No. Not one of those special pipes, but one of those "special" pipes, more of a problem child. Master Blender Gregory L. Pease talks about that in his December column for PipesMagazine.com. Check it out right here.
Problem Child
Did You Ever Have One of Those Pipes ...
- Thread starter admin
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
I keep a Kaywoodie Magnum to remind me and show my friends there really are irredeemably bad smokers. I’ve owned it over twenty years, and it’s been and stayed bad. Like Pease says, the first smoke out of it is wonderful, until it’s warmed up. Then it’s hot and the pipe gurgles and if all pipes were like it, none would smoke a pipe.
I had another Magnum the same size a wonderful smoker, so it’s not anything about the style or brand of pipe.
I’ve owned another basket pipe and three cheap Petersons I bought for $59 that began bad but have aged to be decent, even good smokers.
I sold a Kaywoodie 500 and the buyer sent it back and said the bottom third of the pipe smoked badly, and sure enough he was right, it did. I still own it and after a dozen smokes all the way down it’s a good smoker.
The makers are more or less at the mercy of briar sellers they have fully cured and seasoned their briar.
If the briar hasn’t been cured fully I think the pipe will never come around.
If it was not seasoned long enough you can season it by smoking it. It’s not pleasant but those are salvageable.
I had another Magnum the same size a wonderful smoker, so it’s not anything about the style or brand of pipe.
I’ve owned another basket pipe and three cheap Petersons I bought for $59 that began bad but have aged to be decent, even good smokers.
I sold a Kaywoodie 500 and the buyer sent it back and said the bottom third of the pipe smoked badly, and sure enough he was right, it did. I still own it and after a dozen smokes all the way down it’s a good smoker.
The makers are more or less at the mercy of briar sellers they have fully cured and seasoned their briar.
If the briar hasn’t been cured fully I think the pipe will never come around.
If it was not seasoned long enough you can season it by smoking it. It’s not pleasant but those are salvageable.
My worst pipe was my most expensive actually. It was my first commission too. When I first saw it, it was perfect. Great grain, just my size. It ended up smoking hotter then any pipe I've ever had. I had been smoking a pipe for over 8 years at this point, and had a good routine down with smoking. After almost burning a hole through the chamber, I noticed that the stem also didn't line up flush with the shank. It had some weird wood accent on the stem, and I think some of the glue seeped out and caused this gap. I couldn't get it flush. Then during my thorough exam, I noticed that the button was really bad. One end round and fat, the otherside pointed and jagged. I was so blinded by the beauty of the grain, that I missed all the important stuff. I won't be trying that maker anymore.
I sold it off, to someone who will enjoy it. But I don't miss it.
Funny that Rich was mentioned, 2 weeks ago I got added to his commission list. Getting myself a late Christmas gift. Beyond excited.
I sold it off, to someone who will enjoy it. But I don't miss it.
Funny that Rich was mentioned, 2 weeks ago I got added to his commission list. Getting myself a late Christmas gift. Beyond excited.
Mine too. My Barontini 1/2 silver spigot was too hot to hold; too many pinholes in the fine grain. I ended up relining the pipe with pipemud and refinishing the outside with wood filler and restaining (3x). Its now a preferred smoker but it took awhile to get there. I don't blame the maker. The briar block was the problem but its fixed now.
I have 2 or 3 pipes that aren't worth the tobacco I put into them. One was a "nose warmer" which constantly sent smoke up my nose. The other was from a decent Danish pipe carver and that pipe was hottest thing damn thing that I ever smoked. I learned a lot about Dublin smoking that pipe.
Yes, my mega-gurgler... aka Viking Assens.
My experience with Danish pipes is they buy well cured, large blocks of briar then hand make the pipe as soon as the wood dries enough to work.
The only exception to that is my enormous Preben Holm Ben Wade Matte Special.
My last “as new” Bari Hand Cut stank so bad breaking it in my entire family was worried my pipe was going to catch on fire. I understand all Bari pipes are decades old, and it still required a long, painful break in.
Eventually it’s turned around and now is an excellent smoker.
My Bari Hand Cut has some kind of hard shell finish. That finish also seemed to be in the bowl.
I got in a brand new Nording Straight Grain Freehand, a gorgeous pipe, that was the same sad story about break in.
Aged briar tastes better. The tannins leech out, as it ages or something changes with it.
But if a pipe is sealed with a glossy finish I don’t think they age after they leave the factory.
My theory on gurgling is a badly designed bent pipe.
They get wet because the steam from the smoke condenses and the water runs back into the bowl. Or maybe your saliva runs down into the bowl. Perhaps it’s a little of both.
A full bent pipe needs a water trap.
Same here. A big, beautiful meerschaum smooth billiard. Too hot to hold no matter what I do. Sipping the slightest wisps, packing loosely, packing tighter, ribbons or flakes, dry or wet.
