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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,338
Humansville Missouri
This is likely the ugliest pipe I own

2A0AA9B5-C887-4020-9414-B83D59BC9819.jpeg2B70986B-F209-4656-948F-0566C15D0855.jpeg

I have some other E.A. Carey large pipes, and one of them has the perhaps the best looking grain of any pipe I own.

The Carey system requires a moulded plastic (it’s a tough nylon) stem and moulded tenon. Carey likely had the machines that moulded those parts.

The Italian company that carved the stummel had to make the shank fit the mortise, and since it was a Carey it was inexpensive.

The top rim is natural plateaux.

I think the rest of the pipe (other than the place where it’s stamped) was lightly blasted after machine fraising.

Then a god awful slurry of almost black varnish was applied, I’ve been trying to scrub away for years using 4/0 steel wool.

The pipe is a dynamite smoker, among my top ten.
 

crashthegrey

Lifer
Dec 18, 2015
3,884
3,953
41
Cobleskill, NY
www.greywoodie.com
This is likely the ugliest pipe I own

View attachment 198439View attachment 198440

I have some other E.A. Carey large pipes, and one of them has the perhaps the best looking grain of any pipe I own.

The Carey system requires a moulded plastic (it’s a tough nylon) stem and moulded tenon. Carey likely had the machines that moulded those parts.

The Italian company that carved the stummel had to make the shank fit the mortise, and since it was a Carey it was inexpensive.

The top rim is natural plateaux.

I think the rest of the pipe (other than the place where it’s stamped) was lightly blasted after machine fraising.

Then a god awful slurry of almost black varnish was applied, I’ve been trying to scrub away for years using 4/0 steel wool.

The pipe is a dynamite smoker, among my top ten.
That pipe would be fine finished better. Mask it, pop it in the sandblast, and refinish. Of course, that requires having a way to sandblast, but that would strip that shellac right off.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,338
Humansville Missouri
That pipe would be fine finished better. Mask it, pop it in the sandblast, and refinish. Of course, that requires having a way to sandblast, but that would strip that shellac right off.
As cheap as it had to be to sell as a Carey in their catalog, I’d suspect a lot of varnished over fills lurk under the cheap finish.

But when you look close and try to determine through the varnish, it was perfectly straight grained with extremely tight horizontal growth rings. This was cut from an extraordinary good plateaux of very old briar.

Maybe it was varnished just because Carey demanded an almost weatherproof pipe.
 

crashthegrey

Lifer
Dec 18, 2015
3,884
3,953
41
Cobleskill, NY
www.greywoodie.com
As cheap as it had to be to sell as a Carey in their catalog, I’d suspect a lot of varnished over fills lurk under the cheap finish.

But when you look close and try to determine through the varnish, it was perfectly straight grained with extremely tight horizontal growth rings. This was cut from an extraordinary good plateaux of very old briar.

Maybe it was varnished just because Carey demanded an almost weatherproof pipe.
More than likely. The beauty with sandblasting is that you just set the pressure low enough to just take off the shellac and stain, without removing more wood or fills. It also takes about two minutes.
 
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