Here's a Doc Grabow Starfire No 83 I recently got:
You can see what looks like paint flakes on the stem, but after looking closely it appears to be metal flakes embedded in the vulcanite. At least that's what I think it is since it won't sand out. Has anyone seen that before?
You can see what looks like paint flakes on the stem, but after looking closely it appears to be metal flakes embedded in the vulcanite. At least that's what I think it is since it won't sand out. Has anyone seen that before?
I've seen that on a few pipes, both Grabow and others, tuold. It's cheap vulcanite made with rubber from recycled tires. The metal from studs, belts, etc. wasn't removed before shredding. I've heard that most of that rubber is surplus from WWII, but I don't know about that.
On the plus side, you didn't have to pay extra for the metal flake coat and they can give the stem a nice "wet" look. :wink:
I'm really enjoying all these Linkman's pipes. Before seeing them on this thread I didn't really know they existed. Last night I managed to pick this Linkman's Special up off eBay for that I think was a decent price (under 20). Really interested in finding more of these to collect!
These two are fairly recent pipes I had picked up. Both rather interesting pipes for Dr. Grabow.
WWII era pipe made from Mountain Laurel and has no metal on it anywhere:
This is a very short (4 inches) Deluxe with a scalloped bowl top and a Linkman style stinger.