Carry That Weight: Dunhills Over Time

[lightmybriar]

Greetings, All.
I have owned several Dunhill pipes of various years, ranging from 1940 all the way now to 1991. I've always liked how light they were, but I've noticed that two out of the three youngest ones I have, a Chestnut from 1981, and the famous eBay Russet from 1991, are significantly heavier than my other ones. I do realize that sandblasted pipes will generally be lighter, but I've had several Bruyeres from the 40s, 50s, and 60s that have been much lighter than the Chestnut and Russet I own.
Is this something to do with a change in curing, or a change in briar, both of those things, or something different altogether? I'd be interested to hear if any of you all have noticed this, or does it just happen to be that I coincidentally have owned two unusually heavy Dunhill pipes? I do think I read that Dunhill stopped oil curing around 1968, but I have had a few 70s Shells and a 1985 Cumberland that are still pleasantly lightweight, so I wouldn't think that would be the issue?
What do you guys know or think?

 

[mso489]

I haven't owned Dunhills so my observation is general, but often briars lose weight when they age, whether as raw briar or as pipes. Also, lighter weight briar costs more, so heavier pipes probably increase the profit margin. Sometimes a carver will hit a run of noticeably lighter weight briar; Johs had some feather weight briar about five years ago, so a full size pipe weighed very little. Nice clenchers.

 

[lightmybriar]

Wow! That's the opposite of what I expected. I figured absorption of all the tars over the years would make older pipes heavier. Very interesting! Thank you, Mso. So then it would make sense that the newer pipes are heavier...

 

[toobfreak]

Quite to the contrary, very little tar or anything is actually absorbed into the briar, and indeed, a well seasoned briar is free of saps and other things making it lighter. The most lightweight briar is the hardest to get, the so called dead root, where it died in the ground after a long battle trying to keep alive the heather, where little by little it gave up every last ghost of juice and energy it had, until the fibers were utterly drained, compacted and shriveled.

 

[lightmybriar]

It's always a pleasure reading responses on here. Thanks very much, guys.

 

[cally454]

Compacted and shriveled sounds like a new OTC coger blend

 

[mso489]

Compacted and Shriveled, a blend for the experienced smoker, with generous portions of old dark fired, stoved Virginia and Burley, Cavendish, Turkish, dried shredded sections of the London Times before 1940, and the ghost of Samuel Gawith hovering, presented in a tin sealed with rust.

 

[toobfreak]

:rofl:

 

[foggymountain]

Compacted and shriveled. Are you referring to we seniors?

 

[mortonbriar]

Compacted and shriveled. Are you referring to we seniors?

'Wee' seniors as the nurses at the home say...

 

[pipehunter]

I'm still waiting for some live root Dunhills to hit the market....

 

[pitchfork]

I've only owned a couple of Dunhills, both of which are very light, but some pieces of briar are just more dense than others. I doubt that oil curing would be a significant factor here.

 

[toobfreak]

I'm still waiting for some live root Dunhills to hit the market....

You have that most difficult Live Root,
the more common Dead Root,
and then the rarest of them all,
The Grateful Dead Root Pipe.

 

[jabo]

I really liked compacted and shriveled. A great blend. However, coming up with names for stuff is my job ! That's how I make ta big bucks . So, no chiseling in on my business. Can't afford ta competition ! ;-)

 

[bonanzadriver]

Interesting thread. I too own a couple of Dunhill estates, an 84 Canadian Bruyere, my first and a 60's Pot Rootbriar. Both are noticeably lighter in weight than most of my other briars.
All of my smokers, except for my old 87 Nording Freehand Signature, are estates. Most of them seem heavier.
I had always assumed that what I'd read about the olive oil curing of the Dunhill removing the impurities was what made em lighter.

 

[sasquatch]

Some briar is less dense than others. Period. I can pick up two blocks same size in the shop and because of climactic conditions where they grew, one will feel like a stone, the other could be light enough to make me wonder if it's briar at all.
Oil curing if anything should ADD weight to a final pipe - if there's oil inside the wood. When you oil cure a new stummel it can lose weight because the hot drying process drives out all the moisture (ambient moisture in any wood, relative to the humidity of the environment). But eventually that moisture will work its way back into a stummel (unless you cure it in cyanoacrylate lol).
All fun stuff to think about. The carving on the old Dunnies is sparse, there is very little extra wood around, making for pretty light pipes in the first place.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Interesting. Kinda what I was thinking, and glad to have it enunciated so well. I've been thinking that lesser cured briar benefits from smoking; the heat drives out a bit of moisture each time as long as its fully smoked (leaving no moisture in the heel). Perhaps that is one reason some pipes need a break in period, while others do not.

 

[cally454]

Toob as an unabashed deadhead I'd buy that pipe. I'd smoke tobacco In it too. Lmao

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I just purchased my first Dunhill from Neeb yesterday. I'll be sharing my thoughts on it for sure.

 

[fearsclave]

I find that I'm becoming LESS compact as I age.