Always Hot
Same here. A big, beautiful meerschaum smooth billiard. Too hot to hold no matter what I do. Sipping the slightest wisps, packing loosely, packing tighter, ribbons or flakes, dry or wet.
Always Hot
A men who looked exactly like Charlie Rich the old country crooner in Springfield used to claim thirty years ago that all meerschaum was white, but not all meerschaum was the same grade and within grades there were a range of qualities.
He claimed the only way to know what grade and which quality was a trusted seller,,,,him of course.
Low grade meerschaum might be very high quality to look at it. The lowest grades aren’t as porous as the higher grades, and smoke hot.
The highest grade meerschaum will insulate best, because it’s very porous.
Yet there might be flaws in it that cause it to not color evenly.
His pipes he claimed were all very high grade, high quality meerschaum, and differed in price due to size and the artist who carved them.
The thousand dollar Bekler he smoked looked like a big war club sitting on the counter.
But for only two or three hundred dollars there were pocketable Beklers he sold by the boat load, to the fashionable matrons of the beauty shop next door.
If he ever missed a sale I never saw it.
It was a hoot to stand there and watch.
H
HRPufnstuf
Guest
Most of my turkeys are long dead, smoked to destruction.
I had one in particular that was a second from a major manufacturer. It smoked well for about one month and then the bowl fell away from the shank mid smoke - It had charred inside the shank just outside the bowl but there was no evidence of charring at the draft, it was all internal, not even discoloured finish on the bowl or shank to indicate something was wrong.
Never had a similar problem, but I thoroughly inspect any pipe I look at from this manufacturer, and have not purchased another pipe from them since.
I had one in particular that was a second from a major manufacturer. It smoked well for about one month and then the bowl fell away from the shank mid smoke - It had charred inside the shank just outside the bowl but there was no evidence of charring at the draft, it was all internal, not even discoloured finish on the bowl or shank to indicate something was wrong.
Never had a similar problem, but I thoroughly inspect any pipe I look at from this manufacturer, and have not purchased another pipe from them since.
That’s the problem with a major manufacturer second.
There was a reason it was a second.
This one had an astounding number of fills covered by brown stain. It looks “Leeish”, at least a Lee stinger fits.
It smokes the best, after probably seventy years since it was shipped with no name on it.
Beware a second or “no name” without any visible reason why it didn’t grade out as a first quality name brand pipe.
lucky the worst I have had is one pipe that fought me on the break in. Weirdly it just gets better and better the longer I have it. O.k. I have one pipe that sucks ass but I expected a real possibility it would. It looks cool and cost such a small amount I feel fine with it serving as a prop and nothing more. I wonder something here. The ones people seem to be complaining about are pipes they really seem to like the jib of their cut until smoking. Is the something about these pipes on the makers end or is it that if a pipe doesn't want to smoke good and isn't a stunner we don't give it the chance. Kind of like how the prettiest ladies create more stories about crazy exes because when she is that crazy psycho and only looks o.k. we all run to the hills instead of sticking around to see if things get better! I guess I will never know.
I would imagine some commissions might be hotter than factory pipes. Factories that are long established have the luxury of being able to really cure their briar for a long time, they can sit on it for years before or after turning a block into a pipe, or they can afford various equipments to speed up cure time.
For an independent though, they'd have to buy briar that's already been cured. Here, I am just speculating because I don't know that much about making pipes, but I could see it being that commissioned pipes from small, independent guys aren't cured as much and that leads to them smoking hotter at first. That seems like a plausible scenario to me; maybe that's the case for those?
As to a meer smoking hot, I can't say what could cause that other than faulty workmanship or low quality meerschaum?
In my case, I had one problem child and it wasn't that big of a problem. My Savinelli Roma Lucite (315 KS prince) didn't smoke poorly, but the draft hole and mortise had some tear-out when it was drilled, which created spots for bits of tobacco and moisture to get trapped and couldn't be cleaned easily just by running a pipe cleaner in, resulting in it getting sour quickly. I used a needle file to smooth out the draught hole and a thin dowel rod wrapped in sandpaper for the mortise and that fixed the problem.
For an independent though, they'd have to buy briar that's already been cured. Here, I am just speculating because I don't know that much about making pipes, but I could see it being that commissioned pipes from small, independent guys aren't cured as much and that leads to them smoking hotter at first. That seems like a plausible scenario to me; maybe that's the case for those?
As to a meer smoking hot, I can't say what could cause that other than faulty workmanship or low quality meerschaum?
