A few weeks ago, I laid my GBD military Dublin on the seat of the tractor as I was messing with the hitch, and unbeknownst to me it fell off the seat. I didn't realize until I heard a crunch under my foot, UGG! I broke the stem. Every time I have taken a broken stem to Skip, he has always told me, "tough luck, gotta buy a new pipe." He is a pipemaker, but says it's just not worth the money to get into repair work. I think he is like me and prefers working from imagination over the more dogmatic conditions of doing repairs.
But, he had given me this pipe as a gift, and even though I wasn't expecting him to break his "no repairs" rule, I took the pipe with me on my routine visit to The Briary. And, actually, I was surprised that he didn't just start showing me new pipes. He actually looked as sad as I felt when he saw it. He even suggested that he may have an old amber or acrylic military stem that might work. I just let him know that I would be happy with any stem, because the pipe was just a fantastic smoker.
He actually showed up at my house the next day, with a big grin on his face. "Cosmic, this is going to blow your mind! I couldn't find a stem worthy of this pipe, with the way the stem tapers... blah blah blah, so I made you a new one out of some brindled stock I had." I wasn't expecting that. What a great guy. So, now I have a brindled military stemmed Dublin. And, he made sure the new stem had the exact same draft size and everything, except the slot is much better. And, it smokes like a dream.
Anyways, I just thought I'd share that tidbit, as I pack her up with some Escudo and settle into my routine benchwork. Friends are great people.
But, he had given me this pipe as a gift, and even though I wasn't expecting him to break his "no repairs" rule, I took the pipe with me on my routine visit to The Briary. And, actually, I was surprised that he didn't just start showing me new pipes. He actually looked as sad as I felt when he saw it. He even suggested that he may have an old amber or acrylic military stem that might work. I just let him know that I would be happy with any stem, because the pipe was just a fantastic smoker.
He actually showed up at my house the next day, with a big grin on his face. "Cosmic, this is going to blow your mind! I couldn't find a stem worthy of this pipe, with the way the stem tapers... blah blah blah, so I made you a new one out of some brindled stock I had." I wasn't expecting that. What a great guy. So, now I have a brindled military stemmed Dublin. And, he made sure the new stem had the exact same draft size and everything, except the slot is much better. And, it smokes like a dream.
Anyways, I just thought I'd share that tidbit, as I pack her up with some Escudo and settle into my routine benchwork. Friends are great people.
