I bought a few estate pipes recently and a few came in the mail today. The first one I tried is a meerschaum made by an unknown maker. I liked the looks and price of the pipe well enough, although I would almost swear I saw the same pipe sold on the same website a while back. I tried it out and it had a very constricted air flow. It would bar like a larger draft hole on a pipe, I like an easy draw. I knew something would have to be done.
I thought about a return, but I decided instead to modify the pipe a bit and open that air flow up. I opened the pipe up and got my drill bits out. I drilled out the joint successfully (I was afraid of breaking that delrin).
That didn’t fix the problem. The draft hole through the shank was great, so I looked closer st the stem. Because the stem is somewhat transparent, I could see that the draft hole tapered down to a very small hole right near the button. This was the problem. My drill bit was just barely long enough, but it made it and I got it drilled out. Ran my fine file through there after and got it done!
Now it has a great draw and smokes well. The first two bowls were really tough to smoke, but now this thing is smoking!
I have had a pretty bad year, and kind of a frustrating day as well so this little victory really meant something to me even if it was really a very small matter. There is something about the very plain looks of this pipe that I like. I do think I saw it on the same site (smokingpipes)before and I can’t help but think that someone else bought it and returned it because it was so unsmokable. It’s a smoker now! It always pleases me to make something useable again.
I thought about a return, but I decided instead to modify the pipe a bit and open that air flow up. I opened the pipe up and got my drill bits out. I drilled out the joint successfully (I was afraid of breaking that delrin).
That didn’t fix the problem. The draft hole through the shank was great, so I looked closer st the stem. Because the stem is somewhat transparent, I could see that the draft hole tapered down to a very small hole right near the button. This was the problem. My drill bit was just barely long enough, but it made it and I got it drilled out. Ran my fine file through there after and got it done!
Now it has a great draw and smokes well. The first two bowls were really tough to smoke, but now this thing is smoking!
I have had a pretty bad year, and kind of a frustrating day as well so this little victory really meant something to me even if it was really a very small matter. There is something about the very plain looks of this pipe that I like. I do think I saw it on the same site (smokingpipes)before and I can’t help but think that someone else bought it and returned it because it was so unsmokable. It’s a smoker now! It always pleases me to make something useable again.
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