Todd Bannard Oom Paul Commission

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bluegrassbrian

Your Mom's Favorite Pipe Smoker
Aug 27, 2016
6,738
66,075
41
Louisville
My God haha. Fantastic pipe, as expected. Great for a cross country road trips I'd bet. Or marathoning all LOTR movies in a row.
But really, that's a great looking pipe. Todd does great work.

I'm always curious, with the "magnum" pipes, how do they taste during the last third of the bowl ?
Maybe ask Rich Esserman.

I have a few chimneys, but they're all fairly narrow, no wider than .74". In my experience the flavor towards the final third can get maltier, warmer, and perhaps leaning toward acrid - but still totally enjoyable. The last 20% doesn't stay lit as well and requires more relights. Overall I enjoy them though, and the aesthetic pleases me.
 

mingc

Lifer
Jun 20, 2019
4,324
12,753
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
So, as usual, scale of pipes is often deceiving in photographs.
This shape just naturally looks "big" because they usually are, plus it's so tall and unconventionally narrow.

"Length" from bit to far edge is 2.88".
Height is 4.94".
Chamber is .71 x 2.35".

View attachment 231843View attachment 231844View attachment 231845
Can you fit a finger in the chamber? Or do you have to use a tamper to fill the chamber? I've a Fribourg & Treyer Cutty that I've to do this with and I think it has a chamber diameter of about 0.7".

@sasquatch, I'm really digging your departures from the English/French archetypes for this shape in this pipe.
 
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bluegrassbrian

Your Mom's Favorite Pipe Smoker
Aug 27, 2016
6,738
66,075
41
Louisville
Can you fit a finger in the chamber? Or do you have to use a tamper to fill the chamber with tobacco?

@sasquatch, I'm really digging your departures from the English/French archetypes for this shape in this pipe.
I'm a pretty big boy, 6'2 240. I used my pinky to pack this bowl lol. Don't think any other finger would reach to the bottom, width-wise.
I've used a tamper to pack a bowl before but I try to avoid it. There's something about being able to feel the tobacco at the base and gauging the right consistency.
 

bluegrassbrian

Your Mom's Favorite Pipe Smoker
Aug 27, 2016
6,738
66,075
41
Louisville
How did the conversation turn to having the front of the bowl and the back of the stem curve slightly toward each other?
I told him I wanted a small scale full bent, as dramatically vertical as he felt comfortable going.
I think the shank would have been longer (taller), but drilling the draft was made easier this way.
 
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sasquatch

Lifer
Jul 16, 2012
1,708
3,002
How did the conversation turn to having the front of the bowl and the back of the stem curve slightly toward each other?
That's just basic aesthetics, and certainly not an accident at all. I mean, anyone who's anyone who knows anything about anything woulda anticipated that.

Actually a great talking point - ultra-experienced pipe makers would see that on the fly on a new shape, it would become part of the plan if it wasn't originally part of it. The rest of us seek for happy little symmetries etc, and sometimes you make changes to a piece not even knowing why, you just... "like it better".
 

AroEnglish

Rehabilitant
Jan 7, 2020
5,352
15,622
#62
That's just basic aesthetics, and certainly not an accident at all. I mean, anyone who's anyone who knows anything about anything woulda anticipated that.

Actually a great talking point - ultra-experienced pipe makers would see that on the fly on a new shape, it would become part of the plan if it wasn't originally part of it. The rest of us seek for happy little symmetries etc, and sometimes you make changes to a piece not even knowing why, you just... "like it better".
Good to know; thanks for the info! Yeah I figured that was extremely intentionally as I’ve seen your other oom pauls that are dead straight so I assumed this wasn’t just a slip of the hand or something.

By the way, has anyone drilled straight through the shank to get the right angle for the draft hole then just plugged the hole? Besides aesthetics, is there a reason why you wouldn’t do this?
 

sasquatch

Lifer
Jul 16, 2012
1,708
3,002
Good to know; thanks for the info! Yeah I figured that was extremely intentionally as I’ve seen your other oom pauls that are dead straight so I assumed this wasn’t just a slip of the hand or something.

By the way, has anyone drilled straight through the shank to get the right angle for the draft hole then just plugged the hole? Besides aesthetics, is there a reason why you wouldn’t do this?
Yes, all kinds of trickery can and has been done, the chief reason not to is that you can never again clean the airway with a hard tool like a drill bit. So for a guy who keeps pipes clean, it might not work out too bad, but if the airway ever got seriously gunked up, you can't service the pipe with ordinary stuff.
 

Lucashly

Can't Leave
Jun 21, 2023
382
338
California
Good to know; thanks for the info! Yeah I figured that was extremely intentionally as I’ve seen your other oom pauls that are dead straight so I assumed this wasn’t just a slip of the hand or something.

By the way, has anyone drilled straight through the shank to get the right angle for the draft hole then just plugged the hole? Besides aesthetics, is there a reason why you wouldn’t do this?
 
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MattRVA

Lifer
Feb 6, 2019
4,686
42,551
Richmond Virginia
You may know him as Sasquatch or BST Pipes. I didn't know nuts grew so far up in to Canada, but there he is.
A joy to work with the last month or so. He's been nothing but gracious in dealing with my hospital stay a couple weeks ago (and a fractured collarbone sustained just yesterday!), which has caused a slight financial trepidation.
Alaskanpipers cutty competition really turned me on to Todd's work - his cutty was my favorite among the dozen.

First of all, this bag. My god.
View attachment 231803

Almost didn't care what the pipe looked like. The bag is a winner.

So I wanted a full bent, tall and narrow chamber, cross cut, almost ridiculously bent jaw hanger.
Using some old #1 cross cut Mimmo he got from Adam Remington, I'd say it fits the bill.

View attachment 231804View attachment 231805View attachment 231806

Just need to figure out what to break it in with...
I can’t stop thinking about this pipe. It’s so sweet.
 
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