Pipe Modifications that Rock! Ways You Enhanced Your Pipe's Smoking Experience

[clanobucklin]

I recently gave a friend my only Caminetto pipe and so I was on the search on Ebay for another one. As luck would have it - I got one pretty cheap - $35 bucks - with no bidding from competitors. The main reason no one bid is that it looked filthy and had "Dog" written all over it.
I have had a lot of success of buying "Dogs" and transforming them into attractive smoking pipes. If I can clean 'em - I do so and if there is something out of the kin of hand polishing and cleaning - I send 'em to my pipe fixit guy who has made lots of replacement stems for me and has a buffing wheel.
The Caminetto arrived - I cleaned it up - but the stem - although intact...just didn't work for me. The Caminetto is a KS (King Size) model and the stem was well...like sucking on a shovel. Sooo, I had my pipe fixit guy make a short stem - more than 1/2 the size of the original and curved. The results were awesome! The pipe smokes better -looks better, etc. I call it my "Sawed Off Shotgun Pipe" because of its large bowl and small chunky stem.
While I didn't make the stem - I did supply my pipe fixit guy with a drawing of how I wanted the stem to look - so I feel that my "design/idea" really paid off. Have any of you folks out there made any corrections or modifications to your pipes that paid off? Post them as I love to get ideas and learn things from you.
Here is a picture of my SAWED OFF SHOTGUN PIPE!

 

[lonestar]

Nice, looks great. Even with a new stem, you got a deal !

 

[spartan]

No before pics? She a beauty. Reminds me of a chimney.

 

[ejames]

Got an ebag Silver Duke in that was hard to light and kept losing tobacco!

http://pipesmagazine.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/album/448/silverdukehole1-600x450.jpg
A little wood filler,pipe mud,stain and a secret ingredient plus some dremel work fixed the problem.

http://pipesmagazine.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/album/448/hole-in-the-bowl-pipe-001-medium-600x450.jpg

 

[atuukson]

impressive work ejames!

 

[jar15a1]

That is a great looking pipe and a very creative way to solve a problem.

 

[pawpaw]

would an Uncle stem on my Beuschers cob count?

 

[ejames]

But of course!!

 

[oldmaus]

Very nice outcome on the Caminetto!

 

[unclearthur]

Nice fix!

 

[nathaniel]

My first briar had a crap load of weird bubbles from the shellac overheating. When I scratched at them they came off revealing sand pits and what-not. So last night I decided to sand all the finish off and then give her an extra wash of paint thinner 8O and then I stained her with a natural coat and voila! My first briar looks AWESOME. But now I need to let her air out and dry for a day till I smoke it. But I imagine without the shellac finish it will likely smoke cooler... though I could be wrong.

 

[smokindawg]

The stem works very well with that pipe and if you like it, a double good deal in my book.
Biggest mods I've done to pipes is to take pipes I've picked up that smoked terribly and make them great smokers. In some cases it is opening up the airways, funneling the stems, both the tenon and the bit. Other times I may have to raise the bottom up on pipes that were drilled too deep. I've also reshaped stems to make the pipe look better or make it easier on the mouth. I've also rusticated pipes that had nasty looking fills. Sanding down a rim that has been charred is something I've done and reshaping the inside of a bowl that has been burnt a bit out of round brings them back to good looks too.
I'm still learning things to do to resurect pipes from the dead.