I'm not a kid any more and suspect you aren't either. Why in the world would you need a beater 400 when you own two? At our age, we're not going to wear out a pipe. Unless the shank was broken in two, every pipe is "smoke-able". But why would you want to smoke a pipe in that condition? Life is to short to live with a pipe in poor condition, when there are literally thousands of better pipes available.
It sounds like you really enjoy what you are doing/buying. To me that's what a hobby is all about. Carry on my friend, keep us posted.At age 67 I know when somebody callls me “young man” they are flattering me.
But I know too, that as old men go I’m a very young old man.
Twenty years ago or so I began buying really nice old Kaywoodie pipes for about $10 to $15 and sometimes $20.
Then about 15 years ago I started buying $20 Lee pipes.
Five or so years ago I began buying $20 Marxmans.
Lookie at this $65 Bertram Grade 95 I get the chance to love on this morning, when the postman brings it.
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In twenty more years I’ll be 87 and if I’m on the right side of the sod I hope I’m like my mother’s father who drove a car and went fishing and hunting and loved life until the day when he was 89 he slipped on a riverbank and broke his hip, and after that he just wasn’t good the three years he had left.
All he did then was smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes, dip snuff and chew tobacco and tell stories until the Lord called him home.
If my wife’s health improves we’ll travel.
Until then, I can play with my pipes, you know?
My kids will get back all the little money I ever spent on them.
I wish I could live to see them sell, I’d buy them all back.
Gluing the cracked shank may be a bit tricky. If you apply glue with the shank crack open then clamp you will probably get glue to run in the mortise, not good. If you clamp it first then apply glue, you probably won't get the glue to penetrate sufficiently, not good, it will crack again. If you do get it glued and clamped without the mouthpiece in place you'll probably crack it again when you insert the mouthpiece. If you try and glue it with the mouthpiece in place the glue may run in the mortise and youll never get the mouthpiece out. Or...I could be totally off base and any method you choose will work like a champ
Gluing the cracked shank may be a bit tricky. If you apply glue with the shank crack open then clamp you will probably get glue to run in the mortise, not good. If you clamp it first then apply glue, you probably won't get the glue to penetrate sufficiently, not good, it will crack again. If you do get it glued and clamped without the mouthpiece in place you'll probably crack it again when you insert the mouthpiece. If you try and glue it with the mouthpiece in place the glue may run in the mortise and youll never get the mouthpiece out. Or...I could be totally off base and any method you choose will work like a champ
Lookit this magnicent thing!
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I own two of those Marxman Chubbies, that’s the carved one. When I rise to worlds unseen if my kids can’t get back the thirty or so dollars I paid for those apiece they need to find a better way to make money than selling my stuff.
Those are mere Big Boys. Not a 400. But both will produce nicotine hiccups smoking Carter Hall, if I don’t pace myself, and they simply never get hot to hold, barely warm.
When I get in my $10 400 attempt job one will be clean it up back to as new as I can.
I’ll smoke it and see how bad it leaks.
That gold colored band, should still allow for a snug stem fit.
The luthier’s brown super glue, could be applied on the surface or I could use a razor blade. A pipe tool can scrape any glue off while wet on the inside.
It should be a slightly better smoker than a Big Boy. And it will color out to a dark wine red the same as all other Marxman pipes.
I believe the rumination and response is a large part of the counselor’s hobby.
Sorry to appear as Captain Naive , but why do you refer to it as a 400 attempt ?
NOT AT ALL. The 400s ALL have a unique checkering, much like the type an artists uses for shading. NONE of them had worm trails. There are other tells as well. As I stated previously I have personally handled many 400s and all of them had traits that I saw only on the 400s. If I can post my pictures of the group of 14 400s next to each other that should settle this. But, please, let's make it clear that your conjecture is a lawyer's argument and not the evidence of fact. Courts don't require evidence to be factual, merely suggestive enough to confuse a jury.
The pipe at the top is absolutely a purposeful bench made. The band is clearly a repair band and the worm trails are indicative of benchmades as well as the 4 panel bowl. 400s can have 4 sides but they are very roundy- indicative of the fact that the maker is trying to enhance bowl size rather than focus on the aesthetic of the bowl shape.
So they have a hunk of briar.........& try to shave as little off it as possible ? No envisioned shape ?
Well , I would try to be a little gentler , but no , honestly , I can't picture Norman Rockwell smoking one while painting .
I'm nowhere near some of you guys in pipe knowledge , so thanks for your info .
I would be gentler, but this ongoing diatribe of everything being a "failed" 400 attempt has gone on for years and to be honest, it's easier to just cut to the chase.So they have a hunk of briar.........& try to shave as little off it as possible ? No envisioned shape ?
Well , I would try to be a little gentler , but no , honestly , I can't picture Norman Rockwell smoking one while painting .
I'm nowhere near some of you guys in pipe knowledge , so thanks for your info .
Pretty much it for a lot of them. I've seen many in my years, most of them monstrosities. Put a paper thin gold band on them,a lot of hype and you have the most expensive pipe in America.
Don't forget you get your name in the fabled Blue Book.Pretty much it for a lot of them. I've seen many in my years, most of them monstrosities. Put a paper thin gold band on them,a lot of hype and you have the most expensive pipe in America.
