Oil cured pipes besides Dunhill/Ashton?

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greatdane

Might Stick Around
Dec 26, 2018
66
26
Besides Ashton and pre-1960 Dunhill; which pipe makers past or present used oil curing/treatment for their pipes? Thanks
 

MCJ

Can't Leave
May 22, 2022
424
3,615
NW Connecticut
Les Wood's Ferndown pipes are oil cured. Both Les and his wife Dolly worked for Dunhill prior to going out on their own. Per an interview with Les on Pipepedia:

"We had our method of Oil-Curing. We applied Oil to the outside and the inside of the bowl, that was because when Dolly was at Dunhill's factory, she worked in the finishing department and got such a high finish on the pipes they wanted to know how she did it. The bowls had already gone through Dunhills' oven oil curing system, but to her, it was not enough, because it could not get the shine that she wanted, then, she oiled the bowl on the outside and the inside to get a better finished. She left Dunhill and came to work with me. Because of this process, we found out the smokers liked the taste when light up their pipe - they said there was no aftertaste and it had a sweet taste doesn't matter what tobacco they used. We have carried it on from there." Les Wood.
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,632
29,303
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
Isn't it even debated whether Dunhill ever even oil cured his briars?
it's amazing how similar the world of pipes is to the world mythology. I've heard both that they do oil cure and it's why we're all smoking garbage while the Dunhill smoker is smoking pure bliss... Also heard it's marketing b.s. in the same vein as the chicken with no antibiotics (you know you can't sell chicken to feed people if they've had antibiotics) or the toasting of the lucky strikes. Or in other words I've heard they are just bragging about something everyone does.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,724
13,692
Humansville Missouri
Maybe Lee did it.

There’s no debate Dunhill oil cured Algerian briar early on, to toughen it. He even got a patent on the process:

——

The Dunhill pipe has always been synonymous with the word quality in pipe making. Much of this value judgment, I feel, has to do with the firm's unique "oil curing" process invented by Alfred Dunhill. This process, in my estimation, does three things - it makes the tobacco taste unusually "nutty"; it has a very low rate of bowl "burn-out" compared with other makes; and, it helps the pipe to smoke well even after many years. This process is still very closely guarded by the firm and is not normally shown to visitors. I was shown the process because I brought a copy of the original patent with me and specifically raised the issue.

—-

Did Lee oil cure his briar?

He didn’t advertise that, but I’m convinced he did by how well Lees smoke.
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,427
Referencing camaguey's post #12, Iwan Ries used to source its house pipes from Edwards Benton series, and they were oil-cured Algerian briar, which is pretty elegant for a house pipe at a moderate price. Mostly on the merit of the IR name and stamp, I bought three -- a straight smooth tapered billiard, a Canadian (one of my bigger chambered pipes), and a pocket Oom-Paul. I bought these at least 25 years ago, probably longer ago, and they still look great and smoke exceedingly well.

I also have a Ferndown given to me by a Forums member, so I'm glad to know that that is oil-cured briar as well. It's a fine pipe, but I didn't now that detail. I think Les Wood started with Dunhill as a metal smith. I didn't know his wife was Dolly and also worked at Dunhill. The Ferndown is one of my up-market treasures.

I always learn something on Forums.
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,427
That's my impression as well. I don't see new Edwards pipes for sale anywhere. The current sourcing on Iwan Ries house pipes is Genod in France, which did some of their first house pipes long ago. Then they had the Bentons (from Edwards), and then Savinelli, and now they are back to Genod. Maybe there were others I don't know.