Should I Care about this Drilling by Castello?

[HawkeyeLinus]

LOL, unless your pipe said it dressed right and was fabricated by a tailor I'd probably raise the issue from a craftsmanship point of view - hard to tell if it is really off line or the entrance just needs to be a hair wider to my inexperienced eye.

 

[bullet08]

That thing's off. Send it back.

 

[jpberg]

The magic, or lack there of in a Castello is in the smoking.
I’ve had some that were completely soulless, but it wasn’t because the drill point came out a sixteenth off.
I bet it’s fine, but you have to smoke it to know.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

In terms of depth it hits the bottom of the bowl pretty well so functionally it's about as good as you could ask for.
With the tobacco chamber being round it actually doesn't matter what side the hole emerges from, that's only a matter of aesthetics.

If you're a collector I'd return it.

 

[sasquatch]

I have a lovat drilled similarly, possibly the best smoking pipe I own.

It's not dead center, but it's at the bottom of the chamber... the pipe will work fine. It's a little... disappointing, when you get one shipped to you that is like this, but it's going to smoke fine.

 

[Searock Fan]

I have literally owned over 1,000 Castellos in my 50 plus years of smoking them and I've never seen one drilled like that. Either the quality is slipping of perhaps it's a counterfit.

 

[Jimmy_Jack]

Id send it back because of what you paid. You deserve a proper fit. Honestly, with my limited knowledge, it looks like the bowl depth was shorted rather than the hole being drilled off center. I think it has more to do with the bowl.

 

[dog_park_piper]

Thanks, everyone, I'm in the process of negotiating keeping it on the condition that I get some money back. I'm not collecting it nearly as much as I'm smoking it.

If the partial refund is not very much, then I will be returning it.

 

[Singularis]

I have literally owned over 1,000 Castellos in my 50 plus years of smoking them and I've never seen one drilled like that. Either the quality is slipping of perhaps it's a counterfit.

That comes out to (on average) 20 Castellos purchased/collected/gathered per year. And probably $100-200 thousand spent (at least). I honestly cannot fathom this.

Do you still own all these Castellos? Where and how do you keep them all?

 

[dog_park_piper]

That comes out to (on average) 20 Castellos purchased/collected/gathered per year. And probably $100-200 thousand spent (at least). I honestly cannot fathom this.

Do you still own all these Castellos? Where and how do you keep them all?

I was about to do the math too. It's impressive logistically.

 

[burleybreath]

Whether to keep the pipe or not depends on which hemisphere you live in, north or south. The pipe was obviously made with this "flaw" to account for the Coriolis effect--you know, like water swirling different ways going down a drain? Except in this case it's smoke. Castello is awesome, man!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Not a big deal in any event. I'd not screw around trying to get compensation for the draft hole being off center. Smoke it and enjoy!

PS How about an introduction?

And:
Please put your location in your Profile, as people are forgetful.
Why:
That will save questions in the future as to where you live when you later mention local stores, weather, tobacco prices, availability, regulations, location of photos, wildfires, air quality, etc. In many instances that saves time for those who read your posts. It cuts down on posts or PMs asking where you are.
How:
Under your avatar, (top right, left most of three symbols) you choose "Account Details", which brings up "My Account". "My Location" is halfway down. Whatever you're comfortable with- town, city, county, state. province, etc.

 

[maduromadness]

I love that question now. Is this acceptable ?

 

[Searock Fan]

I thought the "1,000" would raise some eye brows. But, yes, it's true. For quite a few years I was making trips to Italy and buying them for resale in the U.S. Plus I would get shipments in the mail from a trusted source. And no, of course I didn't smoke all of them (damn few) but I did inspect all of them and can't remember finding one so poorly drilled. By the way, from what I can see, that drill could make for a wet smoking pipe.

 

[dog_park_piper]

Not a big deal in any event. I'd not screw around trying to get compensation for the draft hole being off center. Smoke it and enjoy!

PS How about an introduction?

And:
Please put your location in your Profile, as people are forgetful.
Why:
That will save questions in the future as to where you live when you later mention local stores, weather, tobacco prices, availability, regulations, location of photos, wildfires, air quality, etc. In many instances that saves time for those who read your posts. It cuts down on posts or PMs asking where you are.
How:
Under your avatar, (top right, left most of three symbols) you choose "Account Details", which brings up "My Account". "My Location" is halfway down. Whatever you're comfortable with- town, city, county, state. province, etc.

I need to update my profile. Good point! For the time being:

I am a Pacific Northwest guy. Raised and lived in the west and east side of Washington State. Did some summers working in Alaska for the fishing industry, outside talking with boat captains and crew about the fish they were bringing in to sell.

I lived three years in the Patagonia, Argentina. It's like "the Alaska" of Latin America, the final frontier, for sure.

Now I teach Spanish. I'm in Nashville, TN.


My favorite pipes are from northern Italy. I only really have straight apples. My favorite length to my straight apples are about 4 4/5in

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I thought the "1,000" would raise some eye brows. But, yes, it's true. For quite a few years I was making trips to Italy and buying them for resale in the U.S. Plus I would get shipments in the mail from a trusted source. And no, of course I didn't smoke all of them (damn few) but I did inspect all of them and can't remember finding one so poorly drilled. By the way, from what I can see, that drill could make for a wet smoking pipe.

Are you still importing and distributing Castellos? That would be awesome to know.

 

[craig61a]

If you took the time to post it here, then obviously there's an issue...

Yes it will smoke just fine. The issue is the aesthetics...

A corn cob, cheap basket pipe or a lowly Peterson will smoke just fine...

If I'm spending the kind of coin on a pipe that a Castello would command, I would expect that the drilling be near perfection.

 

[Searock Fan]

Are you still importing and distributing Castellos? That would be awesome to know.

Sorry, I stopped quite a while ago. Seems the factory made a deal with an American rep and instructed all their dealers not to sell at a discount to us "wildcat" dealers. Oh well, all good things come to an end. Also, I stopped dealing in pipes by mail order for personal reasons. I did open and manage my own pipe shop for a number of years and finally sold it and retired. Now I'm just another dedicated pipe smoker with time on my hands to play with forums....

 

[dog_park_piper]

UPDATE:
I should have realized this sooner. But the nomenclature is off. The "Made in Cantu" was double stamped, or rolled twice on itself..

 

[PipeIT]

I’ve seen 3 Castello, in the past few months with off centered holes on the bottom of the chamber, and one pipe had an off center chamber hole. Looking down on the pipe the chamber was uneven, it had a thicker wall on one side and a thinner wall on the opposite.

In my quest trying to find good quality Castello pipes, I eventually looked at Tabaccheriacorti, and had a lot of email conversations with Luca at Tabaccheriacorti over these issues with Castello, to find out this seems to happen regularly.

He said it’s the way in which Castello builds their pipes, that causes this issue, where the Danish as an example he explained do things in a different order, so that it’s easier to not run into these issues with Danish carvers.

At least for future purchases to help, Luca says he personally goes to Castello all the time and hand picks the best pipes, so the next time you or anyone is in the market for one, I’d be sure to check with him.

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