I would of thought a briar cutter like Mimmo is a very big percentage of the process, where it begins, in what really shapes this journey.
I would of thought 50% Mimmo, 50% carver, half and half, equally as important, right down the middle. hmm ?
Ruminations on Why Better Briar Smokes Better
- Thread starter Briar Lee
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I would of thought a briar cutter like Mimmo is a very big percentage of the process, where it begins, in what really shapes this journey.
I would of thought 50% Mimmo, 50% carver, half and half, equally as important, right down the middle. hmm ?
Right down the middle? No. When briar is bad, it's 0% the carver's fault. When briar is good, it means the cutter did his job. Carvers can't carve if there's no briar, briar cutters can't sell if there's no carvers... what percentage of the final pipe relies on the cutter? Only a little. I can take a Mimmo block and make a piece of crap pipe from it. My role in the final analysis is greater.
So, it seems that a nicely drilled piece of briar with stunning grain can taste terrible and a sweet tasting pipe with horrible drilling can gurgle. A nicely oil cured pipe made by a top notch pipe carver can be all but painful to clench and so on and so forth. It really takes a wonderfully grown piece of wood that was harvested and milled expertly and then carved, shaped and drilled by someone with experience and skilled in pipe mechanics, stem making and reading grain to make a great pipe. ALL THE STARS HAVE TO ALLIGN. If that is true or close to the truth then my respect just went up a few notches for my pipes. All of them.
Luckily, most briar is fine, drilling a straight hole isn't that hard, and when you get a block with truly great grain, it makes a great looking pipe almost no matter what you choose with it. So there are lots of good pipes out there, good in any number of ways. There are bad pipes too, and we've all had them and hopefully got rid of them.
I’ve learned more from this thread than any other I’ve read on this forum, so far.
I’m also more convinced more than ever a Lee Star Grade is the best bargain in used pipes on the market.
Each one oil cured, well made, drilled right, shaped correctly, and with good (but seldom extraordinary) grain, with a removable stinger and the best screw stem ever put on a factory pipe.
Plus, the gold stars all line up with the vulcanite stems.
What would it cost today, to duplicate a Lee to the same quality standards?
This is a great thread, one of the best on this forum. Call me depraved, but this entire rumination makes me wonder why cobs, laughable clown pipes with atrocious engineering and materials, smoke as well as they do.
WAS a bargain. Some big mouthed lawyer ran his mouth on about them all over the internet and now the asking price for beat up charred Lees is over the top ridiculous. ?
If anyone has had a cob catch fire, they're definitely doing something wrong.
The cutter sets up that block. That’s not a little. When Ken Barnes left Upshall the quality of grain figure took a hit, and Barry Jones wasn’t exactly a beginner.
Been thinking about this a little more and I'll try to give an analogy.
When I'm working on a film or TV it starts with a story. The story might be great, or crap, but all the same, the project starts with a story. If the director is any good, the actors are any good, the cinematographer any good, the editor any good, the potential of that story will be maximized. But none of them came up with the story.
The cutter comes up with the story. The block he cuts will be a straight grain, a flame grain, a cross grain, or a mixed grain of some type based on his reading of the wood he's sectioning. Maybe it will yield an oompaul or maybe it will yield a canadian. Maybe it's a quality story, maybe it's not. Like the director, the carver's job is to not screw up the story he's decided to make.
When I'm working on a film or TV it starts with a story. The story might be great, or crap, but all the same, the project starts with a story. If the director is any good, the actors are any good, the cinematographer any good, the editor any good, the potential of that story will be maximized. But none of them came up with the story.
The cutter comes up with the story. The block he cuts will be a straight grain, a flame grain, a cross grain, or a mixed grain of some type based on his reading of the wood he's sectioning. Maybe it will yield an oompaul or maybe it will yield a canadian. Maybe it's a quality story, maybe it's not. Like the director, the carver's job is to not screw up the story he's decided to make.
I very lovely looking woman! I am glad you are happy with her!
A box of three unsmoked Lees, which is a collectors item if there is a Lee collector’s item, just sold for less than $170 shipped.
There are overpriced Lees on eBay.
But those three early Lees auctioned for less than three smooth Royaltons on Amazon.
The most Informative thread I've read in quite some time anywhere!
I am truly amazed at the amount of information that gets shared here
I appreciate all the detailed explanations given for the benefit of those of us who don't know!
Many Thanks!
I am truly amazed at the amount of information that gets shared here
I appreciate all the detailed explanations given for the benefit of those of us who don't know!
Many Thanks!
The miracle is she’s happy with me.
I know that feeling. Haha It's a heck of a feeling.
I really enjoyed reading this thread from start to finish. Thank you. This thread affirms many of my pipe purchases and the reasoning behind them. Shotgun weddings aside ... choices involve compromise. Not in any particular order but: Buy the best quality you can afford at the time; Select the best quality and craftsmanship as you can determine; Trust your instincts and select that which appeals to you because you have to be happy with it; and take care of it so it lasts a long time; keep learning about them and yourself. Eventually you will find the type of pipe that smokes perfectly for you and that will narrow your future purchases to achieve similar perfection. Until ... something new goes on sale ... 
I meant 50-50 because, if a briar cutter’s, time of burl dig/removal, then the preparation/curing/process was different in any regards, then how this might effect the briar, so that it’s equally important, that a briar cutter, knows how to do the best, for everything, to ensure the carver receives good briar.
Make sense now?
This is why I see it 50/50, because maybe, not all briar cutters are equally as good, therefore a reason why we see pipes not smoking as good, not because the carver didn’t do a good job, but something, between the time it was dug out and prepared, didn’t make for good wood, on the briar cutters end.
