I know it's no grosser then going to a restaurant and using the silverware in fact it's kind of less gross then that. But there for me is also the irrational ick factor.Forgot the negative part. I'm sure there are few. I just don't feel good about smoking another person's pipe. Just a personal thing. But if they provide complete medical history of the person going back 15 yrs before stop using the pipe, I might consider it.
Commoner.... ?For me? No. I don't have dream pipes. They are just tools for tobacco. No fancy shapes,crazy carvings, shiny bling, etc.
I’ll hold a seance for my 100 year old pipes.....or maybe use a ouija board....Forgot the negative part. I'm sure there are few. I just don't feel good about smoking another person's pipe. Just a personal thing. But if they provide complete medical history of the person going back 15 yrs before stop using the pipe, I might consider it.
After you corned the market on that one shape via estates. Of course you had to buy new. No estates left.The only pipes I've bought to smoke mostly over the past few years have been estates or commissions.
well I'd say when the majority obtain 'estate' pipes - that's all been done by the vendor - if you get it at a flea market or estate sales/carboot, or antique shops/goodwill then maybe you'd need to some reamin' but at that I'd expect to be buying pipes for $4 a piece.One upside of estate pipes is that they bring a historical dimension you may not get with new pipes. I have an estate Thompson Cigar house pipe that is stamped "West Germany." One downside is that I don't build cake and don't own a reamer; I wipe the bowl clean with a paper towel after scooping out the ash, so the chamber diameter has no discernible decrease in size. Dealing with someone else's cake and reaming does not appeal to me. The estate pipes I have were not caked, and I didn't have to ream them. With normal soaking and washing of stems, sanitation is routine, like dishwashing.
I purchased pipes that were so caked I couldn’t put a pencil in them. I simple ream the cake, give it three runs through my kosher salt and 190 proof soak, a stack of pipe cleaners, a stem clean up and after it all dries, I fire that bad boy up and enjoy.One upside of estate pipes is that they bring a historical dimension you may not get with new pipes. I have an estate Thompson Cigar house pipe that is stamped "West Germany." One downside is that I don't build cake and don't own a reamer; I wipe the bowl clean with a paper towel after scooping out the ash, so the chamber diameter has no discernible decrease in size. Dealing with someone else's cake and reaming does not appeal to me. The estate pipes I have were not caked, and I didn't have to ream them. With normal soaking and washing of stems, sanitation is routine, like dishwashing.