Breaking in Period for basic Peterson pipes

[jpmcwjr]

What's your average number of bowls you smoke before you feel the pipe is right? And maybe the extremes, too.

 

[bigbee]

Some statistics (not exact science but based on my impressions)
Non-dip-stained: just as long as other brands (last one that I did break in was a 120 - sterling silver, after about 10 bowls the taste of briar and bowl coating were gone, 10 bowls further it has become a good smoker, I have broken it in with a virginia flake, so it could have bitten me during the process if it wanted to)
Dip-stained:

Without removing the stain in the shank: 50 bowls+. The stain tastes very bitter to me, and as soon as some moisture hits it, it starts interfering with the smoke. As there is no direct contact with the heat of the ember, it does not completely evaporate or burn off. Smoke after smoke my cleaners come out stained red (and black from the tobacco). So slowly you are swiping the stain out, depending on how wet and hot you are smoking
With stain removed from the shank:

1/3rd method: the bitterness remains to reappear until completely burned off/evaporated, so that means about 15 smokes when you are at stage 3/3 (so that means about 30-45 smokes). This does mean that once you get to the lower parts of the bowl that you get a normally smoking pipe. The taste of the stain disappears as soon as you are in the part of the bowl that has already been broken in

full bowl break in: after 15 bowls, I can not detect the stain. Add some 10-ish smokes to get it fully broken in.
YMMV

 

[mawnansmiff]

"I did try out to get rid of that dipstan[dip stain] using my Acetone."
Paul, I hope you didn't use acetone to clean the interior of the bowl. ALCOHOL is the liquid to use. Acetone would leave a lingering chemical stink in your pipe that is likely poisonous too.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[jpmcwjr]

All's well with a hot water bath......
Bigbee- Thanks. Pretty similar to my experience, though I have none with stain in the bowls. (thank heavens!)

 

[mso489]

I think my six (or so) Petes have mostly been good after about a dozen smokes, and not bad before that either. I have one KP rusticated author that was a little flat for about a year or eighteen months, not so I regretted buying it (that is, serviceable and satisfactory) but then it bloomed all of a sudden, with blends of three or more tobaccos, with that great big chamber, it just went to work, the way some kids blossom in college or after graduation. Like one day it really showed up. But most of my Petes have just gone right to work, no problem.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

BigBee,Thank you for tipping me off,good advices

Jay:Acetone did work woder,on that and I gave the pipe time to evaporate overnight+ No more using it inside bolws

I got 100% proof grain Spirit now for that purpose,

Next up:My Aran 80S Bulldog arrived today,couldn't be more flawless in every aspect,Yet today I managed to get one most like new old stock Peterson Flame Grain De Lux 606S Pot from one German based collector,asking he was $ 100 but knocked off to $ 90,couldn't get him bargain more though,but at the first sight it was a real stunning piece yet has most natural finish on it,this man said the pipe was produced mod 50ies,have some doubts if this statement is true or not, but the pipe itself looked as brand new,only one think I do hope that the stem would fit snugg enough to mortise.

But No More Petes- I'm done:soon I find myself being in personal bankcrupcy,,

 

[foggymountain]

Most Petes DO require extra break in time. I have been through several dozen, have kept only 14. Even those are no good with a subtle tobacco but OK with a strong tasting Lat.

 

[toobfreak]

Fog, that would suggest that Peterson uses a perpetually under-cured, under-seasoned briar.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I have suggested the very thing for two of the new pipes I bought four years ago, but not universal. A recent purchase of a spigot billiard was all right, as were two pipes I picked out in Dublin a year ago.

 

[mso489]

Yeah, there's something about those hefty handful shapes that makes you feel like you're really smoking a pipe.

 

[sablebrush52]

My understanding is that the later Petersons are broken in about 15 minutes after they hit the furnace.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Why waste your hard earned on a Peterson where for less outlay you could buy a fantastic Blakemar pipe?
Granted, Mike's range is nowhere near as extensive as Peterson's but I have never heard of any quality issues with any of his pipes.
No dip staining either, they are just pre carbonised over a gas jet.
Regards,
Jay.