My First Estate Pipe

[radio807]

I've never owned an estate pipe before, nor have I had the desire to get one until this weekend. I was poking around inside an antiques barn a few minutes from home and found this pipe in a pile of cruddy estate pipes, most of which seemed to be beyond repair. I got it for all of $5.00. The pipe is marked "Trailblazer" on the perforated aluminum stem piece, and the bottom of the bowl is stamped "Authentic Imported Briar. The pipe seemed to have been smoked very little and cleaned up easily and nicely. After I sanitized the stem and did the alcohol and cotton ball treatment of the bowl and shank I put two bowls of tobacco through it so far. The first bowl had a somewhat funky overtone to the taste, almost chemical, but the second bowl was noticeably better. Perhaps the alcohol treatment would account for that, don't know. The bowl is relatively large and the tobacco burns quite evenly. Aside from the odd taste, which I hope will disappear over the next few bowls, it smokes pretty well. One annoying thing I discovered is that the pipe starts to gurgle within the first few minutes of lighting it up. Moisture gets trapped in the ball at the end of the stinger, and even the smallest of pipe cleaners won't go into the ball when fed from the mouthpiece, which makes me wonder how I'm going to clean it properly. I'm going to try to remove the ball at the end of the stinger if I can figure out how to do it without destroying it. Anyway, can anyone tell me about this pipe, such as who made it and when they were made? I did a couple of web searches and found nothing about the pipe, but I did become an expert on Chevy SUVs!

 

[markw4mms]

Cool pipe! I wish I could help you with info on it.

 

[grizzly86]

That is an interesting find. Hope that funky taste clears up for you.

 

[rcstan]

Nice pipe!
Did you clean the shank with alcohol and shank brush and/or Q-tips?
http://pipesmagazine.com/python/general-pipe-section/routine-tobacco-pipe-cleaning-with-videos/

 

[waznyf]

That pipe is really cool! Wish I knew who made it so that I could attempt to find myself an identical one!

I too hope that the weird taste goes away and I wish you luck on your quest to find out the origins of the pipe.

Happy puffing ::

 

[baronsamedi]

Hey! A pipe with a flash suppressor! I like it!

 

[baronsamedi]

The only reference I could find was on pipedia, but the examples didn't look anything like yours. You really have something unique there.

 

[radio807]

I appreciate everyone's comments. The only thing any web search turned up was a completed eBay auction where one pipe exactly like this one was sold among a group of other pipes. Surprisingly, that was all to be found.
@rcstan thanx for the link to the pipe cleaning video. I had seen that one before and I did both a Q-Tip and shank brush in the shank, but perhaps I need to do something more. Right inside the shank where the stem screws in there's a chamber between the threaded insert and the airway at the base of the bowl. The chamber is there because the diameter of the threaded insert is smaller than the shank. It's not easy getting something in there to properly clean around the insert, so perhaps that's where the taste is coming from. I had thought about packing the chamber with salt and alcohol, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to get all of the salt out when it's wet. Maybe I'll try stuffing it with cotton if the taste persists after a couple more bowls.
@baronsamedi: Flash suppressor indeed! I like the way you think. If I could make pipes I'd make one from a real flash suppressor, but NJ has no sense of humor when it comes to that stuff.

 

[ssjones]

Neat pipe and find. I laughed on the "Trailblazer" search comment!

I had thought about packing the chamber with salt and alcohol, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to get all of the salt out when it's wet.

I do make sure some salt gets shaken down into the shank and than soaks up the alcohol. You might need a dental pick to remove, if you let it get rock hard. But, it is usually worth the effort as I find cleaning that draft hole is necessary to really banish ghosts.
That $5 estate might be the most costly purchase you have made, as you'll now be hooked on estates. I love getting a storied pipe from the past (British mostly) and find I would rather have three $100 estates than one, $300 artisan pipe. At least my PAD fund keeps getting spent in that manner. In fact, I'm off to my Post Office now to pick up my latest find. Two of my estate favorites were less than $20 each on Ebay.

 

[radio807]

That $5 estate might be the most costly purchase you have made, as you'll now be hooked on estates.

That seems to have already happened. On my way home from Harrisburg this afternoon I plan to hit two antique shops that I pass every week on my route. I'll have to remember to gas up the car first, while I still have money in my pocket.

 

[ssjones]

Just use that Heritage for estate pipe runs, easy on gas and you can get a lot of pipes in those bags!

 

[mluyckx]

That is one interesting looking pipe !
With regards to the ball at the end of the stinger, you may actually have two options

1) Deal with it ;-)

Although it does seem to have a thread at the end of the tenon. In general, it is less harmful to unscrew those while smoking. That allows you to clean out the stinger while you're smoking it. Although I would still not recommend it since I've found that even the thread can expand ever so slightly due to the heat while smoking that sometimes I feel there's a risk to the thread. So I would deal with it and learn the "gurgle wrist flick solution" ;-)
2) Cut if off

Very carefully with a fine tooth hacksaw you can cut off the ball. But then you are damaging the pipe and it may not be worth it.
Hope this helps.
And very, very cool looking pipe you got there

 

[shawn]

That looks pretty nice.

 

[radio807]

Well, I did the cotton ball and alcohol treatment to the shank the day before yesterday. I was going to use salt, until I remembered that salt and aluminum don't get along very well and I didn't want to mess up the threaded insert in the shank. I'm right now having another bowl and there's only a slight hint of the funk that was there when I first tried the pipe. I expect that after a few more bowls it'll all be gone. Many thanx to all who made suggestions. I think it's going be a keeper.

 

[bigmike]

Looks Cool............

 

[tslex]

Unique.
I have never seen one like that. Not even close.
I'll bet you anything it's worth more than $5.
Kind of doubt it would taste good, sucking smoke through aluminum. But a great collectible.

 

[ssjones]

Sometimes you have to smoke the funk out of an estate. A retort is supposed to solve that problem, I suppose that I should pick one of them up with as many estates as I buy.

 

[radio807]

A retort is supposed to solve that problem

Thanx for the tip Al. I never knew such a thing or technique existed, but after I saw your comment I did a web search and learned about it. If my PAD manifests itself thorough estate pipes I'll probably invest in a retort.

 

[ssjones]

A guy on the SmokersForum makes and sells retorts.

 

[radio807]

A guy on the SmokersForum makes and sells retorts.

Thanx Al, I'll check it out.