personally I don't care. I find the draw to be what it is and only makes a difference in how I smoke the pipe but not how good the smoke is. My pipes run from very open to very tight and frankly neither is better or worse. Just different.
Scott's Pipes: S. Klein Design Technical Breakdown
- Thread starter frozenchurchwarden
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Thank you very much! And now this gives me an excuse to buy some forever stems which i had been avoiding.
Ironically the draw on Forever Stems will be terrible compared to the basic 80 cent plastic Missouri Meerschaum stems.
I guess Forever Stems being easily swappable means those might be the best things to practice on with your new tools.
Cosmic the cognitive dissonance is oozing out all over you.
This kind of irrational resistance is exactly the feedback that says I'm right.
It's fine if you love your handmade pipes, but acting like other people shouldn't be able to get the same experience at a fraction of the price is just petty selfishness.
The entire reputation of Castello pipes hinges on the draw, people love to hear mystical stories about the briar, but the draw is the most dramatically different aspect of those pipes compared to any ordinary factory pipe, and you can say the same for the vast majority of Artisan pipes.
If there were already a handful of factory pipe manufacturers drilling stems to 4mm then I would have nothing to say on this issue, but the fact that there are ZERO options for Factory Briars drilled above 3mm means something is seriously wrong with the pipemaking business as a whole.
There's nothing particularly new about a 4mm bore. That was Charatan's standard, except for bents, which were 4.7mm.
There's nothing particularly magical about 4 mm. It's a choice, not an improvement. With some traditional fine cut ribbons it's a positive menace as the ribbon gets sucked into the airway and into one's mouth.
I can't speak to current factory made product as I don't buy it, but your comments about the pipe industry NEVER making changes to their drilling and construction is patently false and screams of a lack of intellectual curiosity, and perhaps honesty as well.
And by the way, anything you write in rebuttal, or write at any time in the past or future, in the whole of the known cosmos, will be proof that I am right because I say so. See? You're not the only entity that can play that game.
The one thing you have said that has truth to it is that one doesn't need to spend a lot of money to get a good smoking pipe, something that has been reinforced repeatedly in this forum, and it is something of a straw man, since the vast majority of the money spent on high end pipes relates to aesthetics, not to airway radius.
I'll leave you with this following example of your patently, or maybe patentless, false narrative about the pipe industry too lazy to consider innovation. From 1870, and only one of thousands of examples that one can find:
I'm including this not for your benefit, but for the benefit of anyone who might be buying what you're selling.
I like 9/64 (3.57mm) and drill all my own to that. That’s my personal sweet spot of function.
So whatever that means.
So whatever that means.
I prefer an open draw. Even though I dry my tobacco to a crisp, I get a lot of moisture in my stems. Ones like the forever stems are too restrictive for my tastes. I'll smoke em but prefer not. So much bubbling inside the stem, that I have to disassemble mid smoke and fling the moisture out.
Jesse, if every pipe was drilled to 4.0mm and over then people wouldn't have to deal with wet smoking pieces of crap that come in the thousands.
Sorry but pipes drilled to only 3.0-3.5 suck. I dumped every Matzhold(3) I had because they smoked wet. I dumped my Formers(6) that sell for 2500 plus. I dumped my Rainer Barbi(4) pipes. As much as I love looking at Danish pipes, I will never buy another. My American made artisan pipes smoke better than any of the above mentioned and at a fraction of the cost. At the time I owned those Danes I also owned around 6-8 Castello's. Those Castello's blew away the Danes smoking wise. At the time I didn't understand why and it pissed me off. I have a real pet peeve when it comes to a pipe smoking wet. I don't want to hear a gurgle and I didn't like having to use multiple pipe cleaners during a smoke to soak up excess moisture. I haven't bought a wet smoking pipe in a long time because I learned about shank dimensions and stem design and learned who made pipes that I knew I would like.
Here is a pic of one of my Formers. It is hard to see in the pic but it had killer grain that was ridiculous. Back in 2000 this pipe retailed for 960.00. Today it would be over 3000.00. I didn't pay 960.00 as it came off the back of a truck and I traded Cuban cigars for it.
Sorry but pipes drilled to only 3.0-3.5 suck. I dumped every Matzhold(3) I had because they smoked wet. I dumped my Formers(6) that sell for 2500 plus. I dumped my Rainer Barbi(4) pipes. As much as I love looking at Danish pipes, I will never buy another. My American made artisan pipes smoke better than any of the above mentioned and at a fraction of the cost. At the time I owned those Danes I also owned around 6-8 Castello's. Those Castello's blew away the Danes smoking wise. At the time I didn't understand why and it pissed me off. I have a real pet peeve when it comes to a pipe smoking wet. I don't want to hear a gurgle and I didn't like having to use multiple pipe cleaners during a smoke to soak up excess moisture. I haven't bought a wet smoking pipe in a long time because I learned about shank dimensions and stem design and learned who made pipes that I knew I would like.
Here is a pic of one of my Formers. It is hard to see in the pic but it had killer grain that was ridiculous. Back in 2000 this pipe retailed for 960.00. Today it would be over 3000.00. I didn't pay 960.00 as it came off the back of a truck and I traded Cuban cigars for it.
Hi Harris,Jesse, if every pipe was drilled to 4.0mm and over then people wouldn't have to deal with wet smoking pieces of crap that come in the thousands.
