In 2006 I came across an unsmoked Ashton churchwarden that had a really nice bowl but a wonky mortise. It had been drilled several degrees off-axis both vertically and sideways, so that the stem pointed noticeably "up and to the left". Looked like total ass (as my son would have said in his younger days :lol: ), but was salvageable by making the mortise straight again and giving it a new stem. Tricky, because the new mortise had to not only be aligned dead-on axially, but be just enough larger in diameter than the original to "enclose" all of it. (Imagine one oil drum sitting cockeyed inside a slightly larger second oil drum).
Since the wood surrounding the new, larger diameter mortise would be thinner than before on an already-thin pencil shank design, I figured an ornamental silver band was in order to reinforce the joint.
Everything turned out well with the exception of the band having to cover some of the nomenclature, but that was a multi-strike mess anyway. (I think that plus the crooked drilling makes a strong case for this having been one of Bill's "late afternoon" pipes. :| )
No particular reason for making the new stem shorter, it was just a mood thing at the time.
One of these days (right... it's only been eleven years :lol: ) I'll put a proper Ashton bullseye on the stem.
34.2 grams, 7.3" long
.
Since the wood surrounding the new, larger diameter mortise would be thinner than before on an already-thin pencil shank design, I figured an ornamental silver band was in order to reinforce the joint.
Everything turned out well with the exception of the band having to cover some of the nomenclature, but that was a multi-strike mess anyway. (I think that plus the crooked drilling makes a strong case for this having been one of Bill's "late afternoon" pipes. :| )
No particular reason for making the new stem shorter, it was just a mood thing at the time.
One of these days (right... it's only been eleven years :lol: ) I'll put a proper Ashton bullseye on the stem.
34.2 grams, 7.3" long
.
$799, I mean really...!
