Barling Bummer

[buroak]

Unbeknownst to me I inspired a good friend in a nearby town to start his own hunt for Barling pipes. (I really need to stop proselytizing.) He called me after buying his dream Barling, excited not only by finding it, but also by the fact that his hunt was so brief. His find was a Barling Quaint Cherrywood. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a case of "never meet your heroes". After the pipe arrived I got another call of an entirely different tone. Not only did the pipe have some handling marks/chips and an out-of-round rim, it also had what he judged to be a ruined tobacco chamber. He asked me to take a look at it just in case he was overreacting. After getting my own eyes on the pipe all I can say is that whoever had reamed the pipe created such a mess that I would have believed termites were responsible. If the bowl were sanded roughly back to round and suitable dimensions, I think the walls would be perilously thin. This pipe is going back, though I suspect my pal will have a heavy heart as he hands the box to the Postal clerk.
I did take some photos so my friend can show off the pipe he once had and remember why he did not keep it.

 

[wyfbane]

That is a shame. I have been pretty blessed in my acquisition of pipes. I have taken many chances online but only gotten bit 3 times... and the last time they refunded me without even asking for the pipe back.
Best of luck to your friend. Tell him not to give up, look at ebay/europe since it's for Barling, and be patient.
It will come.
=)

 

[shanelktown]

Reamer happy? That's a pretty poor job... Wood putty?

 

[buroak]

wyfbane, I will pass along the encouragement.
shanelktown, Do you mean it looks like the previous owner used wood putty, or that the pipe should be fixed with wood putty?

 

[mso489]

The bowl wall doesn't bother me so much as the mid to bottom of the bowl, which looks like one of the

portions of Mammoth Cave closed to tourists. I feel badly for your friend and hope he has better luck.

 

[freakiefrog]

Looks like some one had been using a pocket knife to cut the cake down.. That really is a shame

 

[buroak]

I did not want to make this thread too picture heavy, but below are some more photos of the bowl walls.

This second picture shows a patch of bowl wall that almost does look like putty. The area is hard to capture with my camera.

 

[buroak]

The thing I can never figure out is how someone does this kind of damage with a knife. I use a knife for trimming tricky bits of cake in estate pipes. I find it safer than a reamer in many cases. The difference may be that I always use a sharp sheepsfoot or spey blade on a small stockman and I trim cake the way one might shave their face with a straight razor.

 

[buroak]

The bowl wall doesn't bother me so much as the mid to bottom of the bowl, which looks like one of the

portions of Mammoth Cave closed to tourists.

I had to look up pictures of the park to get the reference, but now I can see what you are talking about. My pal spent a few years in KY, and he will know exactly what you mean.

 

[shanelktown]

Previous owner used wood putty

 

[shanelktown]

This an eBay estate?

 

[buroak]

Previous owner used wood putty

I thought that was what you meant.
Yep, the pipe was an eBay estate.

 

[shanelktown]

That's a shame eBay is tough though if there are limited pics of items. But then again you can find some gems on there. Bright side there is a money back guarantee.

 

[sablebrush52]

Really a shame about the quaint. That has had a reamer gouged into the base in addition to other criminal acts.
When buying on eBay you can't have enough pictures. I don't bid on pipes where I can't see the rim, chamber and bit close up, in addition to the other usual shots. If they're not in the listing I'll contact the seller to see if these can be added to the listing. If the seller's not interested, then neither am I.

 

[buroak]

A shame indeed. My pal learned a valuable lesson on this one. I do not know if he will ever get another shot at a quaint in this shape, but this one is not worth keeping. Fortunately, he tells me the seller has given him no hassle in returning the pipe.

 

[allan]

I can see the reamer damage at the base but the sides look like knife gouging-reimers cut smoothly in long swaths.

 

[buroak]

Or it could be damage from reaming with a power drill and a paddle bit.

 

[rcstan]

Sad. I don't think the careless reaming caused the damage. I think the damage was already there, and someone either mudded or puttied the inherent soft spots and smoked over, building new cake.

The spoon from a Czech tool can and will scoop out burnt briar with minimal effort.....

Having seen more than a few of these "pristine looking bowls with smoked-over crispy chambers" and "recarbed over spider webbing" pieces of wood surface lately, I would be very weary to purchase pipes on the 'bay from anyone but the established known good faith sellers ( such as our own member PipeStud )

 

[buroak]

Having seen more than a few of these "pristine looking bowls with smoked-over crispy chambers" and "recarbed over spider webbing" pieces of wood surface lately, I would be very weary to purchase pipes on the 'bay from anyone but the established known good faith sellers ( such as our own member PipeStud )

rcstan, This is why I generally buy projects cheap and only pay top dollar for estate pipes from sellers like PipeStud. (Still, I have received pipes with spider web/fissures from reputable sellers.) I especially avoid restored pipes unless they are being sold by sellers with impeccable records.