Bad Peterson Pipes - From Where?

[mso489]

I've ordered six Petersons from various retailers including Iwan Ries over about five years, and I

have always been pleased with the pipes. That doesn't dismiss anyone else's bad experience at

all, but I feel that if Peterson were having a chronic quality control problem, I'd have encountered

it. Only one, the Kapet author, was a long time breaking in, but did so nicely, eventually. The

others including a Group 1 Belgique rustic, have done well soon or right away. Mine are durable,

well-drilled, handsome, have good heft without being heavy. The stout style of Peterson's isn't

everyone's taste, but if you like them, they are sturdy companions.

 

[jaxon]

I have a few Peterson's and found them all to be well made and great smokers. I also think it's safe to say that with any manufacturer, I'm sure a lemon gets through once in a while and it sucks when you are the one that receives it.

 

[mrenglish]

Over the past three years I have picked up probably close to 40 Peterson's and worked those down to the 23 I have now. I have probably turned down another 25 or so due to defects in workmanship. These are all lower end, I have not paid more than $150 for any of them and a vast majority are at the $100 price point, or less.
A lot of the ones I turned down had engineering issues (a majority) and some were cosmetic such a crappy finish, scratched silver work, etc. The ones I purchased and traded off were mostly due to not fitting in. I got rid of all my bent Peterson's that did not have a military mount and heavier pipes. Some were removed because they were not breaking in the way I felt they should.
Maybe 75% have been bought sight unseen but after asking a lot of questions. I have only returned two Peterson's and kept two I should have returned. The 25 or so I did not go with were rejected due to the answers I got on fit/finish, drilling, etc.
This is my second phase of collecting Peterson's and by far, these have been the easiest to break in than from years ago, with a few exceptions. I would definitely purchase another Peterson though. Just gotta ask questions if getting them off the net.

 

[twangthang]

I have mentioned in the past that I have what I think is a not-too-great a smoking Pete. I have a feeling you are trying to make a point with this post but I will give a run down as to my issue.

I have two Peterson's both bought from Smoking Pipes.
The first, and the problem child, is a Darwin, it is a system pipe, non P-lip with a military mount. It seems that regardless of the blend it gurgles miserably. I don't have a problem keeping a few pipe cleaners handy, but with this pipe it s an endless task.

At first I put it up to my poor technique, but it is the only pipe I have with this problem. I then looked at the drilling and it as drilled a little high. From the posts I read it seemed to be the normal placement.

I decided to open the draw a touch and drill the well a bit deeper. I opened the draw very slightly and drilled the well a bit deeper. I did see a bit of improvement.
While I was basically voiding any warranty with Peterson on this pipe I decided to try another pipe. This time I went with a Fermoy 999 bulldog. It has no system, standard mount and is non P-lip.

I also bought this pipe from Smoking Pipes.

This pipe smokes like a true champion. It never requires attention during a smoke and happily agrees with any blend I wish to stuff, pack, fold or jam into it's bowl.
I have pretty much relegated the Darwin to occasional smokes. I have been keeping to more Latakia blends. I am hoping it will just break in one day.

Perhaps after it has a better cake it will actually behave a little better.
My thinking is that the pipe isn't poor quality. The briar is striking with no noticeable flaws. The drilling seems to be on par with what I have read here and the Fermoy is drilled in the identical position. Perhaps it is a little tight on the drawer, even after I opened it slightly.

The bowl coating may be a problem who knows.

What I can say is I have two Peterson pipes, bought from the same dealer. Both pipes seem of good quality. One smokes with ease, one smokes with some difficulty.

I am not damning Peterson. If I were why would I have bought the second pipe?

 

[pylorns]

I have the same darwin but with p-lip, favorite pipe of mine. Initially I had a similar problem with gurgling but that quickly went away either me altering my technique, or just break-in period.

 

[twangthang]

@Pylorns do you have a particular blend you smoke in your Darwin?

 

[plateauguy]

I've bought my Petes from Smokingpipes, Tobaccopipes and an ebay shop in England. No problems, all good solid pipes with no defects. Don't know if I'm lucky, or those who get defective pipes are unlucky.

 

[dochudson]

2 loosers from Ebay, and one from Iwan Ries. After having the two Ebay disasters, I had asked Iwan Ries to check for defects before sending, he sent me a Pete with a large chunk of the bowl missing, like a beaver chewed it off, and a metal band that wasn't even connected to the pipe, it was outside of the pipe, sitting in the bag next to the pipe, completely loose. All I know is I won't be buying from Iwan Ries ever again.
did they refuse to replace or credit you?

 

[johnnyiii]

I have three petes, One I kinda don't like because of the small bowl. Obviously my newbe fault not the pipe.
Since Beginning in thanksgiving I have been blessed to get 9 pipes. Some average, some really nice, none over 160.00.
I LOVE them ALL, and EACH and EVERY one has a FLAW.
My Big Ben, Savinelli, Vaugn, Chacom, Rossi, ... and even a Pete. I bought almost all of them from smokingpipes.com my first two pipes were bought at my local shop an hour away. Was I going to turn down a beautiful pipe from my local shop because of a little flaw. .... NO. Will I buy from smokingpipes again. You betchya.
-To the topic, my Pete has a slight scratch in the top of the rim, and the band moves a litttttle bit.

-My Savinelli has an imperfect finish on the top of the bowl that makes it look like a little carbon build up.

-My vaugn has the hole inside the shank of the bowl high like a pete with out stating on their website its on purpose. DAMM THEM :lol:

-A Chacom burns hot and their stems are tight.

-My Rossi has a hard time passing a cleaner because of a tight airway in the stem.
My truck came with a scratch, my dog barks to much, GOD made it rain to much this year.
My pipes are just like me ... Imperfect
Was that overboard? :nana: Off to watch "Be my Valentine Charlie Brown"

 

[salewis]

I have heard many complaints about Petersons on a few forums especially over the past two or three years. I have nine Petersons a few of which I bought from a B&M. Most of my Petersons were purchased from smokingpipes.com. My wife recently bought me a Royal Irish from smokingpipes.com which is my most expensive Peterson. I have to say that I belong to the camp that has never had a poorly constructed Peterson. The draft holes are right on and the workmanship has been flawless. For those of you that have had issues with Peterson pipes I certainly can understand your frustration. However, I think that like any commodity a small percentage will be defective. A good retailer should stand behind there products and it appears that most on-line retailers have been honoring this practice.

 

[onepyrotec]

The Dracula I purchased was from site supporter TobaccoPipes.com. Ben from Tobacco Pipes replied to my email about the problem by calling me...I wasn't able to take the call but he did leave a voicemail saying that he would rectify the situation however I wanted him to. So YES, I'll still shop with TobaccoPipes.com again.
The pipe is en-route to Ireland for replacement. I can only hope that Peterson will pay attention with the replacement and get this one right.

 

[taerin]

Well I was credited but no one had checked the pipe sent to me even though I was told that they would, even a blind man would have seen the missing chunk of rim, it was BIG. I was also charged for shipping and wasn't offered a replacement or exchange since it was their last one. As for the metal band it was not a shipping issue as the band was outside of the pipe itself, sitting in the bag; someone would have had to remove the stem, take it off, and put the stem back on to make it come off like that.

 

[rigmedic1]

A few years ago Peterson was having their stummels turned in Spain, and assembling and finishing the pipe in Ireland. One of the most common complaints was stain, inside of the tobacco chamber and stem. Made the pipes smoke acrid and horrible. Sometimes, especially on lower cost models, the furniture was loose or stamped crookedly, the drilling was way off, and sometimes the stain on the outside of the pipe rubbed off easily.

I have a St. Patrick's Day 2009 shape 150 bulldog. I love this pipe, but the stem and band line up poorly, the stamping on the band is high and off centered, and there is a hot spot on the right bottom of the bowl which I am sure will burn out one day. My daughter gave me an Irish Harp 80s, a bent bulldog, which ranged about $150.00, and had no issues other than the dark stain being very light along the bowl's forward edge.

These issues and many more were actually presented to the president of Peterson Pipes, and perhaps the issues of poor quality control have been addressed since then. Since most of my dozen or so Peterson's are estates, I do not know first hand.

 

[drwatson]

+ a million of everything johnnyiii said!!!
Eric do live in Canada? reason I ask, is it seems like that may have been a customs issue. I have dealt with Iwan Ries for years and have only had top notch service.
I have hundreds of pipes,(been trying to thin down alittle but it's just so dang hard) The bulk of them are Peterson's,Boswell,Savinelli. Very few QC issues with any of them. Only problem with Peterson is band slip (glue and be done). The stain that I have heard people bitch about! That is NOT a QC issue! Its how they make them, if you don't like it simple fix, BUY A DIFFERENT PIPE! I too would like to see pictures of these pipes that have the issues. I don't think there is one pipe out there that is 100% perfect. I have a Dunhill with the spot just slightly off center. Probally no one else would ever notice, but I do. Pipes are wood and rubber made by men, there are going to be flaws. And even more flaws when you drop it for the first time.

 

[onepyrotec]

I too would like to see pictures of these pipes that have the issues.

You can see the air hole was drilled in the top of the mortise, it comes in that far above the bottom of the tobacco chamber too.

 

[drwatson]

Call me crazy, and not trying to sound like a jerk. But that looks just about perfect. That is the Peterson Dracula 999 which I have one of, and my drill hole looks exactly the same. All Peterson pipes have close to the same drilling method, even if it's not a system pipe it will have a slight reservoir. Thats just the way a Peterson is. Their website even mentions this drilling style. Now a straight pipe will be different. How far above is the hole from bottom of bowl?

One of my favorite pipe brands is Boswell Pipes. They drill many of their pipes with the hole being slightly below the bottom of the bowl, this to is by design, not a flaw.

 

[onepyrotec]

When I asked, and showed a picture, I was told to return the pipe for a correctly drilled pipe...maybe Peterson's

right hand doesn't now what the left is doing.
If that is a correct drill job, then IMHO, Peterson cost me time & money since I explained in detail that I'm unfamiliar with their pipes, and what my issues were with pictures included.

 

[drwatson]

That very well may be the case. A few pipes I own though I have tweeted to make it better. Usually its just running a 5/32 drill bit down it. I prefer this opening. Also my Irish Harp band came off and I put some epoxy on it,solid ever since.

Did you return it? If not I'll take it off your hands for you. At a Peterson second price though! :D

Thank you for being a classy member to the forum onepyrotec!

 

[onepyrotec]

Yes, I have sent the pipe to Dublin for replacement already.

 

[rlunderhill]

Peterson Pipes are made by people. They're not perfect. Neither are we. They make them by the thousands. One is going to slip by from time to time. But, are they a bad pipe maker? No, just human.
I have one Peterson pipe. It's an 80S. I like it a lot. Smokes well and looks great. Would I purchase another Peterson pipe? Absolutely.
I have purchased defective pipes over the years. All were replaced by the manufactures Rep. My last defective pipe was from Iwan Ries. They credited my account without hesitation. Would I buy from Iwan Ries again. Absolutely. I have purchased a lot from these fine people.
Being in manufacturing for 45 years. Believe me, craftsman don't let defective product pass knowing someone is paying good money for what they made. We all make mistakes. A craftsman knows what the function is of a feature. They'll let it pass if the function is good. Pipes are individual as we are. I don't think Peterson knowingly allow defective pipes to get to the consumer. Peterson is a quality name.
Happy puffing Gentleman. :puffpipe: