Peterson Questions

[billjohnso20]

I have four Peterson pipes (2 are standard system pipes and 2 are deluxe system pipes). Of the four, three are restored estate pipes and one is a new standard system pipe but all have/had the same problem; they taste(d) horribly acrid 20 minutes into each bowl. I tried several things like thorough cleanings with rubbing alcohol and with my favorite whiskey, soaking the stems in both rubbing alcohol and OxiClean, etc. While this did remove the tar build up in the stems (one of the estate pipes had hardened tar throughout the stem, and stummel). I did some searching online and found various, often conflicting, explanations. The one I found most often was the claim that Peterson dips their pipes in the stain and the bad tastes was caused by the stain in the bowl vaporizing. Some claimed a thick cake helped others said the cake made no difference. Some stated it would go away while others said they rarely smoked their Petersons because of the taste.

So, I decided to remove the cake completely in three of the pipes (2 of the estate pipes and the new one which tasted just as bad as the estate pipes) and then reamed the last estate pipe but without removing the cake completely to use as a control. The three pipes that I completely removed the cake down to the bare wood no longer have the acrid taste they had. The control pipe still tastes horribly acrid so I will also be removing the entire cake in it along with the stain as I did in the other three. I am currently going through a new break in period with the three I have reamed out and will with the last one as well. The three I did first are breaking in nicely an are finally a pleasure to smoke.

I have 35 pipes in my collection several of which are estate pipes I restored myself. The only ones I have that ever had an acrid taste are the four Petersons. I have pipes of varying quality and price---bent, straight, and churchwarden---pre-carbonized and untreated alike---briar, meerschaum, pear, and aluminum hybrids. 31 of the 35 are all broken in and are all great smokers. The four Petersons were the only pipes that I hated smoking for more than 20 minutes. I am now going to do to the last Peterson what I did to the other three. That way all of my pipes are a pleasure to smoke.

So my question is, why in creation does Peterson stain the inside of the bowl? If you have cured the problem using another method would you share your secret? As of right now, I likely will not purchase anymore Peterson pipes in the future because I shouldn't have to do so much work to any pipe much less pipes considered to be of such quality as Petersons purport to be.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Soooo, the pipes that have built up cake on the inside, still taste like stain? I don't think I have ever heard of that.
Hopefully someone who knows the answer will be able to better help you.

Are you sure it is stain that you taste? If all came from the same person, maybe they were smoking some weird Lakelands, or crack?

I had a Hilson that had a Lakelands ghost, and it didn't taste anything like tobacco. I had to pretty much grind it down to bare wood.

Good luck!

 

[supperthyme]

So my question is, why in creation does Peterson stain the inside of the bowl?

I'm sure it's to make production faster.

Staining a pipe without allowing any excess dye to drip into the chamber is actually quite hard and makers often spend extra time sanding down their chambers to eliminate drip stains. Peterson has obviously opted to forgo this effort and dip-dyes the majority of their stummels.

Here's a thread on this-
Peterson pipes being dipped into staining tanks - pipemakersforum.com - http://www.pipemakersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5504

 

[warren]

So my question is, why in creation does Peterson stain the inside of the bowl?

Have you given any thought to asking Peterson itself? peterson.ie so you don't need to go to the bother of looking up the address.

After getting the correct information you could, perhaps, post it here for the edification of the members.

 

[pylorns]

From Mark Irwin - and info about this is in the Peterson Book.

Peterson quit staining the inside of their bowls around 2005. There is bare wood on the inside of the chamber and in the shank. From gateway pipes on up.

 

[allosh]

Have you given any thought to asking Peterson itself? peterson.ie so you don't need to go to the bother of looking up the address.

After getting the correct information you could, perhaps, post it here for the edification of the members.

I have three Petersons. I love them they are all estates so they may have aged out any tastes.
I did find in estate pipes I need to take a lot of time and many Qtips with alcohol. The Qtips come out filthy and it is a real challenge to clean an estate sump. Are you able to get a pipe cleaner through the p lip?
Good luck.

 

[anotherbob]

my new peterson kinda wasn't great until broken in, now it's amazing. Why? no clue

 

[mikefu]

I haven’t had that issue with any of my Petes. When I have had an issue with acrid taste partway through a bowl is when the pipes (old estate Comoy’s, Edwards, and Stanwell, respectively) had oxidation of their vulcanite inside the stem. I’d clean, think it was good, smoke for a while with no issue, and then, Bam! Acrid, bitter nastiness. Finally I solved the issue by a thorough cleaning with Barkeepers Friend on a warden cleaner, and kept at it until it was absolutely free of brown oxidation residue. Then i hit it with some toothpaste for a final cleaning and now I’m good to go. Thanks to the wisdom of the forum (Duane, did memory serves) for the method recommendation.

 

[mso489]

All my Petes are non-system, all fishtail bits except one P-lip, and most in low or mid-range price. I don't get any funky taste with simple maintenance: Scoop ash, wipe out bowl, pipe cleaner, and general polishing. The non-system pipes seem to burn pretty dry, and I haven't had any quality control issues with the finish, airway, or stain in the bowl, though that may all be luck. I think I have about a dozen.

 

[mau1]

Aside from the question of the stain in the bowl, I'm wondering if it could be that the condensation chamber (or reservoir) of each pipe needs an extensive cleaning? I pulled this from the Peterson Pipe Notes site...

"Perhaps even more important than those realizations is understanding how to properly clean and maintain a System pipe. If you’ve been smoking, ashing, and cleaning your System pipe the same way you’d clean your Dunhill or artisan briar, your experiences probably haven’t been great. I can empathize. After finishing a bowl in my Peterson, I used to turn it upside down and ash out the dottle. What I didn’t realize is that by doing that immediately after or during a smoke, I was actually draining the moisture collected in the reservoir directly into the tobacco chamber. When I went to relight or smoke another bowl later, the flavor was acrid and repellant; I thought my System was faulty."

• Shortly after a smoke, remove the stem from the army mount. Don’t worry about the pipe being hot; with the military mount, you needn’t worry about mortise warping or cracks.
• Wick out the moisture reservoir and inside of the shank before dumping the ash. Mark Irwin recommends taking a bit of tissue, twisting it, and inserting it into the shank until it fully engages with the well. He also recommends doing this while the pipe is still hot, as the moisture flows better. You can even tilt the pipe up, with the shank facing the floor, to further drain the well. Once the tissue is in place, it’s fine to dump the ash from your bowl.
• After drying the moisture well and emptying the ash, fold a fluffy pipe cleaner and swab out the reservoir, then use a bristled pipe cleaner to scrub the walls of the shank. Then run a tapered pipe cleaner through the stem. The tapered end should fit nicely into the P-Lip’s aperture, while the broader end will work better for the larger opening at the base of the stem.
• Once everything is swabbed and cleaned, fight the urge to reassemble the pipe. A Peterson pipe should rest with the stem detached from the bowl, as it allows everything to dry out nicely. It’s best to let it rest apart at least overnight. This is a hard one for most pipe smokers because it counters how we maintain most pipes. But again with the military mount, you don’t have to worry about mortise damage.
• Finally, every once in a while, it’s good to clean out the moisture well and shank with Everclear or your favorite spirit. If you’re familiar with the salt solution method, that works wonders too in keeping a System pipe tasting clean.

A bit of long post, but a lot of good information. Thank you Peterson Pipe Notes!

 

[billjohnso20]

Thank you, all.

The age of the pipes may be the reason as I know that at least of the estate pipes are older. The only visual difference between the standard and deluxes I have is the stinger on the stem and the sterling collar. There was oxidation on all of the stems but OxiClean and micro mesh sanding pads took care of the outside. (I use this process: How to Restore a Vintage Pipe | Bespoke Post - https://www.bespokepost.com/the-post/how-to-restore-a-vintage-pipe.) I ran a combination of bristle cleaners, alcohol, and whiskey through all of the stems until all came out clean. I then soaked the stems for a few hours in alcohol again until the alcohol stopped discoloring and then ran cleaners through them all which came out clean. I attempted to smoke again but the acrid taste was still there. That is when I took the bowls down to bare wood on three of them solving the problem altogether. I have also extensively cleaned the shank and draft hole on all but the one remaining estate which I will do ASAP. What puzzled me the most was the new pipe having the acrid taste but I do not know when it was made and it could be new old stock predating 2005.

 

[billjohnso20]

A bit of long post, but a lot of good information. Thank you Peterson Pipe Notes!

I will pay close attention and try this before I take my last Peterson down the road of going to bare wood in its chamber just in case. Thank you for the post. I found rather informative.

 

[mau1]

I pulled it from the blog site on Peterson Pipe Notes. Do a search for 145. That will bring you to "145. Andy Wike’s Guide to the System Pipe. " A great read. Cheers.

 

[BROBS]

did all the pipes come from the same place?
An estate pipe taste with cake and a dirty stem would have nothing to do with any stain of the pipe.

 

[billjohnso20]

did all the pipes come from the same place?
An estate pipe taste with cake and a dirty stem would have nothing to do with any stain of the pipe.

No they did not. What's more, the brand new pipe had the same exact acrid taste to it as well. All three of the estate pipes were cleaned thoroughly by me as described above. The tar was carefully removed from the inside of the stems and the acrid taste did not change. I further reamed the bowls out and that did not work either. Lastly, I took the bowls down to bare wood in two of the estate pipes and the brand new pipe; problem solved in those three pipes. (The new pipe obviously had stain in the bowl for it to be just as acrid as the estate pipes.) Before I take the last one to bare wood, I am going to try the method mau1 suggested to see if that works. If it doesn't, it will also be taken to bare wood.

 

[BROBS]

you say estate but from what era are these pipes?
They had a period of time from about 2005-2013 that had a lot of this issue.
However I've never noticed any acrid taste from any of them lasting longer than a few bowls once you develop any cake over it. The carbon bowl coat normally covers it so if you reamed down to the stained wood I suppose maybe it would present itself even more?

Otherwise yeah if you seem to notice a flavor from it I'd do the same and just sand out the chamber!

 

[billjohnso20]

you say estate but from what era are these pipes?
They had a period of time from about 2005-2013 that had a lot of this issue.
However I've never noticed any acrid taste from any of them lasting longer than a few bowls once you develop any cake over it. The carbon bowl coat normally covers it so if you reamed down to the stained wood I suppose maybe it would present itself even more?

Otherwise yeah if you seem to notice a flavor from it I'd do the same and just sand out the chamber!

Going all the way to the bare wood removes the stain in the bowl completely and thusly removes the acrid taste altogether. I am pleased with the results. I am now growing fond of my Petersons whereas before I all but hated them. I kept them and was determined to find a remedy due to what I paid for them.

 

[BROBS]

Are they silver mounted? Do you know the letter stamping?

 

[BROBS]

If they are newer the lettering starts at “a” after 2005 with a slightly more cursive italic font.

 

[BROBS]

I have a 2013 Sherlock Holmes Squire and I have not noticed any foul or odd taste. What are the pipes? Models and finish?