Do You Smoke Clay Pipes?

[romeowood]

Play-Doh is no good :P at the Dawnmist site Heather has oodles of information about the specific types of clay that have been used historically and the kinds she uses. I recently got a black clay one from her that sits on my computer stand at all times so as not to be too far from my sight--it's a beauty!

 

[spartan]

Has anyone ordered from Lepeltier Pipes?

P.S. I guess I really don't care if a clay pipe smokes hot (duh) Gives me an excuse to find a snazy smoking glove to keep my hand cool. 8)

 

[juni]

Here are my two Dawn Mist pipes:

That little one is a perfect short smoke-break pipe. I use it a lot.

 

[nemrod]

I smoke my dawnmist (I made this thread pawpaw linked to) several times a week and it still performs very well. Have to use a knife to scrape out the cake every now and then since the bowl is so small and it builds up surprisingly fast (get about 15 minutes out of it).

 

[juni]

I hear you can burn the cake off too but I haven't tried that. Some people throw them in a fire to clean them.

 

[yoru]

Throwing them into the fire is just about the only way to actually clean them. You basically end up 'sweating' out all the crap that has soaked in. If the fire is hot enough (preferably in the range of the temperature used to create it) it will come out brand new again. re-firing clays does wonders for their longevity, though you do need to re-'season' them afterwards, this could be a good thing if you smoked one type of tobacco in it too long, or just had one really bad blend put in.

 

[marmal4de]

No, I don't.

Likewise, though I'll be smoking a couple meers soon.

 

[robinmzg]

I always got some clay pipes.

Both kind the churchwardens and the smaller ones.

In Germany we got a clay pipe bakery.They got a lot

of different shapes and sizes for a great price

http://www.pfeifenbaecker.de/html/uber_uns.html

 

[nemrod]

robinmzg: that looks pretty awesome, but from what I can tell there is no way to buy anything except calling or e-mailing? Does he speak English at his age?

 

[lankfordjl]

I purchased this estate clay pipe on ebay last week; it's between 60 and 120 years old (don't know). I just finished cleaning it up; removed the cake. And I made this nifty reed stem (from bamboo). So hopefully its as close to an original as possible. Can't wait to try it out.

 

[youngpipesmoker]

I just got my first clap pipe and am smoking it now. Its 16ins long and the style is in the 18th century tavern pipe and i love it.

 

[thehappypiper]

I almost bought a Lepeltier Pipe and emailed the company for more information. Mdme Le Peltier herself emailed me back very quickly but I didn't order one. I can't remember why. I suspect it might have been the outrageous Canadian Postal charges. The photograph with juni posted is apposite- there is a handmade briar pipe in this shape at my local pipe shop and it is an absolute peach. It is made beautifully, with an elegance and lightness I have rarely seen anywhere, even online. Trouble is, it's $750. I could probably negotiate 30% off, but that is still rather a lot of money for a curiosity when I need only one more pipe to have a complete rotation.

 

[foggymountain]

I used to smoke clays when I was a teenager. They only cost about a quarter back then. I couldn't afford a good array of briars, so I got some clays. Once they got brownish they smoked very well, if hot. The problem was that if you laid the pipe down with insufficient care, the clay stem broke off. The pipes started as churchwardens and ended up as nosewarmers, which made them too hot to hold.

 

[anglesey]

I also bought a dawnmist pipe. Arrived well packaged, in good time. I don't smoke it very often, but when I do I can easily get through three bowls before getting bored, and mostly I don't even get bored, just interrupted.
I've got a few other clays, but I can't remember ( or never knew) the name of any of them. They're all lovely smokes, and always more moreish than a briar.

 

[condorlover1]

I think a variation of this thread surfaced somewhere else on the forum. I smoke clays quite often and have a couple at the house and at the office. I have never really enjoyed the long church warden style of clays as they are very fragile so I have always stuck with the cutty style short clay pipe. Foggymountain is correct in that as they turn brown/crud color through use they really do smoke well. The tip on the stem is either yellow or red glaze to stop you getting lip cancer! If you are a regular clay users like myself you have to watch out for 'notches' on your teeth which occur when the stem grinds down the tooth causing a circular hole in the top and bottom set of your jaw! This happens when you clench the pipe in your mouth for long periods while working.

 

[Dutch Pipe Smoker]

I never clench my clay pipes, the mouthpiece and my teeth are thankful for that!

For some more info about (Dutch) clay pipes and links where to buy clay pipes (also see the comments) see this blogpost of mine: Dutch Clay Pipes

 

[The Clay King]

I bought a Victorian clay pipe for £5 a few weeks ago at Chesterfield flea market and have smoked it a few times, though only with cigarette rolling tobacco as this is all I could lay my hands on! It smokes well but like all clay pipes it burns hot, especially as tobacco intended for roll your own cigarettes tends to burn hotter than pipe tobacco.

 

[winton]

I have three clay pipes. I recommend the pipes from Old Dominion Pipe Company. http://www.olddominionpipe.com/everyday

 

[molach95]

I have a collection of Victorian/Edwardian clay pipes, although I only smoke two traditional clays - one a Dutch churchwarden and the other a cutty from Heather Coleman at Dawnmist. I also smoke three Peterson-style clays with regular stems made in the '60s. I'll take some pictures of the collection, there's about 13 or 14 or more in there.

 

[eaglewriter1]

I have two Clays in my collection and while I dont smoke them regulary every time I do smoke them I ask myself why I dont smoke them more often. Clay gets hot but if you can get over that fact it smokes as well as any briar, just a little different.