Briarville Repair

[WhiteCrown]

I just received my repair from Briarville. It was an Italian basket pipe gift with a tenon snapped. There's a little gap and the bend is ever-so-slightly off... But for $40+shipping I'm very happy with it. I've seen several of you receive new factory and handmade pipes much worse for far more money. I'm glad Briarville was able to revive this one for a little less than the cost of a mid to low grade replacement. It still smokes great. Just sharing for your SA if you are thinking about using Briarville, I feel like I got what I paid for and am happy with it. If you are expecting perfection you will probably need to go elsewhere and spend more.

 

[buckaroo]

Thx for posting. Have 2 out with them. First time. A bit curious how long it took?

 

[georged]

Tenon replacement is simple in concept but difficult to do well.

The main reason is the inherent difficulty of holding/clamping an irregularly shaped object (in this case a stem) firmly enough to perform accurate drilling while maintaining alignment on all three axes simultaneously, x, y, and z, and NOT marring its surface.

Doing that requires the proper equipment, precision, and patience.

People are always surprised when a "casually shaped" thing like a smoking pipe incorporate a joint that requires dimensional accuracy of a thousandth of an inch or so to work right.

It isn't a problem when making pipes initially---everything can be done on a lathe and "standard" tools used---but repairing them, meaning making a stem for an existing stummel after the fact---is one of the biggest reasons that so many people take a swing at pipe repair, but few stay with it for long.

 

[telescopes]

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I just received my repair from Briarville. It was an Italian basket pipe gift with a tenon snapped. There's a little gap and the bend is ever-so-slightly off... But for $40+shipping I'm very happy with it. I've seen several of you receive new factory and handmade pipes much worse for far more money. I'm glad Briarville was able to revive this one for a little less than the cost of a mid to low grade replacement. It still smokes great. Just sharing for your SA if you are thinking about using Briarville, I feel like I got what I paid for and am happy with it. If you are expecting perfection you will probably need to go elsewhere and spend more.

If you are not satisfied, Rich will happily accept it back free of charge and stay at it until your satisfied.

 

[mikethompson]

I can't tell what's going on with those pictures. Did he do a good job? Bad job?

 

[telescopes]

I can't tell what's going on with those pictures. Did he do a good job? Bad job?

Those are the worst pictures…

 

[BigEd]

Those are the worst pictures…

I thought so too but after reading what he wrote I looked again and they show exactly what he is talking about. But…yeah, worst.

 

[WhiteCrown]

I swear those pictures looked good on my little phone screen before I posted them... It's a good thing I don't try to make a living via photography.

As for how long it took, I think it was a few weeks, but not sure. I had them shipped to my hose with my family while I was away for work, I just returned home earlier than expected and opened the package due to my uncle passing away on the day after Christmas. That's another reason I'm not going to circle around setting up/finding lighting and backdrops and stuff so y'all can get a wonderful picture. If you want to send me a check with a photographers wage, PM and we'll negotiate. I actually enjoy typing/writing/journaling, so otherwise I'll stick to that only right now.

As far as being satisfied, I did not intend to seem dissatisfied, but see how that could be perceived. I am truly satisfied with what I paid for the repair, and was happy to open it and have a smoke in the poor lighting of my porch after my long drive. I will admit that I expected no gaps, but I understand how much time it takes to make it more near to perfect. I have made a couple test/fun stems myself using my 3-D printer for the "blanks" and spent way more than $40 worth of time achieving zero-gap. A guy's gotta make a fair wage.

My intent with this post was to share a reasonable experience, and in doing it manage other's expectations so they may be more satisfied with their own repairs when they receive them, even if they don't meet those pesky expectations. Oh, and also to showcase my photography skills, obviously.

 

[buckaroo]

Aaah, taking pictures of pipes inside is harder than it looks. Going outside on a sunny day is the easiest way. To me, your pics illustrated your point (gap). To each their own. I'm simply having them replace vulcanite stems with acrylic's. See how it goes. Thanks.

 

[telescopes]

Always insist on quality work from Briarville. Rarely, lesser quality slips through, but Rich is happy to take it to the top standards.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I can't tell what's going on with those pictures. Did he do a good job? Bad job?

