So a follow up.
The Pipe dried out nicely after the salt slurry and smells better. I cleaned up the top and most of the black on the top/rim came off nicely. The stem still needs some TLC to look good.
The pics dont do justice to how rounded the bowl is, but it really does have a nice round feel.
It stands on a flat surface.
Its Heavy. Would not trust my teeth to hang it.
For a 6'3, 260lb guy it has a nice proportion to my near sasquatch sized head.
There was a bore alignment issue between the shank and stem (maybe non original stem?) that I corrected as best I could on the stem side. A pipe cleaner will now pass that intersection.
Still need to work on the mortise/tenon as it seems the tenon does not engage the mortise along its length, but sort of wedge fits at the deep(towards the chamber) end. Maybe many years of forcing it in at off angles have flared the mortise some.
Smoking (newbie)
Big freakin bowl with a tall/wide chamber. I could probably work on the same bowl for hours.
The overall length and large chamber seems to make it a cool smoke.
Definitely an at home pipe for when I have a good amount of free time.
Better pics when I get a chance, and have the stem polished up