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Further Ruminations on Smoking Quality
Our fellow Show Me Staters at MM have used hillybilly logic to acquire a virtual monopoly on cob pipes, likely by thinking a meer tastes good and let’s see if this corn cob, can match it.:) And the meerschaum pipe itself, is an upscale clay. The atomic clock, is only extremely close to...- Briar Lee
- Post #12
- Forum: General Pipe Smoking Discussion
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Further Ruminations on Smoking Quality
So do I, if it’s “good briar”. There are nasty tannins in raw, wet briar. All briar must be cured, without exception. It’s sort of like persimmons. You know not to eat the green ones. Then they turn orange. Not all orange persimmons are ripe.:) I like the taste of ripe, well cured briar.- Briar Lee
- Post #9
- Forum: General Pipe Smoking Discussion
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Further Ruminations on Smoking Quality
German bombers were flying over Birmingham England in 1943 when an English worker hallmarked the silver band, on my best of the best smoking Algerian pipes I own. A ship in a convoy with destroyer escorts delivered it to New York harbor where it was delivered to LHS that was blacked out, to...- Briar Lee
- Post #6
- Forum: General Pipe Smoking Discussion
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Small Crack in the Mortise
The argument for just smoking it and trying (admittedly that will be hard) to forget you ever saw the crack is if it ever leaks air it will require a band. And the band will cost the same then, as now. I have one beautful little Comoy’s with a tiny crack all the way through, in the same... -
Further Ruminations on Smoking Quality
More ruminations. Maybe Algerian briar had to be cured and aged longer, and it is thermally more insulating, so it’s less bad than other briars. My horrible smoking Kaywoodie Magnum is beautiful pipe, wonderfully made in New York City. But at the last dying quiver of domestic production a...- Briar Lee
- Post #3
- Forum: General Pipe Smoking Discussion
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Further Ruminations on Smoking Quality
I own a half dozen nice meerschaum pipes, a whole lot of cobs, and a couple of clays. I enjoy all of them, there are no bad smoking ones, and when I smoke those I never think wow, this meer or this cob or clay is an outstanding, over the top good smoker. They seem all the same delicious...- Briar Lee
- Thread
- Replies: 11
- Forum: General Pipe Smoking Discussion
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Watch Out or Watch on? Pt 2.
This evening my pocket jewelry is a 1921 Hamilton 974. On my wrist there’s a $20 Chinese “bridge watch” that keeps nearly as good time as the Hamilton. Both have 17 jewels, the quality of the Hamilton is incredibly higher, of course. To minimize the parts in the single bridge watch, the...- Briar Lee
- Post #655
- Forum: General Discussion
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Two Quick Questions.
One more plug for beeswax. I have carnauba wax sticks and waxes galore,,,,somewhere. But I have a big chunk of beeswax and a shop rag everywhere I store pipes. Over the last fifty years I’ve found all waxes are not permanent, all need refreshed. When my pipe gets dull, there’s that big...- Briar Lee
- Post #29
- Forum: Pipe Repair and Maintenance
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Small Crack in the Mortise
Perfectly good green money is a terrible thing to waste. If there was a pipe shop in town, and $20 would put a band on it, that’s one thing. But I have a few pipes with worse cracks that never give trouble. I’d smoke it if it were mine. That crack isn’t headed towards the center. That pipe... -
Two Quick Questions.
A chunk of beeswax I bought from a beekeeper is what I use to wax pipes. It might not be the best, but it requires no power buffing and is totally harmless to the pipe and me. And as for the draft hole, if they’ll pass a wet doubled pipe cleaner I leave them be, and if not I open them until...- Briar Lee
- Post #22
- Forum: Pipe Repair and Maintenance
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Discover RYO Type Tobaccos
Bugler is still sold as a straight up taxed $24 a pound cigarrete tobacco, so is Top. They are really good cigarette tobaccos, mild and flavorful. They are moist, highly flavored, mild. If you like them, you’ll just be in love with any of the red, blue or gold pillow sack blends. Silver...- Briar Lee
- Post #31
- Forum: Pipe Tobacco Discussion
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Discover RYO Type Tobaccos
Which is a shame. If people are going to sin, it is better their sin dollars go to local merchants. People will sin regardless, anyway.:)- Briar Lee
- Post #26
- Forum: Pipe Tobacco Discussion
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Discover RYO Type Tobaccos
In Missouri Four Aces is taxed at $2.83 a pound federal and 10% of wholesale state tax. So is Capstan. If Four Aces costs $11 a pound there’s $2.83 federal and maybe 75 cents state tax. Look at why there are few cheap smoke shops in Florida. $2.83 a pound federal tax plus 25% of wholesale...- Briar Lee
- Post #24
- Forum: Pipe Tobacco Discussion
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Watch Out or Watch on? Pt 2.
One joy of having a watch addiction is getting to buy new tools to work on your watches. If you gave me a hundred of those I’d be stuck with them, because I’d have a hard time shipping them for sixteen bucks.:) This is without doubt a copy of a much more expensive (and better) watch maker...- Briar Lee
- Post #653
- Forum: General Discussion
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Watch Out or Watch on? Pt 2.
Tonight my wife and I are going to spend sixty bucks with tip to eat out at a tavern. We don’t need to do that. We could eat at home for a fraction of that, or do a drive through for half or less. But there wouldn’t be the ambiance of that tavern that’s been there for more than a century. My...- Briar Lee
- Post #652
- Forum: General Discussion
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The Dying Swan
I have known since I was a child that a strike anywhere match is more dangerous than a safety match, which is harder to ignite. There is a chemical on the tip that is sensitive to much less friction, and can be used to make explosives. My match bombs were all duds.:) But a match shot from a...- Briar Lee
- Post #50
- Forum: General Pipe Smoking Discussion
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The Dying Swan
From the Swan home page: Earlier this year, Republic Technologies (UK) Ltd completed a successful relaunch of its matches’ range, including new focus on the UK’s best-known match brands, new packaging and an extension to the Swan range, one of the UK’s most iconic accessory brands. This major...- Briar Lee
- Post #44
- Forum: General Pipe Smoking Discussion
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There's a Hole in my Pipe, Dear Liza!
I wish I knew the backstory behind that. Was it hard to draw or was he trying to make good enough better?.:) Were it mine I’d search my little box of brass wood screws. I’d file one down a bit, and maybe use Super Glue for a gasket,,,,not so much to plug the airway.- Briar Lee
- Post #19
- Forum: Pipe Repair and Maintenance
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The Dying Swan
When I was a kid my parents kept a box of Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches above the gas range. At the store there were two brands to choose, Ohio Blue Tip and Diamond. The Diamond matches cost a tiny bit more, like twenty cents instead of seventeen cents or something like that. I can’t find...- Briar Lee
- Post #39
- Forum: General Pipe Smoking Discussion
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The Dying Swan
You and me are talking about Swan matches, though, aren’t we? The publicity this generates is worth a lot of money. I’d like to try some. I don’t have any match box holders.:)- Briar Lee
- Post #37
- Forum: General Pipe Smoking Discussion