If what looks like a sliver of a gap at the top part of the shank where it meets the stem is indeed a gap, I would be very disappointed (even knowing how difficult a perfect interface would be after the pipe has been made as @georged pointed out); if it’s just a highlight on the front edge of the shank, probably an acceptable repair. After reading @hoosierpipeguy ’s abysmal experience with the stem for his Meerschaum pipe and seeing what appears to be a gap on this fix, I would be loath to send anything to this place for repair.

 

[kcghost]

As the old saying goes if your happy then I'm happy.

 

[telescopes]

If what looks like a sliver of a gap at the top part of the shank where it meets the stem is indeed a gap, I would be very disappointed (even knowing how difficult a perfect interface would be after the pipe has been made as @georged pointed out); if it’s just a highlight on the front edge of the shank, probably an acceptable repair. After reading @hoosierpipeguy ’s abysmal experience with the stem for his Meerschaum pipe and seeing what appears to be a gap on this fix, I would be loath to send anything to this place for repair.

The meerschaum repair you are referring to was made by what seems to be the previous owner. I’ve used Rich for many pipes. Given the price of around $30 on average, if a pipe has or requires more work we discuss it up front. Yes, I’ve sent a few pipes back, but when the expectations were clear I have not been disappointed. Higher quality work requires more money due to time. Rich is quite capable of higher quality work but due to the thousands of pipes he works on, specifying what your expectations are up front is important. Most people are looking for a lot less due to wanting to save money. Just my experience.

 

[mingc]

I can't tell what's going on with those pictures. Did he do a good job? Bad job?

Air gap, 2nd pic from the top.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

The meerschaum repair you are referring to was made by what seems to be the previous owner. I’ve used Rich for many pipes. Given the price of around $30 on average, if a pipe has or requires more work we discuss it up front. Yes, I’ve sent a few pipes back, but when the expectations were clear I have not been disappointed. Higher quality work requires more money due to time. Rich is quite capable of higher quality work but due to the thousands of pipes he works on, specifying what your expectations are up front is important. Most people are looking for a lot less due to wanting to save money. Just my experience.

If I recall correctly, Mark sent his pipe to Rich and a poor hack job was done to the stem. Then, a new Ryan Alden stem was made which is what we see currently on the Altinok.

 

[ak2000]

If I recall correctly, Mark sent his pipe to Rich and a poor hack job was done to the stem. Then, a new Ryan Alden stem was made which is what we see currently on the Altinok.

That is exactly what I read of Mark's experience. He attempted to make it clear to Rich that he wanted a proper quality repair and was willing to spend the money needed to get just that. Rich not only didn't deliver, but almost ruined an expensive pipe in the process by attempting to fit a cheap stem instead of doing a correct repair.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

The meerschaum repair you are referring to was made by what seems to be the previous owner. I’ve used Rich for many pipes. Given the price of around $30 on average, if a pipe has or requires more work we discuss it up front. Yes, I’ve sent a few pipes back, but when the expectations were clear I have not been disappointed. Higher quality work requires more money due to time. Rich is quite capable of higher quality work but due to the thousands of pipes he works on, specifying what your expectations are up front is important. Most people are looking for a lot less due to wanting to save money. Just my experience.

Not the case. I originally purchased the pipe and it was sent to Briarville the first attempt at a repair. Briarville did a horrible job, short of breaking it, couldn't have been worse.

 

[telescopes]

Not the case. I originally purchased the pipe and it was sent to Briarville the first attempt at a repair. Briarville did a horrible job, short of breaking it, couldn't have been worse.

I understand that. I asked Rich about it and his explanation was that it occurred previously to him buying the business from Rick. But... I am willing to recognize that you would have a better insight into what occurred than me. My hope is that the new owner wasn't the one who worked on that pipe. But I recognize I am out of my league on this one. I bring this up because I recalled reading about your experience in past threads and called them directly before I sent in my pipe. Rich was aware of the discussion here and stated he had tried to find from the records where that transaction occurred and felt it was prior to his purchasing the business. Is it possible the similarly of the names Rich and Rick are so close? Just wondering.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I think this provides all the proof necessary.

 

[telescopes]

I think this provides all the proof necessary.

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There you go - thank you for sharing.