I'm starting this thread so I can feel better about myself at your expense. I cannot be the only one who has broken a pipe through my own clumsiness, miscalculation or neglect.
My first pipe was a Mayfair stamped over Custombilt bulldog. The exact shape is a Hendon. I found it in a house I was cleaning, fixing and living in at the time. The deal fell through when the owner refused to remove twenty doors from the living room so I could do work. Twenty wooden and metal doors, just sitting there. After I found the Mayfair, my pipe smoking adventures began. Through good and great and not so good tobacco choices, this pipe stood up and delivered a fantastic smoke. Even when my technique was not up to snuff, it still came through until I took it outside to do some yardwork. I was trimming bushes and decided to put it down because I needed two hands and clenching would have brought fire and smoke too close to my face. The voice in my head said, "You are going to step on it. Put it somewhere else." My ego said don't be stupid, I know exactly where it is. It's fine. The voice in my head repeated its warning, and I repeated my bullhockey. Then I stepped back and felt a 'SNAP' as my heart sank. I broke the tenon off in the mortise. It is otherwise unharmed, and now safely tucked away in a box until I can have a new tenon fitted to the stem.
I broke my straight grained pot with no warning or fanfare. I was going to set it on the kitchen table when it jumped from my hands and hit the wooden floor. The stem skittered off underneath the table as the bowl surrounded itself with tobacco. The tenon broken off inside the stem. Two tales of woe. Murder and suicide. I don't even know what happened to one of my cobs. It is just gone. Ran away from home before I gave it a black eye like its brother, or something worse. I have two more pipes that are unsmokable, needing new stems. There are two more unsmokables needing major stem work. I'm down seven pipes right now, not counting the Kaywoodie with the gemstone. I refuse to take it outside at all. In addition, I have three more that are smokable, but need minor adjustments and tending to make them right again. I'll be working on them, as I can, over this fall and winter.
What creative or mundane ways have your pipes left this world or just their rotation? Whether a Bang or a Whimper, tell me your Tales Of Destruction!
My first pipe was a Mayfair stamped over Custombilt bulldog. The exact shape is a Hendon. I found it in a house I was cleaning, fixing and living in at the time. The deal fell through when the owner refused to remove twenty doors from the living room so I could do work. Twenty wooden and metal doors, just sitting there. After I found the Mayfair, my pipe smoking adventures began. Through good and great and not so good tobacco choices, this pipe stood up and delivered a fantastic smoke. Even when my technique was not up to snuff, it still came through until I took it outside to do some yardwork. I was trimming bushes and decided to put it down because I needed two hands and clenching would have brought fire and smoke too close to my face. The voice in my head said, "You are going to step on it. Put it somewhere else." My ego said don't be stupid, I know exactly where it is. It's fine. The voice in my head repeated its warning, and I repeated my bullhockey. Then I stepped back and felt a 'SNAP' as my heart sank. I broke the tenon off in the mortise. It is otherwise unharmed, and now safely tucked away in a box until I can have a new tenon fitted to the stem.
I broke my straight grained pot with no warning or fanfare. I was going to set it on the kitchen table when it jumped from my hands and hit the wooden floor. The stem skittered off underneath the table as the bowl surrounded itself with tobacco. The tenon broken off inside the stem. Two tales of woe. Murder and suicide. I don't even know what happened to one of my cobs. It is just gone. Ran away from home before I gave it a black eye like its brother, or something worse. I have two more pipes that are unsmokable, needing new stems. There are two more unsmokables needing major stem work. I'm down seven pipes right now, not counting the Kaywoodie with the gemstone. I refuse to take it outside at all. In addition, I have three more that are smokable, but need minor adjustments and tending to make them right again. I'll be working on them, as I can, over this fall and winter.
What creative or mundane ways have your pipes left this world or just their rotation? Whether a Bang or a Whimper, tell me your Tales Of Destruction!
