My two new Ropps came in yesterday, and I'm a bit disappointed in the horn-stemmed Rhodesian.
It's a very pretty pipe, very light, with a good sized bowl. Unfortunately, the stem is drilled to 1/8 inch, which is a bit more restricted than I like. To make matters worse, it doesn't seem to have been correctly drilled. Right at the transition from stem to button, the airway just barely made it through, so it shrinks to an off-center, far less than 1/16 inch passage that will not pass even a very thin cleaner. I haven't tried smoking it, of course, but when I draw air through it, it's a tiny, high-pressure stream aimed at the far left of my tongue.
I'm thinking I can possibly fix it, using a tiny, tiny drill bit as a saw, to open it up from the button end. I'm also afraid that I could really mess it up. I also kind of feel that, even after a bit of work, I'd still have a pipe with an eighth-inch draw, so I don't know what to do. I've never returned a product to a manufacturer in my life, and I don't really want to start now, but I am quite disappointed.
Now, the acrylic-stemmed Bulldog, is a really nice pipe.
The draw is perfect. I didn't measure it, but it feels right, nice and open so I can feel what the tobacco is doing. It looks a bit odd, with the delicate stem (is that a French thing) mated to the bulky Bulldog body. It looks a little unbalanced to me, but I knew that when I ordered.
I decided to break in the Bulldog with Frog Morton, because I love it, and it's very forgiving, so I loaded up a bowl last night, and again this morning. OK, only 12 hours of "rest." Sue me!
As I said, the draw was perfect, the .8 by 1.25 inch chamber seems like a great size, particularly in such a light pipe. I've only filled if half way both times ('cause that's what people say to do with a new pipe) but I think it'll give a nice, long smoke once broken in.
Break-in is going well. A bit of an odd taste, but less than my other briar pipes were, and FAR less than my Grabow. New pipes (for me) also seem to want to smoke hot, but the Frog Morton helped tame that. It's early, but I think this might become a favorite, despite the fact that I bought it only to fit in a change tray in my truck. It does fit perfectly, by the way, but I'm thinking it might be too nice a pipe to become a truck-living beater. I wonder if Grabow makes a fairly large bent pipe?
Anyway, that's my take on my new purchases. I'm sad about the pretty little Rhodesian...
It's a very pretty pipe, very light, with a good sized bowl. Unfortunately, the stem is drilled to 1/8 inch, which is a bit more restricted than I like. To make matters worse, it doesn't seem to have been correctly drilled. Right at the transition from stem to button, the airway just barely made it through, so it shrinks to an off-center, far less than 1/16 inch passage that will not pass even a very thin cleaner. I haven't tried smoking it, of course, but when I draw air through it, it's a tiny, high-pressure stream aimed at the far left of my tongue.
I'm thinking I can possibly fix it, using a tiny, tiny drill bit as a saw, to open it up from the button end. I'm also afraid that I could really mess it up. I also kind of feel that, even after a bit of work, I'd still have a pipe with an eighth-inch draw, so I don't know what to do. I've never returned a product to a manufacturer in my life, and I don't really want to start now, but I am quite disappointed.
Now, the acrylic-stemmed Bulldog, is a really nice pipe.
The draw is perfect. I didn't measure it, but it feels right, nice and open so I can feel what the tobacco is doing. It looks a bit odd, with the delicate stem (is that a French thing) mated to the bulky Bulldog body. It looks a little unbalanced to me, but I knew that when I ordered.
I decided to break in the Bulldog with Frog Morton, because I love it, and it's very forgiving, so I loaded up a bowl last night, and again this morning. OK, only 12 hours of "rest." Sue me!
As I said, the draw was perfect, the .8 by 1.25 inch chamber seems like a great size, particularly in such a light pipe. I've only filled if half way both times ('cause that's what people say to do with a new pipe) but I think it'll give a nice, long smoke once broken in.
Break-in is going well. A bit of an odd taste, but less than my other briar pipes were, and FAR less than my Grabow. New pipes (for me) also seem to want to smoke hot, but the Frog Morton helped tame that. It's early, but I think this might become a favorite, despite the fact that I bought it only to fit in a change tray in my truck. It does fit perfectly, by the way, but I'm thinking it might be too nice a pipe to become a truck-living beater. I wonder if Grabow makes a fairly large bent pipe?
Anyway, that's my take on my new purchases. I'm sad about the pretty little Rhodesian...