Sorry but pipes drilled to only 3.0-3.5 suck. I dumped every Matzhold(3) I had because they smoked wet. I dumped my Formers(6) that sell for 2500 plus. I dumped my Rainer Barbi(4) pipes. As much as I love looking at Danish pipes, I will never buy another. My American made artisan pipes smoke better than any of the above mentioned and at a fraction of the cost. At the time I owned those Danes I also owned around 6-8 Castello's. Those Castello's blew away the Danes smoking wise. At the time I didn't understand why and it pissed me off. I have a real pet peeve when it comes to a pipe smoking wet. I don't want to hear a gurgle and I didn't like having to use multiple pipe cleaners during a smoke to soak up excess moisture. I haven't bought a wet smoking pipe in a long time because I learned about shank dimensions and stem design and learned who made pipes that I knew I would like.
Here is a pic of one of my Formers. It is hard to see in the pic but it had killer grain that was ridiculous. Back in 2000 this pipe retailed for 960.00. Today it would be over 3000.00. I didn't pay 960.00 as it came off the back of a truck and I traded Cuban cigars for it.
I don't care what size bore anyone likes. I have traditional British pipes with traditional sized airways that smoke just great for me, and I have contemporary Artisanal pipes with wide open draws that smoke just fine for me.
Granted, I know how to prep for maximum flavor, so damp, wet, gurgling smokes are not an occurance, regardless of which pipe I'm using.
I love the look of Danish pipes, but not the price point, which I've always considered something of a scam. I'll stick with my pathetic Barlings, Comoys, Sasienis, and the rest of my motley assortment. In fact, I'm going to further debase myself by smoking a 1910 Barling Bent Billiard Magnum. I know, it's criminal when I could buy a basket pipe and ream out the airway, but I'm just shameless.
What was available 50 years ago has no relevance to the pipes on the market today.
Anyone shopping for pipes now is being led through a circus of distractions from what matters most in pipe design.
I'm glad I don't have any technical expertise. I'm happily smoking many pipes that are probably drilling, slot, and airway mistakes. Shhhh.
Actually, that patent was 150 years ago, not 50, and proves that you were wrong. Besides, who are you to say what is relevant. When a cosmology is created around you then you can declare what is relevant.
What's relevant is different to different people, and what's relevant to you is limited to you. Apparently a lot of people in the industry don't share your view, or they would be actively addressing it.
Airway width is a choice, much like stem material. Some like Vulcanite and hate acrylic, some like acrylic and hate Vulcanite, some have no problem with either and thus have no preference. So it is with airways. Some like wide open draws and others do not, while some like a traditional draw while others do not. And still others have no preference and are fine with both.
I have pipes with wide open draws and others with a traditional draw and both are fine for me. I enjoy the flavors I get from either because what's relevant to me is not draw, unless it is noticeably tighter than standard. Airway width is therefore irrelevant to me. Of more import is tobacco prep, moisture levels, and packing. get that wrong and the draw isn't going to fix it. But a lot of smokers don't care at all about tobacco prep, etc, so that's irrelevant to them.
And don't forget that you're wrong because I say you are. I'm merely honoring your earlier discourse.
If there were choice on the market then finding a pipe that's drilled to above average standards wouldn't be such a big deal.
Right now no-one has choice, out of the millions of factory pipes produced every year every one of them has the same problems, barring this one example found almost at random.
Right now no-one has choice, out of the millions of factory pipes produced every year every one of them has the same problems, barring this one example found almost at random.
@frozenchurchwarden
You've done a good job reviewing a pipe, of which I don't see many people do.
And, I am really glad that you know what you like in a pipe. Kuddos! You and many others have these strict guidlines... that's awesome.
Not everyone agrees with you on your specs for preferences though.
But, the audacity to say that you know more about the pipemaking world than the businesses and artisans and craftsmen... that's where you lose me.
You've done a good job reviewing a pipe, of which I don't see many people do.
And, I am really glad that you know what you like in a pipe. Kuddos! You and many others have these strict guidlines... that's awesome.
Not everyone agrees with you on your specs for preferences though.
But, the audacity to say that you know more about the pipemaking world than the businesses and artisans and craftsmen... that's where you lose me.
Can anybody settle this argument and tell me what I am suppose to smoke??
I'm just pointing out the incredibly blatant uniformity of the industry.
If we had any reasonable semblance of choice I would have nothing to say on the subject, but across dozens of manufacturers I have seen almost no variety in airway design.
Smoke what you like, the problem is as it stands people expect you to fork over thousands just to find out what a slightly different airway diameter is like.
Maybe I missed it, but why don’t you just have someone make you a pipe to your exact requested specs? There’s plenty of up and coming carvers or part time carvers that would work with your specs at a $200-$300 price range if not less.
I don’t understand specific spec expectations for a pipe that costs the price I’d pay just for raw material.
I don’t understand specific spec expectations for a pipe that costs the price I’d pay just for raw material.
Ok, so, you like a certain airway diameter that isn't being made? And, you are saying that all pipe manufacturers do not make this diameter? And, all make the same diameter?
I don't find this to be anywhere close to being true with my pipes, and I have over 100 pipes.
One of the things I enjoy most is smoking a new pipe to learn how it best wants to be smoked.
I don't find this to be anywhere close to being true with my pipes, and I have over 100 pipes.
One of the things I enjoy most is smoking a new pipe to learn how it best wants to be smoked.