Does Bamboo Color As It Ages?

[verporchting]

Will the bamboo shank color or darken either with age or smoking?

Never owned one of these pipes and I’ve read that makers sometimes use flame to artificially darken the knuckles for cosmetic purposes, but wondered if they colored naturally from age or use.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sure does. Many natural accents such as ivory, hippo tooth, exotic woods, etc. do as well.

 

[didimauw]

Yes I've seen a bamboo stem of a cob get very dark over time.

 

[anotherbob]

Yes I've seen a bamboo stem of a cob get very dark over time.

yeah they really do. It's kind of amazing how it works. For a long while you can't tell if it's your imagination or the lighting and then one day it's really obvious how much darker they can get. Or in other words it's kind of slow to get noticable.

 

[verporchting]

Cool! I bought a pair of gorgeous Tsuge pipes from Dave Neeb and both have bamboo shanks. If they are half as nice looking as the photos then they are going to be real stunners. And Dave says the pictures don’t do them justice and he’s always been dead accurate in his descriptions so I’m pretty excited to see them.

 

[irishearl]

My only bamboo-shanked pipe started out with white bamboo and now, after many years, it is a golden brown. As the bowl is blasted with a black stain, I would have preferred it if it had stayed white.

 

[musicman]

One of my favorite things about a Bamboo shank is the way it yellows and ages with time. My first pipe has a bamboo shank (A Stanwell Bamboo) and I really love the patina that has developed over the past 12 years I've owned the pipe.

 

[ofafeather]

Cool! I bought a pair of gorgeous Tsuge pipes from Dave Neeb and both have bamboo shanks. If they are half as nice looking as the photos then they are going to be real stunners. And Dave says the pictures don’t do them justice and he’s always been dead accurate in his descriptions so I’m pretty excited to see them.

Glad you bought them. Had my eye on them for a while. Have one bamboo Tsuge which I love.

 

[musicman]

Cool! I bought a pair of gorgeous Tsuge pipes from Dave Neeb and both have bamboo shanks. If they are half as nice looking as the photos then they are going to be real stunners. And Dave says the pictures don’t do them justice and he’s always been dead accurate in his descriptions so I’m pretty excited to see them.

I have a Tsuge Tokyo series sandblast Bamboo, and I agree. Beautiful pipe, and great smoker as well! Picked it up pretty much unsmoked off the 'Bay for a great price. I feel like Tsuge doesn't get enough love from the forums. They make some really nice pipes, even outside the Ikebana series.

 

[ofafeather]

I have a Tsuge Tokyo series sandblast Bamboo, and I agree. Beautiful pipe, and great smoker as well! Picked it up pretty much unsmoked off the 'Bay for a great price. I feel like Tsuge doesn't get enough love from the forums. They make some really nice pipes, even outside the Ikebana series.

I love that shape and have put off pulling the trigger on one. The prices have only gone up.

 

[verporchting]

Glad you bought them. Had my eye on them for a while. Have one bamboo Tsuge which I love.

Had my eye in several pipes lately from Dave that have disappeared as I was dithering around. Figured I’d best jump on these two.

Couldn’t decide on the blast versus smooth, so I bought both, lol.

 

[ofafeather]

Couldn’t decide on the blast versus smooth, so I bought both, lol.

Good call! Love them!

 

[puffermark]

'Nuff said?

 

[verporchting]

Lovely patina!

 

[danimalia]

I bought a pair of gorgeous Tsuge pipes from Dave Neeb

Ha! Good for you. I'd had my eye on one of those since they went up. Was hoping to grab one later this week. I'm glad they went to a good home. They struck me as really beautiful pipes for not a ton of money

 

[danimalia]

Had my eye in several pipes lately from Dave that have disappeared as I was dithering around. Figured I’d best jump on these two.

Couldn’t decide on the blast versus smooth, so I bought both, lol.

Yeah, man, I figured there'd be a good chance they'd be sold before I could pull the trigger. I was leaning towards the smooth, but the blasted one was awesome, too! Hope they serve you well!

 

[coming to_falling too]

Yeah, man, I figured there'd be a good chance they'd be sold before I could pull the trigger. I was leaning towards the smooth, but the blasted one was awesome, too! Hope they serve you well!

I see them pop up new on SP all the time. A bit more out of pocket, but they're there. I saw a blasted one unsmoked on Blue Room not too long ago too, but it lasted a week, maybe a little more. I have a few lower end Tsuges, but they're well made and smoke really well. There was an unsmoked Ikebana on mke-law that i was eyeballing pretty hard. Probably a good chance I'll get it when i mosey my way back over there and it's still available. Been trying to hold of in case anything else shows up anywhere.

 

[ofafeather]

I love when pipes we admire end up in the loving hands of our compatriots and we get to hear about it. It seems to add another layer of enjoyment for me.

 

[danimalia]

I see them pop up new on SP all the time. A bit more out of pocket, but they're there. I saw a blasted one unsmoked on Blue Room not too long ago too, but it lasted a week, maybe a little more. I have a few lower end Tsuges, but they're well made and smoke really well. There was an unsmoked Ikebana on mke-law that i was eyeballing pretty hard. Probably a good chance I'll get it when i mosey my way back over there and it's still available. Been trying to hold of in case anything else shows up anywhere.

Nice! You have one of their Tasting line pipes, right? Been interested in those for a while. Always nice to have a good smoking pipe at such budget a friendly prices.

 

[coming to_falling too]

Nice! You have one of their Tasting line pipes, right? Been interested in those for a while. Always nice to have a good smoking pipe at such budget a friendly prices.

Yeah, i also have a topper and one of their Spider pipes. The Spider pipe is pretty cool in that it completely disassembles, and where the bowl threads onto is a kind of reservoir to catch moisture. Never had a falcon but i imagine something similar to that.