School me on Keeping Briar Looking New
- Thread starter Briar Lee
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There are no bad Lee pipes.
But the first two series, the early 7 and middle 5 point inlaid star runs are obviously higher quality than the last run of stamped star Lees.
The first reason why, is they had real jeweler’s gold stars inlaid (not stamped) into the stems. That’s purdy!
But also, the quality of craftsmanship is a bit (not a whole lot just a little) higher in early pipes than the last ones.
As for briar quality I think they all run about the same, which is another strange thing about Lee pipes.
Ever see a really dynamite flame grain or birdseye or straight grain pipe that’s just flat frigging fantastic?
Sure you have. I own some of those pipes, but except for one they aren’t made by Lee.
That one Lee, an extremely early 1946 Lee stamped “A Lee Star Grade Pipe” instead of Pipes by Lee, and it’s only a Two Star, has bragging quality flame grain. All the rest have excellent, tight, mixed and cross grained briar, very well selected, but not flashy or showy.
Why do I think the 5 pointed stars are the tops?
Lee raised the price of his pipes to five dollars a star when the switch was made, sometime in the early 1950s.
Before, a Two Star was $5 and a Three Star $10.
Lee had a good customer base already.
When they shelled out $15 instead of $10 for the most common Three Star grade, they expected (and received) just a little better pipe. Not much, but I think it’s detectable.
totally just like cat scratches on furniture, but both fill my heart with happiness.
I'm not quite in the drop your pipe so it looks well-loved camp, but I really don't like the hard shine buffed carnauba puts on pipes. That's why I favor the Howard's Butcher block stuff, I like a clean, but matte shine, not one you can see your reflection in, that looks like an automotive finish, it's so glossy. Ugh.
I recently got some Paragon pipe wax to try and I've put a little of that on and just buffed it in my open palm to build a little heat like I do with gun stocks. Then I just finish with a t-shirt or microfiber, and that is just about perfect for my taste.
Probably not a necessary purchase, but it looks like the stuff will last my lifetime. Only have to buy it once.
John
I recently got some Paragon pipe wax to try and I've put a little of that on and just buffed it in my open palm to build a little heat like I do with gun stocks. Then I just finish with a t-shirt or microfiber, and that is just about perfect for my taste.
Probably not a necessary purchase, but it looks like the stuff will last my lifetime. Only have to buy it once.
John
Glad to see the Howard product love in this thread. I’ve known about their stuff from all sorts of woodcraft odds & ends I’ve messed with over the years so I just transferred it over to estate pipes. Really like the Cutting Board Cleaner instead of Murphy’s Oil Soap. Then I just hand polish everything up the ladder: a thin rub of the oil, then of the conditioner, then 3-4 rubs of the wax; each sits for an hour or so. I won’t be opening a “restored” pipe shop on eBay anytime soon, but I’m plenty happy with the results the Howard products have given on some nasty flea market beasts.
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I use filtered water, coffee, 91% iso, and that’s it to clean.
any pipe I get I first polish the stem and wax the whole shebang with either Halcyon 2 or Paragon… then clean it as I describe above, only ever using alcohol inside the pipe if needed (rarely).
any pipe I get I first polish the stem and wax the whole shebang with either Halcyon 2 or Paragon… then clean it as I describe above, only ever using alcohol inside the pipe if needed (rarely).
Since going to the focused flame using the Lotus, I am noticing less rim darkening.
Yep. Pipe position & flame ? direction are key to limiting rim darkening. The rest can be managed with a bit of spit & an old t-shirt. ?
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Spit is good for cleaning fiddle strings as well.Yep. Pipe position & flame ? direction are key to limiting rim darkening. The rest can be managed with a bit of spit & an old t-shirt. ?
If I ever feel like polishing a pipe I will use a Dunhill Polishing cloth. I use it maybe once a year. I keep the rims clean with spit and the rest of my pipes look used but certainly not abused. I care more about the inside of my pipes and I clean the piss out of those.
Love this concept! Most wood needs feeding from time to time and pipes are no exception. Many get enough oil just through handling/smoking.I break a walnut or pecan nut in half and rub the 'fleshy' part over the briar. It's surprising the amount of oil that comes out of a nut. I then leave it to soak in then give it a hand buff with a duster. If the pipe is really dull I'll repeat two or three times.
The Sasieni below was brought back to life using this method. The missus says I should start rubbing myself with nut oil!
Are there large nut tree orchards/farms/fincas/groves near BA? Or elsewhere in your great country?
(I am just now watching The Hand of God, in part about Maradona's joining Inter Milan FC)
There must be as the walnuts you buy here are mostly if not all Argentine produced. We're 100 miles from the capital and have a couple of walnut and pecan trees.
Just a footnote on this: Unfinished pipes often look like raw lumber, though usually nicely sanded. It interests me that they not only color themselves, but my old previously unfinished Savinelli pipes actually develop a deeply polished look without waxes or polish, but just from ongoing hand buffing after each smoke. You'd think they had a coat of varnish or other high gloss coat. That's what keeps me from adding wax or other product. Pipes well hand-buffed will shine.
A product I like. It doesn't keep it looking brand new but it does put the level of shine on a pipe I like. Shiny but still looking like it's been handled just very carefully and gingerly.
Rubbing your nut juice on it...? And I saw someone had a bottle of Howard's Feed-n-Wax. That stuff is 80% petroleum distillates. Good for gun stocks, I wouldn't rub it on my pipes though...
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