Your Best Cheap Pipe; Here's Mine; Let's See Yours!

[HawkeyeLinus]

I'd been looking for this model for a long time and the only one ever for sale was a pretty poor used version I found on eBay for next to nothing. It was my first legit restoration and got a lot of good advice on here. It's just now the time of year I'll be digging it out!

Repairable! :: Pipe Repair and Maintenance

I found an old Stanwell estate I wanted but this is the stem. On either side you can feel a slight "ridge" as you slide your finger over the darker part of the stem to where it really is discolored which is slightly "lower". No idea if this was some previous kind of repair or just worn out by...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[Sobrbiker]

Barely over the $50 mark, and under with a good sale, I find the Ropp Etudiant line an amazing bang for the buck.
I just ran this little guy for 5 or 6 smokes today working around my property, and will do the same tomorrow (and does it all week at work many weeks).

 

[khiddy]

Cool story. I know that the pipes and tobacco that I have ordered from them is always handled with the greatest of customer service of anyplace I have dealt with. I have always thought that it harkens back to an older time when the "customer was king." Sure miss those days.

I made a pilgrimage yesterday to Iwan Ries while in town for an event around the corner. I went in just to look around, and came out with a beautiful Briarworks bent (a pipe that would most definitely not be welcome in this thread) and some C&D tins… and lots of little freebies thrown in. Sure the Illinois and Chicago taxes were horrific, but like Gen. MacArthur, I will return!

 

[gord]

Barely over the $50 mark, and under with a good sale, I find the Ropp Etudiant line an amazing bang for the buck.
I just ran this little guy for 5 or 6 smokes today working around my property, and will do the same tomorrow (and does it all week at work many weeks).View attachment 336347

I'm on a Ropp discovery binge, myself

 

[burleybreath]

This pipe and I go way back. It's a true "basket" pipe, actually taken from a basket sitting on the check-out counter of Manning's News, Syracuse, NY, circa 1975 or so. Seventeen bucks, or two for $25, if memory serves. Allegedly a Charatan second. Positively one of my top five smokers. No fills, no defects. The pipe came with much sharper edges on the bowl rim and shank, which I softened with sandpaper, then stained the result with brown shoe polish. Am I a highly skilled craftsman, or what?! (Actual pipe is much darker.)

 

[jpmcwjr]

The bent billiard. A true basket pipe bought in Leith, Scotland, about $25. The Hungarian is also a basket pipe, a bit more.

 

[Mike N]

Tim West of Columbus, Ohio, has been making great smoking briar pipes since 1967. At the recent (free admission) NASPC show, Jim had an assortment of refurbished basket pipes in the $20 range. His table was directly across from mine and I went over and purchased two brand new 7-inch briar billiards —with the thin soft ebonite stems that I now seem to enjoy for clenching —for only $75 apiece. One of them is shown below. Tough to beat that value. The man knows how to make a pipe

 

[OzPiper]

Tim West of Columbus, Ohio, has been making great smoking briar pipes since 1967.………….purchased two brand new 7-inch briar billiards — for only $75 apiece.

@Mike N
Very nice. And at a great price
But ……..a ”bit” more than the stipulated ($30) price range

 

[Hillcrest]

The two Erica (Peterson seconds) pipes middle (XXL Hand Made) and right (302) were purchased for about $15-20 each. The Irish second (Xl339S) on the left was purchased by my brother for $15 but I traded him a $60 NOS Savinelli fiammata for it.

 

[Mike N]

@Mike N
Very nice. And at a great price
But ……..a ”bit” more than the stipulated ($30) price range

Yeah, sorry about that. I guess the point I started making but did not finish was that rehabbed basket briar pipes offered at <$30 at a show or brick and mortar are often the best bargains I see. Usually there are recognizable name brand, smoked and unsmoked, briar pipes available if you pick through the batch. Nothing against cobs-- I smoked one yesterday— but those plastic stems on the cheaper models are no match for an old buffed up ebonite stem on an old briar billiard, price being equal, in my view.

 

[OzPiper]

Yeah, sorry about that. I guess the point I started making but did not finish was that rehabbed basket briar pipes offered at <$30 at a show or brick and mortar are often the best bargains I see. Usually there are recognizable name brand, smoked and unsmoked, briar pipes available if you pick through the batch. Nothing against cobs-- I smoked one yesterday— but those plastic stems on the cheaper models are no match for an old buffed up ebonite stem on an old briar billiard, price being equal, in my view.

Absolutely on the money

I have nothing against cobs. And can readily see why they are popular with so many.

I posted the pipes I did, to show that it IS possible to get nice briars for much the same price as cobs - IF you don’t mind estates.

