2016

That is a fine looking Zulu. I have a fleet of Zulus and that would be right at home. My Chacon Elite 77 Zulus easily pass a cleaner. Sorry to hear this about your Rattays.

Chasing Embers · Sep 20, 2016

That is odd, I have that same pipe, and drilling is spot on.

irishearl · Sep 20, 2016

So, do Rattrays typically have drilling problems? Don't own 1 but have thought about getting 1 so that I can have a "Scottish" brand, (if only in name), to go with all my Irish ones just because of my Ulster-Scot heritage. hmhaines, are you meaning that a pipe cleaner won't pass through your stem or into the bowl? If it's the stem and it's a p-lip, those are tricky. They can pass if you wiggle it around a bunch, but having to enter through the button from on top creates quite a bend. I usually just put the cleaner up in from the other end. I like the p-lip simply because it's such an iconic part of Peterson's design but the main thing I don't like re them is the button oxidizes worst and it's hard to get the oxidation off of it.

crashthegrey · Sep 20, 2016

That's a shame to hear. I, too, would like to eventually add a Rattray's pipe to the collection, but not passing a cleaner is too much to ignore for me.

okiescout · Sep 20, 2016

Papipeguy, that is a beautiful looking smoker, those red stains trip my trigger.
I do not know much about making pipes but wonder if the problem in these cases often does not come in when the stem is bent.
I picked up a production church warden at my brick and mortar that smoked so well I went back the next week and picked up a second one in a different finish. It smoked great but I could not get a pipe cleaner through it. They let me exchange it, but at the time it occurred to me that maybe it had flattened out when the stem was heated and bent.
Maybe some of the guys who make pipes or repair them could speak to this. I really do noy know how this step in construction is done. If a wire is not in the stem I can see how it might close up when being bent.

papipeguy · Sep 20, 2016

okiescout, The pipe cleaner goes through the stem but gets jammed in the shank. I have several pipes with this issue and I just deal with it.

yaddy306 · Sep 20, 2016

Papipeguy, try turning the stem 180 degrees and then try to pass a pipe cleaner. That's what I do with some of my bent pipes. I've had good luck with it, and don't have to remove the stem to clean out the shank.

sallow · Sep 20, 2016

Try twisting the pipe cleaner and then pushing when you get down to the shank. If it really doesn't fit, you could have it drilled out, it looks like a nice pipe.

dottiewarden · Sep 21, 2016

That's a shame to hear. I, too, would like to eventually add a Rattray's pipe to the collection, but not passing a cleaner is too much to ignore for me.

Not passing a pipe cleaner all the way through never concerned me, because:

I have several pipes with this issue and I just deal with it.

I simply clean the pipe once it has completely cooled off so I can remove the stem for easy access.

papipeguy · Sep 21, 2016

That's exactly what I do, dot.

alexnc · Sep 21, 2016

I've had that happen a few times (not with Rattray). But I've never been unable to clear it. Twice I cleared it with the straight poker of a pipe tool to get curls of wood out from the drilling (thought I was going to break one of them - took a lot of effort). Once I resorted to a battery powered screw driver that had a small drill bit fitting - one I could turn really slowly, that time I cleared curls of drilling out too. All 3 turned out to be great forever after.

crashthegrey · Sep 21, 2016

dottiewarden, surely if it can't pass a pipe cleaner, the airway is restricted to some degree. I understand you can clean it when taken apart, but I prefer a clear airway. I don't like filter pipes as I don't like the restriction of the draw. Just my opinion for my own pipes. I don't buy pipes that can't pass a cleaner, unless there is something so very special about that pipe, which hasn't happened yet. Then again, I love Kaywoodie pipes with intact stingers, so I guess it is all relative at the end of the day.

okiescout · Sep 25, 2016

"Papipeguy, try turning the stem 180 degrees and then try to pass a pipe cleaner."
Thanks Yaddy306. I'll remember that

next time.
Almost all my pipes have at least some degree of bend, but I have never had this problem until that particular pipe came along. I had seen the statements on ebay that the pipe passed a pipe cleaner, but just have been lucky I guess. I have had several estates that were clogged but they cleaned out, and a few that whistled, but not getting the cleaner through the stem was a first.

simong · Sep 25, 2016

Firstly may I say that is one of the prettiest Zulus I've seen. Whilst not being able to pass a pipe cleaner does not affect the smoke, or at leat in my experience it doesn't, it's an inconvenience.

I too bought an extremely pretty rattrays pipe (6 friends Ben poker). It doesn't pass a cleaner either, what's worse is, it's supposed to be a filter pipe, but the filter freely moves about in the chamber whilst smoking. Just not good enough I'm afraid! No more rattrays pipes for me!

papipeguy · Sep 26, 2016

My friend, Dan Chlebove of Gabrieli Pipes, is going to look at the pipe and see what he can do about this minor issue.

fitzy · Sep 26, 2016

Darn. Sorry to hear that. I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on a Rattray Marlin as well.

Rattray Marlin Zulu

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