Hairline Crack In My 1979 Pete Star System 305

[gwtwdbss]

Well I have have not had much luck with my "good" pipes lately. Yesterday morning getting ready for work, I put my 305 in a canvas shaving bag with a few baggies of samples and a 4oz jelly jar of McClelland Blackwoods Flake. Somehow in the fuss of the morning the bag tumbled off of the countertop. When I got to work I took the pipe out and examined it. It was to my heartbreak that I saw the hairline crack in the bowl. This is the second pipe in two weeks that my hurriedness and careless have damaged. Maybe its a wake up call to not get into a rush and slow down a little more. I have been trying but mornings always seem a bit rushed for me.
Anyway the pipe it still smokable. I did take about a 1/32 off the crown to try to sand away the crack. But it's still there. The crack is too small to glue or epoxy. I just don't want it to get any worse. Any suggestions as far as repair or should I just smoke it and try to forget about it?

 

[crpntr1]

Pipe mud maybe?

 

[cajunguy]

Unfortunately, that's a crack that is traveling across the plateau; if you've tried to sand, that means it's fairly deep. It's in a really bad position and, in my opinion as someone who restores pipes, there isn't much you can do except be careful. Smoke easy, try to gauge how deep the crack is, and don't fill it past that point. With some extra care, it might never worsen.
Now, there are metal rim bands that will cover the top. I've seen pipes with them. They are mostly decorative, but they can add some measure of protection by keeping the wood from expanding too much. I'll check some places and see if I can get you a link.

 

[photoman13]

That sucks man. Lately I have seen a lot of petes with problems on here.

 

[hawk60ce]

You can send it to me :lol:

 

[gwtwdbss]

I wouldn't mind a band cajunguy but that is beyond my level of expertise. If you find that link, maybe you can point me in the right direction as to doing a repair. The band on the shank is sterling silver so the band on the crown should match. Any help or direction you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cajunguy]

As soon as I find something, I'll be sure to let you know.

 

[crpntr1]

Walker briar works should be able to fix you up

 

[ssjones]

You could drizzle a little superglue on the inside of the bowl, sand it smooth with some 1500 or so wet paper and see if it stops the crack from spreading. My buddy uses this repair a lot for shanks, but also usually bands the pipe afterwards. If you are careful, you can't really harm it or make it worse.

 

[numbersix]

@gwtwdbss That's too bad , at the same time, it looks repairable. I have never tried these folks, but I've read several good things about them:
http://www.norwoodspiperepair.com/
If it were my pipe, I would send them a photo and ask what they could do. Good luck.

 

[cajunguy]

gwtwdbss,
I've checked all my normal places and found a few new ones, and none of them have a rim band. I was looking for a nickel cap, silver plated, that would have been on the more reasonably-priced side.
I recommend e-mailing Dave Walker over at Walker Briar Works. He'll probably ask for a picture and go from there. He might be able to suggest something I've not thought of regarding the rim crack.

 

[tokerpipes]

Why don't you consider making it into a wind capped pipe, some call it a huricane cap. I don't know if it would work but it would be a band that goes around the outside of the bowl and would have a hinged cap with holes to allow smoking. The cap would be glued in place and would fit snuggly, so the crack probably wouldn't get worse. Plus it may look very nice.

 

[topd]

We all hate when something like that happens, but it's not a game stopper. I have a no-name bulldog that cracked

on me about 25 years ago in about the same place. The crack hasn't grown or burned through. Just keep smoking it.

(Don't look at it).

 

[ejames]

I doubt that you damaged that pipe. It looks to me to be a natural occurring crack-it happens. You might be able to smoke that pipe for the next 10 years without any problems,but then it may "explode" the next time you smoke it.

 

[gwtwdbss]

Thanks for the advice guys. Dave Walker suggested that I leave it alone but would fill it for me if I really wanted to. I think I will leave it alone or maybe try a drop of superglue like Al suggested.

 

[tbradsim1]

Chris I would try the super glue, like the fellows are saying it has been used and works , I did a shank like Dave and I"ve been smokeing it for quite a while, if it was mine you need to expand the crack so superglue gets in the crack, fire up a hair dryer and gingerly heat the crack while it's hot drop some super glue in crack, then grab that rim and squeeze hard holding it for a couple minutes, I bet you"ll be smokeing that pipe when I"m long gone. The old cajun

 

[ejames]

You probably won't be able to get much glue in that crack,and if you try to spread it to open it up so you can- you risk breaking it. You can do that on a shank sometimes but with the amount of force required to open that crack where it is-- just might cause un-repairable damage. The glue must penetrate the crack in order to hold and getting it in there isn't worth the risk-IMO. Heating it might work.

I'd just smoke it.

 

[tbradsim1]

Ejames out of all the people on this forum I value your opinion the most, he"s gonna smoke it and the rim doesn"t get that much heat, so I figured like you said you need to get glue in that crack, so I figured a hair dryer gently applied would expand it enough to get a little glue in it. I bought a super glue applicator with a long pointed tip ,Chris could then put a little dab in the crack, The old cajun

 

[ejames]

I've never tried it,but don't think heating would open it up enough to get the glue in deep enough,but it ain't gonna hurt to try it! Like you and Dave mentioned you can sometimes glue a shank. When I do it, I clamp the pipe in my vice (with rubber jaw covers) so that I can gently pry the crack open allowing the glue to penetrate the crack.Don't really know if heating would expand the briar enough to work or not.
You healin' up?

 

[tbradsim1]

I"m takeing my wifes pain pills & muscle relaxers,makeing me goffy,wife told me to shut up cause i wasn"t makeing sense,I told her how do you like the real me LOL