Grain Under Solid Stain

[Searock Fan]

If you were a pipe maker, would you take a good piece of briar and stain it black?
jef

I can't see why any maker would want to....

 

[telescopes]

If you were a pipe maker, would you take a good piece of briar and stain it black?
jef

Yes. Not everyone is intrigued by grain, if that is what you mean by a piece of good briar. But everyone wants the pipe they smoke to be a good piece of briar.

 

[AJL67]

Don't worry--I will not skin this one out. I accept your statement as fact.

View attachment 162422

Please cut it in half and post pics!

 

[tabakpfeife]

I wondered about that myself. I just received a Peterson Harp 80S. Beautiful pipe, but it is stained a dark cherrywood color. I have no idea what the grain looks like. Smokes like a dream though.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I wondered about that myself. I just received a Peterson Harp 80S. Beautiful pipe, but it is stained a dark cherrywood color. I have no idea what the grain looks like. Smokes like a dream though.

I hope you don't EVER have to see what's under the "paint'.

 

[nolan613]

Human curiosity being what it is I think most of us wonder from yime to time what might lie below the finish. I would guess the manufacturer chose the finish based on the briar so I for one will pass on a voyage of discovery,

 

[Brendan]

Going against the grain here...

But wouldn't you need a flawless piece of briar to achieve a perfectly black look, especially if it is to be glossy etc.
Fills have the possibility of shrinking and you wouldn't waste your time painting something black if there is a chance any imperfections will show up.

Just a thought.

 

[kcghost]

Not a chance in hell a good carver would cover up a great grain with a very dark finish. Carvers aren't the brightest bulbs in the world but their not dumb.

 

[Briar Lee]

I was just wondering how pipe manufacturers decide which pipes get a solid stain costing (like Peterson Ebony pipes). Are they pipes that have above average fills? Are they pipes that have truly unremarkable grain? Are they just selected at random? I'd be curious to find out!

Let’s use Dr Grabow as an example.

It’s probably the largest pipe factory on earth in production numbers, making about 1,500 pipes per workday.

Grabow has about sixty workers.

Their best pipe is named a Royalton.

Grabow will price a Royalton the highest, likely sell the fewest of them, and have their most experienced workers turning them. You would too, if you managed Grabow.

New hires are someplace else in the factory making their cheapest line.

Before a workday starts, somebody grades and sorts the briar.

The oldest, most highly grained, best grade is reserved for Royaltons.

The Royalton worker wants to make a smooth Royalton with no stain. But although every piece of briar in front of him is of the highest grade there, it’s not all the same quality. As he turns it, some blocks have more pits and occlusions than others. So he stains and fills them, unless there’s too many flaws to meet Royalton quality control standards for smooth pipes, then he’ll “rusticate” the pipe.

Years ago Grabow sold colored paint dipped pipes.

Over at Peterson, it’s almost certain an Ebony pipe is one that while it made the grade, the block had too many fills to market as a smooth, unstained or lightly stained pipe.

The briar under the stain is Perterson grade, but it’s not of high quality.

It should smoke the same.

 

[Alejo R.]

Longchamp pipes were deliberately covered in leather to hide the flawed briar available (due to wartime restrictions in France in the ’40s).

They existed far beyond the end of the WWII,

 

[jiminy]

I just got ahold of a fellow who works for Peterson. He informed me that the pipes that get selected for the Ebony finish have very little grain (in nearly all cases). Of course there are some fills, that's a given, but the primary feature is lack of grain.

 

[jpmcwjr]

They existed far beyond the end of the WWII,

Yes, I bought one in 1966. It had a very small chamber, but was good looking.

 

[Alejo R.]

This opinion does not contribute anything. As has been said in previous reviews, There is no reason to cover a pipe with a perfect grain. But if you want an image..

 

[TheIronMonkey]

They existed far beyond the end of the WWII,

Yes, I know (I collect Longchamp pipes), but, they now had a signature look/identity. They stopped offering pipes in the late ’70s–early ’80.

 

[Alejo R.]

Yes, I know (I collect Longchamp pipes), but, they now had a signature look/identity. They stopped offering pipes in the late ’70s–early ’80.

It was always a company dedicated to leather products. I suppose that with the pipes his intention with the pipes was to put his expertise into an object of common use. obviously they didn't use the best pipes, which they surely bought from some manufacturer.

 

[telescopes]

I have a Chacom dress black Rhodesian. A few years ago I had to remove the black stain and reapply a new coating. The grain was perfect and there were NO FILLS. I could have chosen to give it a natural finish. I am only suggesting that a painted finish on a pipe by a well known manufacturer with high standards doesn’t imply anything about the grain. Or the possibility of fills.