Briarville Bulldog Restoration

[ssjones]

I was able to repair the original stem for Mike. It's enroute back to him, hopefully delivered today, per USPS. Unfortunately, I only had the stem, so I couldn't remove all the oxidation. Hopefully Mike can do that in person. I'm pleased with the repair. It's almost invisible, out of a harsh light. The size/area of the hole made for an easy fix and it should be durable, unless Mike is Count Dracula.

 

[mikethompson]

Hey I was just going to post in this thread (good morning Al!)
yes the stem should be in my hand tomorrow. Thanks again for the repair Al, much appreciated! I will post pictures when it is all back together again.
As for sending it back to Ric, that would get expensive fast. Shipping down to the States isn't as cheap as it once was. I'm very happy with how the bowl turned out, but the stem, well. As I said pictures soon.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Actually, a new photo of the pipe, with even lighting and a neutral background would be instructive. Similar to what you took on the before pix.

 

[mikethompson]

With apologies to John,
Here is the pipe with the new stem:

Here is the pipe with the Al-repaired stem:

The old stem is a little loose in the shank now, but that can be remedied.
Interestingly, and I hadn't noticed this before, the new stem is longer than the old one. Not significantly, but still longer.

 

[didimauw]

Very nice, I'm glad Al got it fixed for you. It's too bad you can see where the briar was taken off during the first repair. Now the stem is accurate, but the shank is off. Beautiful pipe!

 

[mikethompson]

I will just have to live with it, I just have to find some beeswax and give it a few good smokes now like it was intended for.

 

[scloyd]

Nice pipe Mike. I would be happy with that pipe with either stem. Enjoy it.

 

[seanv]

Very nice pipe, I too would have enjoyed it either way. Damn the internet.

 

[sablebrush52]

I'm really sorry that you went through this. What a mess. I guess I won't be recommending Briarville anymore, except for their meerschaum work. This reminds me of the mess Norwoods made of replacing a member's custom stem a few years back. It was a monstrosity. Hence I never recommend Norwoods for anything advanced. It's like with the artists I work with on productions. I know who's got what level of expertise, their strengths and their weaknesses and recommend, or hire, accordingly.
There are a few really excellent pro grade restorers around, but who knows for how much longer. George Dibos is one and there's Tim West. RonnieB retired a couple of years ago. An up and comer would be Anthony Cook of Cook's Fine Pipeworks. He does beautiful stem work.

 

[ssjones]

I guess some might have good and bad days.
Norwoods absolutely nailed a new stem for my James Upshall B, Silver Spigot. But I guess a spigot duplication might be lower on the skill scale (button,shape, size all an exact match for the OEM Upshall stem). That was four years ago, so things might have changed.

 

[designatedmedia]

This is very disappointing to read. I would hope someone would reach out to Ric at Briarville to see what happened. I’ve had a few stems replaced by him (all freehand stems) and they were great. I have also had a botched job by Norwoods as well as James Connelly over the years. While I think George and Anthony Cook are absolutely the best at what they do they are usually booked solid months in advance.

 

[sablebrush52]

Norwoods absolutely nailed a new stem for my James Upshall B, Silver Spigot. But I guess a spigot duplication might be lower on the skill scale (button,shape, size all an exact match for the OEM Upshall stem). That was four years ago, so things might have changed.

What I remember about the incident is that the pipe was an Italian high grade and that the stem was a non standard shape. In the end, the member sent the pipe back to the factory in Italy and they made a replacement stem for him.

 

[ssjones]

Harry Callahan said it best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4lvLBe6fsE

 

[mikethompson]

Well I guess I forgot to update this situation.
I was contacted by Ric at Briarville. He was very apologetic and took complete ownership of the situation and offered to redo the pipe again at no cost to me. I declined, but the offer stood. I have a little store credit there now.
That happened a few weeks ago but I thought I should bring some closure to the story!

 

[georged]

The key takeaway from this thread isn't what most people are probably thinking.
While it's true that "shop quality" (for lack of a better term) varies, that isn't what's most important when deciding who to send a pipe to for a new stem.
The biggest variable---by FAR---is the specimen itself. Situations and shapes are not only not equal, the difference in difficulty ranges over an order of magnitude. Even more in some cases.
The trick is in knowing which is which.
Keeping these truths in mind when "shop shopping" should keep you safe:
-- Round shanks are easiest
-- Oval shanks are significantly more difficult
-- Square/diamond shanks are a bitch
-- Faceted (more than 4-sided) ones are Queen Bitches From Hell
-- Length is a difficulty multiplier for all shapes
-- Short + large diameter + BENT (chunky author & similar) is a special case regardless of cross sectional shape
-- When in doubt, ask on a board like this one

 

[weezell]

I have also had a botched job by Norwoods as well as James Connelly over the years.

Everyone has a "what the " moment. No one repairer is spot on 100% of the time. In other words "shit happens" and as long as they are stand up and attempt to make it better, they have maintained their integrity. I have ,and will trust Briarville now and in the future with no problem at all. Just my opinion FWIW...

 

[pipebaum81]

Well I guess I forgot to update this situation

Bravo on the update. One lackluster performance shouldn't necessarily be the end all conclusion. Nice that a redo was offered and store credit granted.
j/B

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I sent 4 pipes to Briarville to be restored a few months back myself. I was quite satisfied with the results, very satisfied in fact. Were they perfect? No, if I turned my most critical Engineer's eye on them, I could pick a few things out that could have been done a bit better. At the same time, given what was charged and my expectations, I'd rate the transaction 9.5 out of 10.
If I somehow came across an old and rare pipe that needed substantial restoration, I may, or may not, send it to Briarville. Or, I'd discuss it with Ric, let him know my expectations for perfection and ask if he wanted to take on that task. I honestly have no idea what his response would be but if he told me he was up to the task, I'd trust him with the work.
I am going to speculate that Ric's business model is to take run of the mill pipes to be restored from Joe Sixpack, for a very reasonable price (I thought his prices were unreasonably low to be blunt) and essentially turn chicken s h i t into a reasonable bowl of chicken salad. So it may not be to the standards I might expect from George. I'm not so sure George would have even taken the 4 pipes I had for a restoration job. I'm also not sure this thread didn't evolve into identifying a problem where one really didn't exist.

 

[ashdigger]

Return time is a factor. I'm very satisfied with Ric. It beats waiting a year and a half.
It's all about expectations.

 

[tenton]

I sent a Caminetto to Ric a year or so ago for a new stem. The original stem would not pass a Blitz pipe cleaner and I wanted it slightly longer anyway.
Overall I was pleased with the work as the new stem had a nice wide open draw and it smoked great. The price and turnaround time was very reasonable.
However if I was to nit pick, the new stem was way longer than I requested and the new stem was a slightly larger diameter than the stummel diameter and was tapered down to match the diameter of the stummel.