Lead Time for Pipe Refinishing?

[AmtPav]

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9)

Hey everyone, most probably dont remember but I posted here back in December of last year with some pipes I inherited after my grandfathers passing. I took the advice of several members and sent them to Anthony Cook for a cleaning and polishing and I am curious to know by those who have used his services what the turnaround time is for this type of work. He received the pipes late February and have only received 1 email from him since which was in late March. I don't want to pester the man but I am starting to get kind of concerned. Could anyone here shed some light on this and help put me at ease.

 

[georged]

No worries, Anthony is the real deal. A fine young man and as reliable as gravity.

There is absolutely a bottleneck of demand regarding top-shelf restoration and repair for collectable grade pipes, though. Working on pipes is something that is easy to do conceptually, so there are many who offer it. It is viciously difficult to do "invisibly" well, though, and has no rewind button, so very few mess with that side of things or stick with it long if they do.

The result? Demand is high and turnaround time can be significant.

 

[AmtPav]

No worries, Anthony is the real deal. A fine young man and as reliable as gravity.

There is absolutely a bottleneck of demand regarding top-shelf restoration and repair for collectable grade pipes, though. Working on pipes is something that is easy to do conceptually, so there are many who offer it. It is viciously difficult to do "invisibly" well, though, and has no rewind button, so very few mess with that side of things or stick with it long if they do.

The result? Demand is high and turnaround time can be significant.

Thank you for the response! I will keep patiently waiting. Cant wait to share the finished product with everyone here.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Hey everyone, most probably dont remember but I posted here back in December of last year with some pipes I inherited after my grandfathers passing. I took the advice of several members and sent them to Anthony Cook for a cleaning and polishing and I am curious to know by those who have used his services what the turnaround time is for this type of work. He received the pipes late February and have only received 1 email from him since which was in late March. I don't want to pester the man but I am starting to get kind of concerned. Could anyone here shed some light on this and help put me at ease.

If I ever will have to repair my higher ends pipes again,(hopefully not) then probably this outfit will be the one I would opt to send my pipes to, and this 'statement' comes from overseas btw,

 

[briarbuck]

Anthony is worth the wait. He did a Comoy's Blue Riband extraordinaire for me along with a couple of other pipes.

I have found that dealing with Piper's is a lot like taking a trip to the Caribbean or South America. You need to change your time and service expectations because almost no one is in a hurry. lol

 

[mikethompson]

I will agree that 6 months is a long time, especially with only 1 email during that span. I would be a little apprehensive too. But I've never heard anything bad about their work though.

Just think how nice those pipes will be when you get them back.

 

[craig61a]

A few years ago I sent my Seiko divers watch that I got while I was in the service to be rebuilt by the guy who is the top Seiko repair guy in the US. Took me a year to get it back.

 

[hoppes]

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9)

Hey everyone, most probably dont remember but I posted here back in December of last year with some pipes I inherited after my grandfathers passing. I took the advice of several members and sent them to Anthony Cook for a cleaning and polishing and I am curious to know by those who have used his services what the turnaround time is for this type of work. He received the pipes late February and have only received 1 email from him since which was in late March. I don't want to pester the man but I am starting to get kind of concerned. Could anyone here shed some light on this and help put me at ease.

I sent Mr. Cook a James Upshall for repair and restoration over a year ago. My last contact was in May 2020 when he stated that it was in line for repair. I have emailed him and asked for my pipe back but so far no response. Has anyone had contact with Mr. Cook recently? Anyone had a pipe sent back recently? Any help would be appreciated. Hoppes

 

[ssjones]

I believe he has been out of contact for a while now. I'd try contacting him thru local channels.

 

[lightmybriar]

I’ve been unable to make contact with him for some time either. Hope everything is alright.

 

[OzPiper]

I sent Anthony a pair of pipes almost a year ago and last heard from him last June. Since then I've tried to contact him on several occasions with no reply. Very unlike Anthony, as he usually responds promptly.
I heard he may have had health issues, in which case I wish him a full and speedy recovery.

 

[bbqpiper]

Anthony has a couple of vintage pipes of mine that I sent for repair back in March 2019. I understand that he had a big shop move and some health issues in mid/late 2019 and as a result has a very large backlog according to our last correspondence in September of 2020. I try to keep tabs on the pipes every 6m or so but the latest emails have gone un-answered as well. Most importantly I do hope he is of good health and mind.

 

[bbqpiper]

It's been another year and another year of no communications. Does anyone know if Anthony Cook is ok and/or still repairing pipes? He still has a couple of my pipes from 2019.

 

[ssjones]

Unfortunately, I heard he did have some serious health issues and no one has heard from him since.
Google showed me might have a sister running a business in his town in VA, you might want to try tracking him down there.

 

[captpat]

I don't know him, but wish for a full and rapid return to health. In the meantime I hope his record keeping was good enough to support returning pipes to their rightful owners.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Good grief.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I see a few obituaries with that name since 2019. Anyone know which state he lived in?

 

[ph151]

I see a few obituaries with that name since 2019. Anyone know which state he lived in?

Virginia.