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SmokingInTheWind

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 24, 2024
295
1,783
New Mexico
Disaster strikes! I had my first pipe casualty earlier this week. I was gently removing the stem from my J06 and heard a little snick sound. Sure enough, the shank had cracked along the left side, almost to the bowl. I had finished smoking the pipe about an hour prior and figured it was sufficiently cooled down. I had removed the stem a few times previously to inspect the drilling, and to enlarge the draft hole. It felt nice and smooth, not tight at all. I try to keep stem removal to a minimum but figured it was time to clean the mortise with a Q tip and alcohol.

I don't have a pic of the crack because I was pissed off and threw the pipe in the trash. It wasn't my favorite pipe, and it wasn't very expensive at a little over $50 on sale, so i figured it was not worth trying to repair, considering how long the crack was. Maybe the pipe needed more cooling time. Some people here claim to remove stems from hot and warm pipes all the time with no issues. I just wanted to give you guys with J06's and J04's a heads up. These are dainty, super light pipes, and may need to be babied more than other pipes.

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Dec 3, 2021
5,533
48,003
Pennsylvania & New York
Below is another Eugène-Léon Ropp Cherry pipe with natural horn stem stamped “Bussang,” from Ropp’s original workshop there between 1870–1893 that you would not have seen from me (it’s unsmoked, so would not have been posted in a WAYS thread). It has an intricate ”Oriental” carved dragon motif. The threads of the extant shank do not fit the stummel (too small); I suspect there was another shank extension with larger threads and this pipe was originally significantly longer. Visually, this length/proportion doesn’t seem bad to my eye. I affixed a 1/32" strip of wind instrument cork to the shank threads to make the fit snug—the pipe is smokable as a result, although I’ll more than likely keep its virginity preserved; were it not for the split to the front right of the stummel and the missing shank piece, I think this would be museum worthy.

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OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
6,859
36,990
72
Sydney, Australia
Below is another Eugène-Léon Ropp Cherry pipe with natural horn stem stamped “Bussang,” from Ropp’s original workshop there between 1870–1893
It has an intricate ”Oriental” carved dragon motif. were it not for the split to the front right of the stummel and the missing shank piece, I think this would be museum worthy.

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😲
Looks to have come out of an Asian workshop rather than French.
Reminiscent of Chinese or Japanese carvings eg this ivory piece from HK

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Whatever, it is a fine piece of work
And I'm with you - I wouldn't set fire to it.
 
Last edited:
Aug 11, 2022
2,663
20,890
Cedar Rapids, IA
Disaster strikes! I had my first pipe casualty earlier this week. I was gently removing the stem from my J06 and heard a little snick sound. Sure enough, the shank had cracked along the left side, almost to the bowl. I had finished smoking the pipe about an hour prior and figured it was sufficiently cooled down. I had removed the stem a few times previously to inspect the drilling, and to enlarge the draft hole. It felt nice and smooth, not tight at all. I try to keep stem removal to a minimum but figured it was time to clean the mortise with a Q tip and alcohol.

I don't have a pic of the crack because I was pissed off and threw the pipe in the trash. It wasn't my favorite pipe, and it wasn't very expensive at a little over $50 on sale, so i figured it was not worth trying to repair, considering how long the crack was. Maybe the pipe needed more cooling time. Some people here claim to remove stems from hot and warm pipes all the time with no issues. I just wanted to give you guys with J06's and J04's a heads up. These are dainty, super light pipes, and may need to be babied more than other pipes.
The same thing actually happened to my J04. I seem to have trouble learning not to separate pipes by holding onto the bowl and stem, rather than the shank and stem, so a few of my pipes (mostly cobs) have hairline cracks in the shank.

To address it, I coated the tenon with plenty of soft wax, reinserted it, and wicked thin superglue into the crack. Consider that next time instead of throwing the pipe out!