What Do the Brigham Dots Mean in Practical Terms?

[seanv]

Cool write up Bigbeard. I love my Brigham pipes. I have close to 20 from all various eras as far back as the patent era. I cant say enough good things about them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

 

[olkofri]

What?? So now I must buy more Brighams to keep up with the one-upping Joneses??? ??
?

 

[olkofri]

My 3-dot sportsman volcano is prone to having the airway clog and it feels quite restricted compared with the others. A deep cleaning didn't help. I also get gurgle and moisture issues, probably due to my inexperience. But a pipe cleaner doesn't want to go deep enough to resolve it.

My Voyageur volcano has similar issues: the draught feels tight and it's prone to clog. I've no gurgling issues though. There's moisture build up but I'm not one to be running cleaners down the hole: I don't carry cleaners with me and in a Brigham volcano they'd be useless if the maple filter is in: it's impossible to run a filter to the chamber with the filter in place in a Brigham bent pipe.

 

[bigbeard]

My Voyageur volcano has similar issues: the draught feels tight and it's prone to clog. I've no gurgling issues though. There's moisture build up but I'm not one to be running cleaners down the hole: I don't carry cleaners with me and in a Brigham volcano they'd be useless if the maple filter is in: it's impossible to run a filter to the chamber with the filter in place in a Brigham bent pipe.

The moisture issue might be my inexperience or the tobaccos I choose. One of the reasons I'm more fond of the straight pipes and 1/4" bent is that I'm more likely to get a pipe cleaner in there. It won't reach the tobacco chamber but it gets enough moisture.

Cool write up Bigbeard. I love my Brigham pipes. I have close to 20 from all various eras as far back as the patent era. I cant say enough good things about them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

I really like the Brigham pipes I have. They smoke great and give me a big of a connection to my Grandpa, who smoked mostly Brighams. I find the distilator filters make a positive difference.

It doesn't hurt that my favourite Canadian online retailer sells them.

That said, one of my favourites is a carve-your-own-pipe kit I got from Smoking Pipes. Tobacco chamber, draught hole and mortise are pre-drilled. Stem is pre-fitted. It smokes as well as my 6-dot Brigham.

 

[olkofri]

It doesn't hurt that my favourite Canadian online retailer sells them.

That said, one of my favourites is a carve-your-own-pipe kit I got from Smoking Pipes. Tobacco chamber, draught hole and mortise are pre-drilled. Stem is pre-fitted. It smokes as well as my 6-dot Brigham.

Which retailer is that one? Brighamandmore?

Which kit did you get? I've been wanting to try my hand at making a pipe (or half a pipe). It'd be wise to do that before the winter when I can't sand wood.

One of the reasons I'm more fond of the straight pipes and 1/4" bent is that I'm more likely to get a pipe cleaner in there.

Some of their 1/4 bents are actually bent at the stem. Since the mortise is basically a straight, there's no receptacle for the filter head, and you can run a cleaner all the way to the chamber. I got myself this Prince and you can see that for yourself:

 

[bigbeard]

I'm trying to avoid linking because I don't want to run afoul of the rules on the forum.

Which retailer is that one? Brighamandmore?

I've been using Victory Pipes in Oshawa, ON. They are one of the very few Canadian online retailers that would ship me tobacco. Given that I have only left home once since March, this is what allowed me to take up the pipe during the pandemic.

Which kit did you get? I've been wanting to try my hand at making a pipe (or half a pipe).

My first 4 kits came from Smoking Pipes dot Com. You can search their site for Plateau, Ebauchon or Morta and you'll find the kits. This is the one I'm talking about when I refer to my favourite.

Because these came from the US, customs and brokerage was a big anxiety. We're not leaving home to pick things up and we're not having contact with anyone that comes to our door. Fortunately, Canada Post didn't charge us.

Victory Pipes also has kits that are from Brigham Enterprises. However... they do not use the distillator filters and I don't feel that the quality of the kits is as good.

Were it not for the worry of needing face-to-face contact, I'd buy the kids from Smoking Pipes dot com.

It'd be wise to do that before the winter when I can't sand wood.

If you're using a sanding disc or belt sander for shaping, you want to be outside or have good dust collection.

For finish hand-sanding, I do it sitting on the sofa watching TV with my wife. It takes HOURS. You can do wet sanding for all hand-sanding to eliminate dust if you'd like. This is especially important with stems.

I've ordered a few cheap bits to bore tobacco chambers off of eBay so I'm thinking of trying to make the whole pipe from scratch. Stem making is probably the single worst part. It's miserable. There's a pen blank supplier in Ontario that sells morta and olive wood blanks that are big enough for a stummel.

 

[olkofri]

Because these came from the US, customs and brokerage was a big anxiety. We're not leaving home to pick things up and we're not having contact with anyone that comes to our door. Fortunately, Canada Post didn't charge us.

There should be an option to pay duties online in the section where you track your parcel on Canadapost's website. I bring it up because when parcels have duty fees they don't deliver to your home but send them to the nearest post depot where you need to pick them up in person and pay the fees.

If you're using a sanding disc or belt sander for shaping, you want to be outside or have good dust collection.

For finish hand-sanding, I do it sitting on the sofa watching TV with my wife. It takes HOURS. You can do wet sanding for all hand-sanding to eliminate dust if you'd like. This is especially important with stems.

I don't have woorworking tools other than a drill and a Dremel.

I didn't know there was such thing as 'wet sanding', though I've seen the wet term on the sanding paper sheets themselves. Interesting. I knew about applying honing oil to sandpaper to sharpen knives, but not about using water to sand.

 

[bigbeard]

There should be an option to pay duties online in the section where you track your parcel on Canadapost's website.

In theory, there is. Being a software developer, though, it's hard for me to trust computer systems.

I don't have woorworking tools other than a drill and a Dremel.

A Dremel is an incredibly useful tool for pipe making. While a bit slower, you can do a whole pipe that way.

You'll want drum sander Dremel bits for rough shaping (or final shaping, if you're doing a classic shape like a billiard or apple).

You'll want carving bits for fine detail work and even rustication if you want that.

You'll also want a nice set of small files to take out any roughness from Dremel work.

I didn't know there was such thing as 'wet sanding', though I've seen the wet term on the sanding paper sheets themselves. Interesting. I knew about applying honing oil to sandpaper to sharpen knives, but not about using water to sand.

Wet sanding is life-changing if you're into woodworking. Instead of sanding dust, you get a slurry that you keep washing off the sandpaper by dunking it in water.

Wet sandpaper to at least 600 grit for the stummel.

Files, then wet standpaper, then wet micro-mesh for the stem. The stems may be VERY rough when you get them but don't worry - they will shine when you're done.

 

[olkofri]

Wow!

Maybe you can make a video of your next project and enlighten us.