My New Clay

[hoosierpipeguy]

Just got this clay in from SP. Bowl is .73” x 1.5”, ideal. Loaded it up with Vauen No 14, a tobacco I smoke frequently and am familiar with.

First, the pipe. Extremely light, a little bit pretty. Certainly not ugly. Very cheap acrylic stem with a barely functional width. I think the stem is glued in, tried to twist it and it wouldn’t move to the point I was afraid I’d break it.




Applied fire and off we go. It’s definitely a different smoking experience. More neutral? How would I really know, I’m no jiminks. I suppose so. Seems like I can detect the tobacco nuances better, definitely the sweetness. Aside from being a bit of a PITA to clinch, the pipe smokes marvelous! I mean really, really good. I will undoubtedly smoke it often. In fact, I will smoke a bowl of McCranie’s Red Flake later, one of my absolute favs.

I wish they’d put a better stem in, I’d definitely buy more and be happy to pay a few more dollars. I’m going to buy a couple more anyway. I think I’ll buy one with the bare clay shank and put the friction tape on it to see how that works.

If you enjoy smoking a pipe, you owe it to yourself to buy one to try. Cheap experiment and worth it either way.

 

[The Clay King]

Just got this clay in from SP. Bowl is .73” x 1.5”, ideal. Loaded it up with Vauen No 14, a tobacco I smoke frequently and am familiar with.

First, the pipe. Extremely light, a little bit pretty. Certainly not ugly. Very cheap acrylic stem with a barely functional width. I think the stem is glued in, tried to twist it and it wouldn’t move to the point I was afraid I’d break it.
View attachment 181905

View attachment 181906

Applied fire and off we go. It’s definitely a different smoking experience. More neutral? How would I really know, I’m no jiminks. I suppose so. Seems like I can detect the tobacco nuances better, definitely the sweetness. Aside from being a bit of a PITA to clinch, the pipe smokes marvelous! I mean really, really good. I will undoubtedly smoke it often. In fact, I will smoke a bowl of McCranie’s Red Flake later, one of my absolute favs.

I wish they’d put a better stem in, I’d definitely buy more and be happy to pay a few more dollars. I’m going to buy a couple more anyway. I think I’ll buy one with the bare clay shank and put the friction tape on it to see how that works.

If you enjoy smoking a pipe, you owe it to yourself to buy one to try. Cheap experiment and worth it either way.
View attachment 181908

@hoosierpipeguy Welcome to the Fellowship of the Clay, my brother!
The cheap plastic stem would DEFINITELY not suit the Clay King

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

@hoosierpipeguy Welcome to the Fellowship of the Clay, my brother!
The cheap plastic stem would DEFINITELY not suit the Clay King

Okay Clay King, what do I need to do to get a nice stem?

 

[The Clay King]

Okay Clay King, what do I need to do to get a nice stem?

@hoosierpipeguy Not sure if pipe stems are interchangeable between pipes of different manufacturers. If I was getting one with a separate stem I'd choose a horn or amber stem but they cost a bit more.

 

[chilllucky]

Order from Lepeltier is what you need to do to get a nicer stem on a clay pipe.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

@hoosierpipeguy Not sure if pipe stems are interchangeable between pipes of different manufacturers. If I was getting one with a separate stem I'd choose a horn or amber stem but they cost a bit more.

I guess I'm going to have to drag this out of the Clay King one nasty detail at a time. Where would I find these fine clay smoking devices with nicer stems?

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Order from Lepeltier is what you need to do to get a nicer stem on a clay pipe.

Aaaahh, some nice ones it looks like. Unfortunately, I couldn't find details on the dimensions but I sent an email query. Thank you.

 

[crusader]

That's a pic of a happy man!

 

[chilllucky]

Aaaahh, some nice ones it looks like. Unfortunately, I couldn't find details on the dimensions but I sent an email query. Thank you.

You're welcome. Anything I can do to tear down monarchies.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Order from Lepeltier is what you need to do to get a nicer stem on a clay pipe.

Just bought this one. Found out their regular line has a bowl ID of almost an inch, the slim line more like .8". That is tolerable. The one I bought is a darker Ochre color than what is shown.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

Nice!

 

[STP]

Cool looking clay

 

[instymp]

Just bought this one. Found out their regular line has a bowl ID of almost an inch, the slim line more like .8". That is tolerable. The one I bought is a darker Ochre color than what is shown.

View attachment 182101

I did too, just now. Never had one so I will see.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Another positive I've noticed with the clay. The tobacco seems to stay lit better while smoking more slowly. Smoking this bowl of McClelland Anniversary more than 1 1/2 hours with just a couple of relights. And I've managed to avoid the bowl getting so hot that I couldn't hold it. Now it gets warm, no question. But smoking slow enough seems to keep that reasonable.

Another positive. The tobacco seems to more easily burn down to a fine ash with minimal or no dottle.

 

[bullet08]

Very tempting. Very. A nice looker!

 

[alaskanpiper]

I got the same one, yellow stem, but in white.

 

[kcghost]

Nice looking pipes!!

 

[Ebarber]

I just ordered 2 clays myself!
I have an old Scottish clay I got in Maine years ago at an antique shop included with a pipe stand.
I didn't smoke it for a long time and just kept it for display mostly.
I believe It's really old.
One day I decided to smoke it and I enjoyed it a lot.
I've been smoking it quite a bit lately and decided to order a couple of newer (non antique) clays because I'm scared to death I'll drop this one.
They do give a cleaner more neutral smoke.

 

[JOHN72]

I'm happy for you, my friend hoosier. Beautiful pipe.

 

[TheWhale13]

It looks good too!