I decided to load BCA in the Slainte with the churchwarden stem this morning. A pleasant smoke and then off into the world I go.
Pipe Of The Day (POTD)
- Thread starter jwhite
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AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Rewarding myself with a bantam bowl of Grousemoor, after a couple of successful Falcon bowl tweaks.
Out of all my Falcon pipe bowls (now eleven), I had two that weren't sealing properly, but only on certain stems. On my standard stems, my bantam rustic Genoa was ok, but not great, but my Algiers Hunter bowl was leaky to the point it barely smoked. Both worked perfectly on my International stem, but on my other stems, the threads were bottoming out before the seal gasket touched down.
Adding a second gasket was all that was needed to correct the bantam stem today. On the Algiers, I managed to remove the gasket without damaging it (although I did wait for replacement seals to arrive before attempting it), and cut a gasket sized ring of thin leather to sit behind it, then put the factory gasket back on top.
All bowls work perfectly now, no matter which stem I put them on.
Out of all my Falcon pipe bowls (now eleven), I had two that weren't sealing properly, but only on certain stems. On my standard stems, my bantam rustic Genoa was ok, but not great, but my Algiers Hunter bowl was leaky to the point it barely smoked. Both worked perfectly on my International stem, but on my other stems, the threads were bottoming out before the seal gasket touched down.
Adding a second gasket was all that was needed to correct the bantam stem today. On the Algiers, I managed to remove the gasket without damaging it (although I did wait for replacement seals to arrive before attempting it), and cut a gasket sized ring of thin leather to sit behind it, then put the factory gasket back on top.
All bowls work perfectly now, no matter which stem I put them on.
Smoking some Escudo Navy Deluxe out of this old German clay pipe.
A quiet Thursday morning pipe: a mix of Stirling Flake with Capstan Blue in the twin-bore Mastercraft billiard. I tried a different loading technique, the two-part method. Gravity fill to near the top, press down lightly, fill the rest of the way and press a bit more, then charring light, tamp a bit, light again. This gave me a good fifteen minutes' steady smoke, as opposed to the barely ten I've been achieving lately. A couple more relights brought me up to twenty-five total.
Time for a bit of toast and peanut butter!
Time for a bit of toast and peanut butter!
Last night had some Sutliff Phantom Privateer at our pipe club meeting. Loved the tin art on it. The blend was pretty good too. Wish I had gotten a second tin now.
This morning it's Project Digby and BCA while I ponder the gaskets @AimlessWanderer speaks of.
I guess I need to do some more Falcon research since that is new to me.
I guess I need to do some more Falcon research since that is new to me.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I don't know how much you know, and how much you don't, so apologies if I'm being patronising and over explaining. Falcons are a modular pipe system with screw on bowls, and there's a sealing ring at the top of the four start thread, where the underside of the bowl butts up against the lip of the "humidome" (condensing chamber) where the pipe cleaner "dry ring" sits.
This is the bowl I added the piece of leather to (yes, it needs a little cosmetic refinement). The thread section is a little long, and the leather has shortened the effective thread length.
AW, I'm very much thinking about a Falcon. Perhaps the International stem with the bent mouthpiece and a light-colored Algiers bowl, like No. 15 in your gallery.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I know you like straight pipes too, so be aware that International mouthpieces are available separately, so you could get a curved and straight mouthpiece for the same stem unit. If filters are of interest, these stems will take the Falcon ones, and you can squeeze a 6mm balsa filter in there, but they will NOT take the 6mm (carbon or meerschaum) cartridge filters.
For the natural coloured briar, you need to be shopping for Hunter bowls. The Bantam bowls are nice for short smokes too. In that first pic, the top row of bowls has a Genoa Rustic at one end, and a Bantam Rustic Genoa at the other, for size comparison. I don't think you can get Bantam Hunter bowls though.
Not patronizing at all and very informative, thank you. I didn't realize there was any type of gasket on the bowls.
...and nice collection. I'm still pondering my first.
I do have a question:
Could you have removed a bit of the threaded portion of the bowl by lapping it on some sandpaper?...or would that negatively affect the way the bowl seats into the "humidome"?
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Yes, I could have corrected it by removing material from the bottom. However, as I already had some scrap leather, it was far easier to cut a bit of leather and lower that shoulder, than try to maintain the convex shaping on the bottom of the bowl, while reducing its length.
Thanks for the kind comments.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Oh, and smoking a Falcon again today. This time with Coniston Cut Plug.
This morning I screwed the rusticated bowl on my Falcon Bantam and loaded it with BCA.
@AimlessWanderer I appreciate your informative and enjoyable response.
While I have read the book, Back From The Ashes: Uncovering the Lost History of G. L. Hunt and the Falcon Pipe ( www.amazon.com/Back-Ashes-Uncovering-History-Falcon-ebook/dp/B006VOOFNC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1 ), and read a little more here and there, I have only the experience of my one Bantam and three bowls.
So I do appreciate any additional information you have to share. I also know that posts in a forum are for the benefit of anyone who passes through, not just the person being responded to. I have learned a lot from threads I am not a participant in. And I am not above needing my recollection refreshed from time to time.
@AimlessWanderer I appreciate your informative and enjoyable response.
While I have read the book, Back From The Ashes: Uncovering the Lost History of G. L. Hunt and the Falcon Pipe ( www.amazon.com/Back-Ashes-Uncovering-History-Falcon-ebook/dp/B006VOOFNC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1 ), and read a little more here and there, I have only the experience of my one Bantam and three bowls.
So I do appreciate any additional information you have to share. I also know that posts in a forum are for the benefit of anyone who passes through, not just the person being responded to. I have learned a lot from threads I am not a participant in. And I am not above needing my recollection refreshed from time to time.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Nice! I forgot the Bantam bowls used to sit on Bantam stems.
Hey i was planning on buying a 312 for a medium and long smoke. Do u think a spigot system would be better? Or as a new piper i should focus on trying many baccos with the money and this is my 3rd pipe (two cobs) so i don’t know if i should u the standard kind of as a beater pipe per say. Lmk ur thoughts, much appreciated!
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I'm in the middle of Mylar packing 10g-15g pouches of the loose tobaccos that I got this week. While I intend to smoke them fresh (or at least not intentionally age them), they still needed sealing up, as 150g will take me quite some time to work through.
The Gawith New Prince smelled way too good to pass by, and so I packed a pinch in a small Hick Finn cob. I'll finish this, then bag up the last four pouches.
The Gawith New Prince smelled way too good to pass by, and so I packed a pinch in a small Hick Finn cob. I'll finish this, then bag up the last four pouches.
Round 2 of Sutliff’s Phantom Privateer in a modified MM cob.
Many thanks! It was one I did a few years back. Made a briar shank for it.That is one sweet lookin cob you have there!
Larry