In my case, I had one problem child and it wasn't that big of a problem. My Savinelli Roma Lucite (315 KS prince) didn't smoke poorly, but the draft hole and mortise had some tear-out when it was drilled, which created spots for bits of tobacco and moisture to get trapped and couldn't be cleaned easily just by running a pipe cleaner in, resulting in it getting sour quickly. I used a needle file to smooth out the draught hole and a thin dowel rod wrapped in sandpaper for the mortise and that fixed the problem.
I mostly agree especially in the case of the Peterson system pipes but I must add in the case of Ser Jacopo full bents without the reservoir, they smoke fine, of course this could be due to the more open draw common with Ser Jacopo.
Even though I smoked English/Latakia in the past, I never considered it to be a blend to break a pipe in with, especially if it had an uncoated chamber.
I wonder if this pipe had an uncoated chamber?
And then, if it was a coated chamber, if that might of been the problem. Then a deep clean, and sanding it out, to see if it helps. hmm
Ohhh @alaskanpiper Greg has a Smith House.
I wonder if this pipe had an uncoated chamber?
And then, if it was a coated chamber, if that might of been the problem. Then a deep clean, and sanding it out, to see if it helps. hmm
Ohhh @alaskanpiper Greg has a Smith House.
Last edited:
My only real problem pipe is my first pipe I ever bought, which is a Czech made basket pipe. I've kept it and occasionally smoke it as it was my first pipe.
I have a few old meerschaums that are a bit finicky, but overall, not terrible enough for me to not smoke them, or worse sell them off. Over time I've learned the nuisances of each pipe, so I can enjoy them while smoking them as opposed to fighting with them throughout the smoke.
I have a few old meerschaums that are a bit finicky, but overall, not terrible enough for me to not smoke them, or worse sell them off. Over time I've learned the nuisances of each pipe, so I can enjoy them while smoking them as opposed to fighting with them throughout the smoke.
Alrighty then...
Been smoking 49 years this month, and have owned about 200 pipes.
Only two bad ones, bought new in the late 1980's. Both tasted WAY off. Metallic and nasty.
Both were GBDs---a normal-sized bent bulldog and a largish billiard. They were passed to several smoker-friends who confirmed it wasn't my imagination.
Something was obviously outgassing from the wood when it warmed up.
Since both pipes were bought at the same time and were from the same mid-grade line--the International (standard Brit shapes with a rough burl-looking rim)---I chalked it up to a "bad batch" and moved on.
Pretty much anything else about a pipe that's likely to affect how it smokes can be spotted at the time of purchase, which (I guess) explains my good luck with pipes.
Been smoking 49 years this month, and have owned about 200 pipes.
Only two bad ones, bought new in the late 1980's. Both tasted WAY off. Metallic and nasty.
Both were GBDs---a normal-sized bent bulldog and a largish billiard. They were passed to several smoker-friends who confirmed it wasn't my imagination.
Something was obviously outgassing from the wood when it warmed up.
Since both pipes were bought at the same time and were from the same mid-grade line--the International (standard Brit shapes with a rough burl-looking rim)---I chalked it up to a "bad batch" and moved on.
Pretty much anything else about a pipe that's likely to affect how it smokes can be spotted at the time of purchase, which (I guess) explains my good luck with pipes.
Years ago, I participated in monthly pipe meetings in Chicago. A dozen of us met at a hotel near the airport, turned off the smoke alarms, and smoked a couple of bowls each, followed by a cigar. The drive home was challenging as I was shaking with nicotine overdose.
We all brought some of our pipes to show off. One time, the gentleman sitting across from me was smoking a beautifully grained Cellini, from the famous old Cellini pipe shop in Chicago. He took a liking to one of my Peterson's, a favorite of mine and one of my first pipes.
I made the trade, took the Cellini home, cleaned it, and it smoked sour, and continued to smoke sour for several smokes. I threw it out.
This was my first and last pipe trade. I felt snookered, and I missed my lovely old Peterson that smoked sweet as a nut.
By the way, the cigars were generously provided by the owner of Iwan Ries, another fabled Chicago pipe shop which is still in business. I recently mail-ordered from them a beautiful, circular 6-pipe stand, surprisingly hard to find nowadays.
We all brought some of our pipes to show off. One time, the gentleman sitting across from me was smoking a beautifully grained Cellini, from the famous old Cellini pipe shop in Chicago. He took a liking to one of my Peterson's, a favorite of mine and one of my first pipes.
I made the trade, took the Cellini home, cleaned it, and it smoked sour, and continued to smoke sour for several smokes. I threw it out.
This was my first and last pipe trade. I felt snookered, and I missed my lovely old Peterson that smoked sweet as a nut.
By the way, the cigars were generously provided by the owner of Iwan Ries, another fabled Chicago pipe shop which is still in business. I recently mail-ordered from them a beautiful, circular 6-pipe stand, surprisingly hard to find nowadays.
Last edited: