In my vast stash of pipes I own one calabash pipe made from a gourd, hallmarked Birmingham 1910, and a flush fixed meerschaum bowl insert.
I spent about a week cleaning this up, flushing all the goo out with multiple soaks of Everclear, then sanding the top and getting it slick as a whistle. Whatever varnish used for the gourd is bowling pin grade good stuff, not a check or stain or flaw in a century old heavily smoked pipe.
It’s a cool smoker as bland as a bowl of unsweetened oatmeal, completely neutral. The orific bit is not my favorite.
School me on the grades and quality levels of gourd calabash pipes. They made these for royalty, and for the Wally Frank catalog, and all levels in between.
Every pipe lover needs one of these, and I have my quota.
What do I have on the grade scale of a gourd calabash?
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1910 Birmingham
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Orific bit
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For example, this one on eBay looks like it was made for the carriage trade. Mine ain’t that fancy.
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