JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
Well after listening to some of you in the HERF the other night, I learned a lot about pipes--how they are drilled and how that affects the draw, and also gurgle. So I was smoking this piece of junk last night I got years ago out one of those baskets of loose pipes you sometimes see a large tobacconist. I could never get a pipe cleaner through it, you have to remove the stem and put it through backwards. And you can barely get the stem on/off the pipe, even when it is totally cool. It seems to always burn wet near the end.
I tossed it in the trash.
We talked about fountain pens briefly the other night and you learned I use mostly Lamy or NOS Schaeffer school pens like I learned with in grammar school, nothing fancy. Well, one, but that was an $80 Indian. With a Schaeffer nib.
So I can safely say I will most likely never buy a $200 pipe. I will most likely never buy a $100 pipe, actually. But I would like to buy some factory seconds that are mechanically sound. I can imagine that it does not take much of a cosmetic defect to knock a $200 pipe into the factory seconds bin. I have also become aware of Bones and Savinelli III pipes, which appear to be decent smokers, but which the manufacturer realized early on would not make it to a premium pipe but they continue to manufacture them, just leaving them unfinished.
I'd happily pay $50 for those if they are really good smokers, that's why I'm doing this thread. Are they typically good smokers? And while we're on the subject, a) what is the preferred way to finish them, and b) for the lazy among us (that would be moi) are there any mechanically good finished pipes with blemishes that sell as seconds?
Based on my experience with pens, I really don't give a rip about looks, at all. And I won't spend a penny over $100. Not $101, $100 tops, period. I'd prefer to spend like $50-60 on a decent smoker with cosmetic defects. Best place to look for these?
Thanks, gents!
P.S. And what the heck is Arbutus? Never heard of it. Apparently, it is used like briar, but this is new to me. Pros, cons??
I tossed it in the trash.
We talked about fountain pens briefly the other night and you learned I use mostly Lamy or NOS Schaeffer school pens like I learned with in grammar school, nothing fancy. Well, one, but that was an $80 Indian. With a Schaeffer nib.
So I can safely say I will most likely never buy a $200 pipe. I will most likely never buy a $100 pipe, actually. But I would like to buy some factory seconds that are mechanically sound. I can imagine that it does not take much of a cosmetic defect to knock a $200 pipe into the factory seconds bin. I have also become aware of Bones and Savinelli III pipes, which appear to be decent smokers, but which the manufacturer realized early on would not make it to a premium pipe but they continue to manufacture them, just leaving them unfinished.
I'd happily pay $50 for those if they are really good smokers, that's why I'm doing this thread. Are they typically good smokers? And while we're on the subject, a) what is the preferred way to finish them, and b) for the lazy among us (that would be moi) are there any mechanically good finished pipes with blemishes that sell as seconds?
Based on my experience with pens, I really don't give a rip about looks, at all. And I won't spend a penny over $100. Not $101, $100 tops, period. I'd prefer to spend like $50-60 on a decent smoker with cosmetic defects. Best place to look for these?
Thanks, gents!
P.S. And what the heck is Arbutus? Never heard of it. Apparently, it is used like briar, but this is new to me. Pros, cons??