How do You Know it's a Quality Pipe ?
- Thread starter Buescher308
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Trouble is there's always potential for very inexpensive pipes to have very high quality design, as is the case with Missouri Meerschaum, no one new to the world of Tobacco Pipes would suspect that Cobs have more in common with the best Artisan Pipes than they do with ordinary Factory Pipes.
It just happens that Missouri Meerschaum is the only company I know of doing that right now, nonetheless there is always the potential.
Though I would even say MM are quality made cobs as compared to other cheap knock offs I’ve seen out there (infrequently). I just mean that within each category and price point, I can usually tell just by looks and feel if said item is of quality. I was gifted a terrible pipe one Christmas by my father in law, I feel like anyone could just hold that in their hand and immediately understand that it’s a shitty pipe, it was the thought that counts, of course.
A lot of things in this world are made very crudely and also work very well.
Some people would call it a "rustic" aesthetic, but beyond the aesthetic the draft hole could be horribly off center and that's going to make effectively zero difference to the quality of smoke (most pipes have a round chamber and which "side" the hole enters is irrelevant), or I'll go so far as to say a wobbly tenon is still of hardly any detriment.
As long as it's drilled correctly, just following basic principles, it would be impossible to see the performance difference between an ugly but highly functional pipe and a highly polished but very restrictive smoking pipe.
This really is excellent information! It's sort of the mental checklist that one does without thinking after some years and some pipes, but it is great to see written out like this!
Ha! This is a photo I took and posted in a forum a month or so ago. I'm actually smoking it right now.
The thing about it is that it is poor drilling. It's inexact. Some people on the forum said they had some pipes drilled to the side a tad but were great smokers.
I have the same experience. This pipe is a excellent smoker.
It's worth noting that drilling to high up would pose a bigger problem.
I'm not even sure if a high draft hole really matters either.
If you look at the draft hole on many bent pipes, especually Full Bent, sometimes the hole emerges from the side wall half an inch off the floor.
In a straight pipe we'd be crying bloody murder, but in a bent it's just a fact of life.
Does that mean all bent pipes are poor smokers?
If the draft is drilled straight and flush with the bowl that is a sign of a highly skilled craftsman, but it would be near impossible to prove that an off center draft makes the pipe smoke worse.
I assume at worst it's just going to leave more dottle.
Price doesn’t always equate into a better smoker.
Take your time and learn, especially if your pockets aren’t deep, to get the best for your money!
Be sure to read this!
The Myth of Brand and Maker in Pipesmoking
By Dr. Fred Hanna, Ph.D
@Buescher308
Please post later over in Pipe Talk;
Pics of your Buescher's Pipes, and tell us some about all this and your family, this is really interesting to share!
Please post later over in Pipe Talk;
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Pics of your Buescher's Pipes, and tell us some about all this and your family, this is really interesting to share!
Buying pipes online is always a little bit of a gamble especially from overseas,