School me on Stingers.
- Thread starter Jbrewer2002
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If your not worried about the value of the pipe ,you can always saw it off.
Many have been castrated down the years
Thanks @rustiepyles
Makes sense, I didn't realise pipe cleaners were that scarce but when you think about it, back in the day not having to constantly buy pipe cleaners would have been a selling point for a permanent stinger.
Until the dishwasher gets invented and takes water flushing to forefront...
I have never purchased a Deluxe, they were all gifts, the trap works just the same as a System Standard with the Condenser removed, I am a wet smoker and with the condenser I get more gurgling, I smoke System Standards all the time and none have condensers so why would I need them on a Deluxe ? my older Deluxe's the stem goes more into the pipe as it was designed to making the Condenser go further into the trap and makes the pipe unsmokerble to me, hence I remove them and they smoke great.
Does anyone think the KW are of value and shouldn’t cut them off? Thanks for all the info everyone!!
I'm trying to imagine someone getting an old KW and then throwing a fit because it doesn't have the stinger. Besides, I really don't think these pipes that have stingers will ever get Dunhill resale prices.
There are plenty of people that collect Kaywoodies and wish to preserve them completely intact; there are some who just want to smoke them and prefer a more open draw and don’t mind the end of the stinger cut off. If you’re concerned about value and resale, don’t cut them. They’re your pipes—you can do what you see fit. For me as a collector, I err on the side of preservation—if I was looking for a particular model, I would pass on buying a mutilated pipe. Kaywoodies of different periods have different hole counts on the stingers—consider doing research before opting to do anything irreversible.
System standards do have a condenser, that’s why they have a necked down portion on the end of the tenon. That smaller diameter section is the condenser.
Pre WWII KW’s are very collectible, and there are many who collect them. Most KW collectors won’t touch a clipped pipe. Having said that, not all KW’s have value, later KW’s don’t sell for much, common shapes don’t sell for much.
My advice to you would be this, clipping the stinger off a KW won’t really change anything, it’s still gonna be an aluminum screw fitment with a tight draw that you can’t get a pipe cleaner through.
Once you figure out that clipping the stinger didn’t help and it smokes even worse without it and still won’t pass a cleaner you will have a pipe that might have been worth $20-40 is now worth $0 to anyone.
If you’ve made the decision that a stinger is just against everything you as pipe smoker stand for, then put it on eBay, make few bucks and buy some tobacco.
Ultimately it is your pipe, you can do what you wish with it.
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I have been smoking Petersons for over 50years and never called the end of stem a condenser and even with the small bit on the stem if to long I shorten it, I have a huge collection of Petersons and they all smoke fine when I adapt them to suit me.
You can but be mindful that if the pipe is very hot it may soften the glue resulting in a stem improperly aligned.
Well, clearly you know what you’re talking about. I’ll reach to Peterson and let ‘em know that what they’ve claimed was a condenser for 130 years was in fact not known to you and therefore couldn’t exist.
Yes, but as @MattRVA said be mindful. If you have a tendency to crank em down real tight they will over clock when hot. If you just snug em up, you can unscrew em during a smoke.
With the lone exception of the Campus line Kaywoodie has not made pipes with stingers in more then 20 years.
You got one of the smaller ones?I have a tin full of them, definitely take them straight out of my Peterson deluxe's, see no point of them, Davidoff still uses them but it's black, like that makes a difference, a good pipe doesn't need them.
If you do, can I buy it off you please? Petersons don’t stock the older ones & I want one for my 04s. From the 70’s I think, smaller stinger & thread than the later ones.
The purpose of the stinger is to catch a customer.
For over a hundred years every maker of briar pipes sells artfully carved chunks of Mediterranean heather burls with a hard rubber stem fitted. If you sold pipes you’d add gadgets too.
Except for Kaywoodie stingers and a few others, if you don’t like the stinger toss it, probably in a drawer:
In the last century since aluminum became an affordable metal most stingers are made of it. It doesn’t rust. I’ve seen a couple made of plastic.
While a stinger will condense water the purpose is a permanent filter. The smoke hits the stinger and a little tar is captured. There’s also a cooling effect, although not a lot.
I own over a hundred Pipes by Lee and I’ve removed the stingers. They work too well. I like zesty smoke all laden with tars and nicotine.
Try it. With the stinger removed the pipe is a little stouter.
Like many pipe gadgets the chief benefit to a stinger is to mitigate just a little a new smoker getting his tongue bit or burned. It does help that a little.
To care for a stinger, use a cloth or paper towel and wipe it clean. Occasionally remove it and deep clean it.
As always, I'm in awe of the collective knowledge in these forums! I mostly have Savinelli pipes and haven't seen one with a stinger, though I do have a huge old briar with one and I'd always wondered what it was/did. So thanks for the lessons, gents!
I’m not 100% sure these qualify as stingers (maybe inner tubes at the very least?), but here are two of my Savinellis with them. The first, a Giubileo d’Oro 514 KS Bulldog, followed by a first generation Punto Oro 1002 Billiard (with a Brebbia Gnome stamp), circa 1958:
If you read what I said I did not say it wasn't a condenser, I said I never called it a condenser, you obviously have more knowledge than me, I am purely a simple pipe smoker who smokes a pipe and doesn't study pipes, I have never read or even seen a book on pipe smoking, how boring it would be, I will now go and light up one of my system standards and be happy that the little bit at the end is supposed to be a condenser, wow it must smoke better now that I know.
When acquiring an older Thorn from say the late 20s or 30s, yes, it does matter. A KW with a great blast from that time period can fetch well over a hundred - maybe 2 hundred. And yes, I passed on quite a few that had the stinger cutoff. A 1940s Silhouette was only bought by me after a deep discount was provided by the seller for lack of its stinger.