On sunday last I won an auction for what was described as a "1990's full bent freehand size 6 grade P" pipe. What caught my eye was the diamond shank, I've never seen a pipe quite like it. It's an apple I think.
Well it arrived this morning and upon opening I got quite a shock...the thing is bloody huge!
I compared it to my other size 6 (a semi bent Rhodesian) and there are huge differences. Below are the figures for both:
Semi bent Rhodesian
Inner bowl diameter = 18.45mm
Inner bowl depth = 37.30mm
Overall height = 50.95mm
Stummel weight = 61.09g
Full bent apple
Inner bowl diameter = 22.71mm
Inner bowl depth = 43.98mm
Overall height = 58.96mm
Stummel weight = 69.15g
As can be seen, there are significant differences in the two supposedly same sized pipes. One thing however, the semi bent Rhodesian is stamped with a '6' whereas the full bent is only stamped 'P' followed by James Upshall followed by FH, there is no size number which leads me to believe Karen (the seller) took a wild stab at the size. It is more like an extra large pipe to my eye. I swear you could knock someone out with it!
So how did Upshall go about sizing their pipes? I've looked at the sizing and grading pages but found nothing useful.
I will likely keep it as it's so unusual (to me) and has some gorgeous straight grain to the sides and shank with bird's eye to the front of the bowl but shall stick to 3/4 tobacco fills. I'm smoking it now with some FVF and it smokes great...I just wish it was smaller :|
Regards,
Jay.
Well it arrived this morning and upon opening I got quite a shock...the thing is bloody huge!
I compared it to my other size 6 (a semi bent Rhodesian) and there are huge differences. Below are the figures for both:
Semi bent Rhodesian
Inner bowl diameter = 18.45mm
Inner bowl depth = 37.30mm
Overall height = 50.95mm
Stummel weight = 61.09g
Full bent apple
Inner bowl diameter = 22.71mm
Inner bowl depth = 43.98mm
Overall height = 58.96mm
Stummel weight = 69.15g
As can be seen, there are significant differences in the two supposedly same sized pipes. One thing however, the semi bent Rhodesian is stamped with a '6' whereas the full bent is only stamped 'P' followed by James Upshall followed by FH, there is no size number which leads me to believe Karen (the seller) took a wild stab at the size. It is more like an extra large pipe to my eye. I swear you could knock someone out with it!
So how did Upshall go about sizing their pipes? I've looked at the sizing and grading pages but found nothing useful.
I will likely keep it as it's so unusual (to me) and has some gorgeous straight grain to the sides and shank with bird's eye to the front of the bowl but shall stick to 3/4 tobacco fills. I'm smoking it now with some FVF and it smokes great...I just wish it was smaller :|
Regards,
Jay.