A couple of the posted estates were from Bruno Nuttens so they arrived professionally cleaned

 

[Joe H]

I’ve enjoyed reading this thread and seeing all of the “blue-collar” pipes out there. Here’s a before and after shot of my most recent acquisition, a 60 year old unsmoked Dr. Grabow from ebay. My version shows the fills a lot more, but I refinished it to look more like one my dad used to have way back when. It cost $19.10 including shipping to Alaska. It smokes great and seems to be made for codger blends.

 

[gord]

I’ve enjoyed reading this thread and seeing all of the “blue-collar” pipes out there. Here’s a before and after shot of my most recent acquisition, a 60 year old unsmoked Dr. Grabow from ebay. My version shows the fills a lot more, but I refinished it to look more like one my dad used to have way back when. It cost $19.10 including shipping to Alaska. It smokes great and seems to be made for codger blends.
View attachment 336547

I agree . . . some older pipes, and newer pipes of old design, seem to be more suitable to "codger blends" or English styles than other types of tobacco.

I've just bought a 70 year old unsmoked meerschaum, block, 6 1/2" straight pipe for less than $100 CAN, in a case, if you can believe it! I'm drooling in anticipation. It should be arriving next week!

 

[Choatecav]

Absolutely on the money

I have nothing against cobs. And can readily see why they are popular with so many.

I posted the pipes I did, to show that it IS possible to get nice briars for much the same price as cobs - IF you don’t mind estates.

A couple of the posted estates were from Bruno Nuttens so they arrived professionally cleaned

I'm curious, Oz.... When you say that they "were from Bruno Nuttens" I assume that he made them and not just estates that he collected but decided to sell, correct??

Also, was that first one with the beautiful grain, one of his??

 

[newbroom]

I had been retired for a year before I discovered pipe smoking AND started using ebay. I had the mailman working overtime delivering little boxes from bids I'd won for cheap estate pipes and I now have dozens and dozens.
To think which is most valuable would be based on what? How it smokes? Its resale value? What's that, really?
I got two Italian made pipes for $20. that I'm pretty proud of. One is a Sav Trevi 616, and the other an Ascorti LaSylvana for Tinder Box. They were caked to death but they cleaned up.
I have a few Grabows from Chicago that were under $30. They're really fine pipes. (Linkmans' with the propeller logo on the stem)
My first win on ebay provided me with pipes I still smoke and I paid about $2.00 for the first 10 pipes i acquired that way. One is a meer lined Canadian that has had its bottom repaird and it smokes amazingly.

The most obvious answer is the cob, and for me, it's the Pride. I do enjoy my OG Legend, and a couple of Morgans.
MM started offering premium stems after I'd 'shot my load'. I may still get one before I'm done.

 

[OzPiper]

I'm curious, Oz.... When you say that they "were from Bruno Nuttens" I assume that he made them and not just estates that he collected but decided to sell, correct??

Also, was that first one with the beautiful grain, one of his??

Yes, the 1st two.
Bruno Nuttens has several strings to his bow.
Apart from being a very fine pipe maker, he also has a sideline restoring and selling estates on EBay under the name “Pipes Estates”

 

[Choatecav]

Yes, the 1st two.
Bruno Nuttens has several strings to his bow.
Apart from being a very fine pipe maker, he also has a sideline restoring and selling estates on EBay under the name “Pipes Estates”

That's good info to know, Oz.

I recently bought one of his Bing's and in the correspondence and process, was impressed with his attention to customer service and quality. I am of the opinion that anything he is involved with, is going to be of quality.

Thanks.....

 

[bpinkstaff]

I bought this from didimauw as part of a lot of pipes with a stand, when I first started smoking pipes.

I think it was 6 pipes and a stand for 70 bucks, so I paid a little over 10 dollars for this one.

It's one of my favorite pipes, smokes perfectly everytime. Good thing he didn't smoke it very much, or for a year.

View attachment 336051

Leg lamp is Amazing!

 

[Sigmund]

I think estates are awesome. First, I have gotten a lot of nice pipes I would not have shelled out the cash for at new prices. Second, I really enjoy fiddling with things. While its nice to get a spiffy new pipe, it is also fun to fiddle with them, refinish them end up with something cool where you have been part of the process. One of my favorite pipes is not a cheap pipe but its one I completely refinished. If you keep your eyes open you can snag some really nice pipes under 50 bucks easy. But you have to be willing to put some energy into them.

It also helps if you already have tools. I had buffers and most of what I needed to do basic pipe cleanup already in my shop. I just needed a clean buffing wheel, some wax and fiebings stain.

 

[Jahman7]

Set a Time Machine for 50yrs ago
My dad bought it at Iwan Ries when I was a wee lad.
It’s a Decatur, and I’ve seen similar for sale on eBay and such. I’ve yet to see one that spins with slots for nine plus the cleaner holder, and rarely if ever do they have the correct jar and lid.

Darn... Lol I was about to be ready to drop some $$ on one of those.