Big Home-Brewed Billiard

[georged]

English pipes are more to my taste than Italian ones when it comes to shapes, but I like the Italian size range better because biggies aren't hard to find. (Unless ultra-rare Esserman-style giants, standard shape English pipes top out at Group 6)

So, what's a smoker to do?

Make a pipe that's just what you want by definition by making it yourself, of course.

6 7/8" inches long, chamber .92" X 2.05". Weight 72.3 grams (The last photo is alongside a Dunhill LB for comparison.)

No wood flaws cuz I hate wood flaws.

Grain is uniform mixed & tangled, cuz I love uniform mixed & tangled.

Finish isn't hard & gleamy because I like the hand feel of buffed wax.

Chamber isn't coated because I've never cared one way or the other, so why bother?

Stem material is Butera-contract Maachi acrylic, cuz green-over-time sucks and the mouth feel of plastic doesn't bother me.

Shape is a billiard because Billiards Rule. (duh)

Next step?

SMOKE IT!!!

 

[sablebrush52]

THIS is a pipe I wish I owned. Gorgeous in EVERY way. And that Butera material kicks ass!

 

[didimauw]

Beautiful pipe. Billiards really are the best. That stem material, never heard of it. What makes it different than other acrylic?

 

[canucklehead]

I love it!

I think it's hurting my pipe's feelings, it was smoking just fine but now feels a little... inadequate. (it's ok little guy, I still like you)

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Ah, a GD-EXLB. A pretty standard example of the American-British-Romano school of pipe making.

A lovely pipe George. Not bad for a first timer. All done with a cordless drill, deming bits, sandpaper, and a pocket knife?

 

[Sigmund]

Very nice!

 

[autumnfog]

Beautiful!
I especially like how the slim, sharp cut stem compliments the robust stummel.

 

[daveinlax]

Looks Good! I really like large billiards.

 

[anotherbob]

Love it looks like an Italian tried to fake a Dunhill.

 

[OzPiper]

Well done

 

[jmill208]

Very cool. Nothing beats a large billiard.

 

[mingc]

Nice pipe, George! I feel woozy already thinking of you smoking your Kendal Kentucky in it.

 

[Winnipeger]

Butera-contract Maachi acrylic

?

 

[ssjones]

That would be an Occihio di Pernice were it a Castello. (but with better stem/button). Bravo! 72 grams doesn't sound crazy!

 

[PA Piper Mike]

Damn fine-looking pipe you got there!

 

[georged]

That stem material, never heard of it. What makes it different than other acrylic?

Mike didn't like vulcanite because of the oxidation issues, but didn't like the available acrylic because of its brittleness.

What to do? Being a relentless perfectionist, he developed his own recipe for acrylic that's stupid-tough and performed up to his standard by teaming up with Macchi and promising he'd buy a big enough batch of it to make it worth their while.

The catch being it's as difficult to fabricate as its toughness would imply.

Mike sold the portion of that big order he knew he'd never use himself to a few people in the years afterward, then the last of it was lost in that massive post-Hurricane flood in Houston a few years back.

 

[huntertrw]

Group Six? This is truly a beautiful pipe, but the saddle bit simply pushes it off of the descriptive chart. ALL billiard pipes should have saddle bits!

Well done, Sir!

 

[Tate]

Awesome pipe!! Beautiful!

 

[doug535]

Ah, a GD-EXLB. A pretty standard example of the American-British-Romano school of pipe making.

A lovely pipe George. Not bad for a first timer. All done with a cordless drill, deming bits, sandpaper, and a pocket knife?

And, he was all out of sandpaper.

 

[georged]

... And that Butera material kicks ass!

Since we're talking about Mike's Magic Stem Stuff, here is a pic of some in raw form, plus how Jesse came to be familiar with it.

It was the only solution to replace a broken stem on one of his pipes because of the narrow vertical base (support) offered by the design, combined with the unavoidable stress riser of a traditional tenon/face 90-degree junction. a.k.a. Snap City. (there is no room for a reinforcing tube)

His high-dollar collectable would have either been relegated to display only or continual breakage without MMSS, in other words.