E A Carey Pipes for New Pipe Smokers

[Piping Abe]

I don’t have a Kirsten but I do own a Falcon and a Viking (copy by Dr Grabow).

I need a Kirsten.

Any pointers on which era or style?

They all have O-rings after Gen 1. Gen 1 was fabricated to be perfectly sealed without o-rings. If it’s your first and you are unfamiliar, I would buy one from dkmetalpipes.com (kroozrs on ebay) he specializes in Kirstens/metal pipes, he made an adapter that you can make a kirsten both bent and straight. (Get Bent adapter)

Theres so much, bowls made gen 1 are not interchangable with the future gens, but He also made an adapter that fits Gen 1 bowls to all other Gens.

Dkmetalworks Restores them and all that. You can message him on ebay. He is very knowledgable on the brand. They still make brand new Kirstens for purchase on their website as well. The o-rings are plentiful so I wouldnt worry if you even have one fail.

 

[Briar Lee]

They all have O-rings after Gen 1. Gen 1 was fabricated to be perfectly sealed without o-rings. If it’s your first and you are unfamiliar, I would buy one from dkmetalpipes.com (kroozrs on ebay) he specializes in Kirstens/metal pipes, he made an adapter that you can make a kirsten both bent and straight. (Get Bent adapter)

Theres so much, bowls made gen 1 are not interchangable with the future gens, but He also made an adapter that fits Gen 1 bowls to all other Gens.

Dkmetalworks Restores them and all that. You can message him on ebay. He is very knowledgable on the brand. They still make brand new Kirstens for purchase on their website as well. The o-rings are plentiful so I wouldnt worry if you even have one fail.

From looking at Kirstens online, a Falcon was a flat, and likely cheaper Kirsten.

A Kirsten had a brush cleaning kit you’ll see for sale. They had a large radiator or condenser tube.

A Duncan Hill Areosphere had a pregnant looking round stem with a tiny hole in the side. That was intended to be a sort of radiator, or condensing chamber.

WDC Wellingtons also had a big radiator or condensor section in the stems.

A Peterson system pipe had a flared section in the front of the stem.

Here’s the radiator and condensor and vent on a Carey. There’s a section of hollow plastic tube up inside the shank you can’t see, as well.

 

[Piping Abe]

From looking at Kirstens online, a Falcon was a flat, and likely cheaper Kirsten.

A Kirsten had a brush cleaning kit you’ll see for sale. They had a large radiator or condenser tube.

A Duncan Hill Areosphere had a pregnant looking round stem with a tiny hole in the side. That was intended to be a sort of radiator, or condensing chamber.

WDC Wellingtons also had a big radiator or condensor section in the stems.

A Peterson system pipe had a flared section in the front of the stem.

Here’s the radiator and condensor and vent on a Carey. There’s a section of hollow plastic tube up inside the shank you can’t see, as well.

Great info on Kirstens on Pipedia here:

Kirsten Pipe Company - Pipedia

pipedia.org

 

[Jbrewer2002]

I bought a brand new Inch pipe about 15 years ago. Never did care for how it smoked and I no longer have it.

 

[Briar Lee]

My $10 London Made Carey arrived and cleaned up in minutes.

This one is really, really nice, and low mileage.

These large billiards are what launched Carey. The London Made ones are just incredibly beautful, no pits or fills, and lots of grain.

There was a very light shellac or varnish that just peeled off, along with the fossilized tape, using Everclear and 4/0 steel wool.

I reamed and cleaned it, and filled it with Smoker’s Pride Cherry Cavendish.

If you can’t smoke this you can’t smoke a pipe. These are perfect for a beginner’s first briar.

 

[Briar Lee]

As an aside, a London Made Carey often had grain that’s about as pretty as it got, like this one. Carey contracted with a London maker to produce the stummels, and the stems and mortise for the magic inch are all exactly the same.

Under the varnish and stain of many of these old pipes is a wonderful surprise. What look like fills in photos are tiny dents. This is a perfect pipe.

This was the only style Carey sold until the late sixties, the large smooth billiard. This pipe is a dynamite good smoker, doesn’t get hot to hold, just exeptional.

And if you want just cut off a short length of plastic straw to convert a Carey into a conventional pipe.