Autopsies Performed On Several Old Pipes

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May 31, 2012
4,295
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mid 17th century (in the sense 'personal observation'): from French autopsie or modern Latin autopsia,

from Greek, from autoptēs 'eyewitness', from autos 'self' + optos 'seen'.
αὐτοψία
(autopsía, “seeing with one's own eyes”).​
Original document seen here:

http://www.pipegazette.com/2007/11/autopsie-dune-pipe.html
Below is badly translated from google:


AUTOPSY OF A PIPE

On the Pipes and Tobacco group, we often curious and interesting questions: was the case recently, when it comes to whether a briar pipe was a period of almost eternal existence or, on the contrary, like all of us here, his life expectancy was limited.
On this theme, the opinions are sometimes contradictory.
Some think that a heather darkens and becomes very dark brown indicates that the wood is saturated with tar: in this case, they argue, the heather is "dead", made unpleasant taste and pipe lay forgotten.
Others assume that there really is no expiration for a very nervy pipe, hammering regularly in order to leave only a thin layer of protection inside the furnace. Still have to let it rest and dry at least 24 hours so that the wood has time to undergo a new smoking without damage.
For an answer, certainly not definitive (which can claim to hold the absolute truth?), We with my friends Peter and Michael, tried a pipe autopsy experience!
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Michel had a stock of mottled old pipes that had surely been unceremoniously fumes for decades by charming granddads: not maintained, abused, terribly and pelleted irrégulièrelement ... in short, the worst situation.
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Dr. Peter in his workshop of Northern Pipe, agreed to select some and make a cut lengthwise. I photographed at work autopsy. Caution fingers!
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Finally, I gave these pipes Michel corpses sliced ​​through the middle so that it makes us very fine photos.
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My conclusion (and I think Peter and Michael are of this opinion) a pipe whose bowl has been properly maintained will live much longer than us. The only notable damage observed from the fact that the pipe has clearly been burned because the smoker too heated, too turned on again, before rebourré rest, he left a Carbon layer of uneven thickness settle, creating poor protection and deep burns. And even with the greatest neglect and over a period long vraissemblablement, there is still unallocated woods!
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Finally, the fact that a pipe head becomes very dark over the years smoking does not mean it is full tar, gas and juice.
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Quiet Sleep, lovers of erica arborea, your pipes, well cared for, do not go up in smoke before you were breaking yours.
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Reactions: hauntedmyst

buroak

Lifer
Jul 29, 2014
1,867
14
Awesome! The charred wood may have made these pipes hotter, wetter smokers than they should have been, but their abuse did not destroy them. These autopsy results make me wonder how anyone ever manages to truly burn out a pipe.

 

buroak

Lifer
Jul 29, 2014
1,867
14
Awesome! The charred wood may have made these pipes hotter, wetter smokers than they should have been, but their abuse did not destroy them. These autopsy results make me wonder how anyone ever manages to truly burn out a pipe.

 

prndl

Lifer
Apr 30, 2014
1,571
2,901
amazing how thin and well preserved the briar is at the bottom of the bent pipe.
great post.

 

lawmax3

Can't Leave
Jan 18, 2013
405
12
Great information mrlowercase.

I have wondered what depth tars etc. would seep into the wood over many many smokes.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,625
44,841
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Hi MLC,
Another great post! I've seen other examples of bisected pipes that show little evidence of tar clogging after decades of use. This is the best one I've seen so far and I enjoyed the translation, howlers and all. Google Translate?
Pipes darken for a number of reasons, among them being the effects of skin oil, dirty hands, and smoke embedding itself into the wax. I cleaned of many a grimy old pipe to reveal beautiful grain and a glowing surface underneath.

 

papipeguy

Lifer
Jul 31, 2010
15,778
35
Bethlehem, Pa.
Well, Troy, you never cease to entertain and teach us with your posts. This is another fine example of that. Very interesting indeed. Thanks so much.

 

beefeater33

Lifer
Apr 14, 2014
4,063
6,119
Central Ohio
Excellent and very interesting post. I always had a hunch, as Sable suggested, that pipes darken from the outside more than from tars, juice etc. migrating from within. I am amazed how great that briar looks inside.

Thanks for the insight! :clap:

 

nachman

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 27, 2013
228
3
I would like to see an autopsy on a pipe that suffered burnout. Although in over fifty five years of smoking, I have never had a pipe burn out on me, I have a theory concerning burnout. I think, in many cases, the pipe burns out because of hidden occlusions in the briar. If they were on the surface, these occlusions would be pits, but as they are not on the surface, they are just hollow spaces which can cause the pipe to fail. I have seen pipers with a lot of experience loose pipes to burnout even though their technique seems flawless. This theory would explain that. I am sure some burnouts are the result of abuse, but some may not be. They may be unavoidable.

 
  • Like
Reactions: leafsmoker
May 31, 2012
4,295
34
It is Nicolas Stoufflet who should be thanked!
Merci Nicolas!

:)
His whole site is very much well worth exploring.
The auto-translate option upper right makes it easy to read too.
http://www.pipegazette.com/
:
I would like to see an autopsy on a pipe that suffered burnout. Although in over fifty five years of smoking, I have never had a pipe burn out on me, I have a theory concerning burnout. I think, in many cases, the pipe burns out because of hidden occlusions in the briar. If they were on the surface, these occlusions would be pits, but as they are not on the surface, they are just hollow spaces which can cause the pipe to fail. I have seen pipers with a lot of experience loose pipes to burnout even though their technique seems flawless. This theory would explain that. I am sure some burnouts are the result of abuse, but some may not be. They may be unavoidable.
I agree 100% with what you say,

I think it is true.

:puffy:
I'd like to see a cobtopsy.

:P

That'd be cool!

:!:

 
Mar 1, 2014
3,646
4,916
Seeing things like this makes me want to try devoting a pipe to destruction (complete neglect) just to see if it will still survive.

It's not uncommon for hobbyists to become especially attached to things that are exempted from a normally tedious routine.
(Right now most of my bowls are nearly as clean as they were new, I just want at least one pipe that needs to be reamed occasionally.)

 
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