Freehand Pipe Blemishes

[warren99]

I love the plateau rims, this is a little more avant-garde then rims I think. It is not that I dislike it, I may actually be buying this pipe.

The plateau portion of the pipe you show is clearly not a flaw, however, it’s hard to tell whether the carver included it for purely aesthetic purposes or to cover up a sand pit or other imperfection in the briar. In either event, if you like the pipe and the price is right, my advice (for what it’s worth) is to go for it.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Crap, now you’ve got me wondering if the spot on my Sven Lar was accidental or intentional…

 

[Chasing Embers]

Big fan myself.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Crap, now you’ve got me wondering if the spot on my Sven Lar was accidental or intentional…View attachment 233575

I'd be more worried about that pinhole in the stummel.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I'd be more worried about that pinhole in the stummel.

Dunno if it’s the pic, but I don’t see one in hand.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Dunno if it’s the pic, but I don’t see one in hand.

Made you look.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Made you look.

 

[mingc]

The juxtaposition of the smooth man-made surface and the organic "natural" plateau is an intentional aesthetic feature. It's been part of eastern art for centuries and more recently western as well. I differentiate between the Scandinavian freehands, which aim to mimic nature, and the more recent ones that combine highly architectual/sculptural shapes and natural forms. There are pipes that are meant to look like you've picked it up from the forest floor and others that are undeniably shaped by a human but with "natural" portions left behind for interest. Both can be hard to achieve.

Picked up from the forest floor (Ben Wade):

Juxtaposition of human and natural (Pan Langjiang):

A bit of both (Kadesh Swanson):

 

[Ben.R.C]

The pipe in question is 9.2 inches long as well, not sure how practical that is. it’s a darn reasonable price for a Florov.

 

[Ben.R.C]

Well, I settled on one with nice plateau rim, Yeti’s latest Instagram post.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

This pipe is the opposite of the original pipe in question, where the plateau is mostly intact. Is the “flaw” where it’s smooth?

In all seriousness, if you look at the last shot with the top view of the chamber, this gives you a rare view of the tubular structure of the briar root extending out to the plateau in 360 degrees.

 

[Ben.R.C]

This pipe is the opposite of the original pipe in question, where the plateau is mostly intact. Is the “flaw” where it’s smooth?

In all seriousness, if you look at the last shot with the top view of the chamber, this gives you a rare view of the tubular structure of the briar root extending out to the plateau in 360 degrees.

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This is one crazy pipe!

Until this thread, I had no idea that plateau meant the good, outer part of the briar. Thanks to @Chasing Embers, I learned something valuable, which was really the point of my post in the first place.

 

[kcghost]

You have a very high standard of what a pipe is to you. Nothing wrong with that but you have to look over a lot of pipes to be happy with one.

 

[mingc]

This pipe is the opposite of the original pipe in question, where the plateau is mostly intact. Is the “flaw” where it’s smooth?

In all seriousness, if you look at the last shot with the top view of the chamber, this gives you a rare view of the tubular structure of the briar root extending out to the plateau in 360 degrees.

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Yowzah! That is some pipe! The radial grain on the rim is amazing! But how is it drilled? Is the draft hole curved?

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Yowzah! That is some pipe! The radial grain on the rim is amazing! But how is it drilled? Is the draft hole curved?

No, it’s actually drilled with two straight lines—this is not exactly lined up (the bent one should be a little higher), but these Churchwarden pipe cleaners should give you a pretty close idea:

 

[WerewolfOfLondon]

This pipe is the opposite of the original pipe in question, where the plateau is mostly intact. Is the “flaw” where it’s smooth?

In all seriousness, if you look at the last shot with the top view of the chamber, this gives you a rare view of the tubular structure of the briar root extending out to the plateau in 360 degrees.

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Wow, what a pipe that is.

 

[Egg Shen]

This pipe is the opposite of the original pipe in question, where the plateau is mostly intact. Is the “flaw” where it’s smooth?

In all seriousness, if you look at the last shot with the top view of the chamber, this gives you a rare view of the tubular structure of the briar root extending out to the plateau in 360 degrees.

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Wow I would have hard time not buying that pipe if I saw it in the store. Who made it?

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Wow I would have hard time not buying that pipe if I saw it in the store. Who made it?

I’m not sure of the maker, but it’s my understanding that it was in the collection of the pipemaker, Thomas Cristiano, for over sixty years. It was unsmoked when I got it, but I opted to smoke it as part of my 60th birthday celebration back in February. It’s a bit difficult to see the chamber when lighting because it’s so tall.

 

[Egg Shen]

She’s truly unique. I like how it looks like a root.

 

[mingc]

No, it’s actually drilled with two straight lines—this is not exactly lined up (the bent one should be a little higher), but these Churchwarden pipe cleaners should give you a pretty close idea:

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Very cool. I bet Cristiano was relieved when the two draftholes actually met up.