You are the petemeister!
Problems with Peterson?
- Thread starter triplepass
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I have 3 Petersons and almost never smoke them. I have handled several others in my local B&M shops and have not been impressed. I will likely remain a Savinelli guy.
My Petes are fine, despite the bent ones not really passing a pipe cleaner. That said... I am pretty much done with them, aside from something amazing falling into my lap. The only asterisk is that I'll probably grab an old African Meer Pete one of these days.
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I'm by no means an authority but it stands to reason a draft hole that far above the bottom will leave more unsmoked tobacco below it, or at least make you work a little harder to burn it. If it were to burn below the draft hole, I would think you'd also end up with more ash in your mouth, than you would with a pipe set up correctly. Someone correct me, if my thinking is off.
The XL02 is a fuller bend pipe and I believe it's primarily with their bent pipes they have the problem, as explained to me by both vendors I asked. The loose stem is just poor QC by Peterson and hopefully a fluke. As I said in one of my replies, I've got a bent bulldog Peterson that's stellar. I reach for it far more often than my Savinelli. Both are bent bulldogs. Until 2 days ago, when I received the poorly drilled XL02 Newgrange, I was a Peterson fanboy. Then yesterday I received the defective bone stem spigot. Two unacceptable pipes in a row has me spooked on the brand. I've got a 999 Peterson coming tomorrow and I've got my fingers crossed it's okay. I love their looks and the breadth of the line. They've got many pipes that agree with me and in the past, as I shopped for a pipe, I just naturally ended up in the Peterson section.
Was just curious. I've never really experienced issues such as that with anything I've smoked. Briar seems to be kind finicky at times it seems. No matter how goofy a cob is put together it they still seem to smoke great. Not saying one is better than the other, just interesting to compair differences. Hopefully the peterson you have on the way is better!
When I look at them I'll pay extra attention to the drilling for sure.
When I look at them I'll pay extra attention to the drilling for sure.
Hirsute
Used to have fun with Commander Yellow Pantyhose
Ah, Peterson quality control. I was put off Petes for a long time because of poor quality controls--high and off-center draft holes and dip-stained stummels that would bleed stain as you smoked them. But, a few years ago I revisited Peterson and was pleasantly surprised. Almost all of the Petes I've had lately are perfect, so I think they've gotten better.
With that said, I too wouldn't accept the horn-stemmed pipe if the horn wasn't married firmly to the spigot.
re: passing a cleaner, my bent Petes do not pass a cleaner. Never had one that did. Which is why I almost always buy straight pipes from Peterson, or I buy spigotts or military mounts.
re: high draft holes. This is a huge topic in the pipe community, with angry mobs on both sides, so I'll just try to summarize. But before I do, let me say there's a big difference between a touch high, and really high, and what I'm about to talk about is a touch high--like 2-3mm high max. Really high is an error and I wouldn't accept it.
So, in a straight pipe, there's no excuse--the draft hole should be at the bottom of the hole always. In a bent pipe, some folks say the same rule applies. Other folks say no, it should be a touch high and that it makes it smoke better. The "bottom of the bowl" folks say a high hole leaves unsmoked tobacco and can cause strange airflow which makes a pipe smoke wet. The "high hole" folks say the higher hole actually improves airflow--it basically points down at the middle center of the bowl and causes some magic venturi effect thing to happen which makes it smoke better, and that unsmoked tobacco is an insignificant quantity and actually helps absorb moisture to give you a drier smoke. The "high hole" folks point to some high end Danish carvers who do this. The "bottom of the bowl" folks point to others who do not. So, who's right? I have no idea. I do know that I have both kinds of pipes and they both smoke fine. I recently purchased a silver cap Pete which is gorgeous, and the hole is a touch high, but I kept it because (1) it was stunning, (2) the hole was still within the range of acceptable for me (and that's different for everyone), and (3) experience has taught me that draft hole location is only one factor in whether a pipe smokes well, and maybe not even the most important one.
With that said, I too wouldn't accept the horn-stemmed pipe if the horn wasn't married firmly to the spigot.
re: passing a cleaner, my bent Petes do not pass a cleaner. Never had one that did. Which is why I almost always buy straight pipes from Peterson, or I buy spigotts or military mounts.
re: high draft holes. This is a huge topic in the pipe community, with angry mobs on both sides, so I'll just try to summarize. But before I do, let me say there's a big difference between a touch high, and really high, and what I'm about to talk about is a touch high--like 2-3mm high max. Really high is an error and I wouldn't accept it.
So, in a straight pipe, there's no excuse--the draft hole should be at the bottom of the hole always. In a bent pipe, some folks say the same rule applies. Other folks say no, it should be a touch high and that it makes it smoke better. The "bottom of the bowl" folks say a high hole leaves unsmoked tobacco and can cause strange airflow which makes a pipe smoke wet. The "high hole" folks say the higher hole actually improves airflow--it basically points down at the middle center of the bowl and causes some magic venturi effect thing to happen which makes it smoke better, and that unsmoked tobacco is an insignificant quantity and actually helps absorb moisture to give you a drier smoke. The "high hole" folks point to some high end Danish carvers who do this. The "bottom of the bowl" folks point to others who do not. So, who's right? I have no idea. I do know that I have both kinds of pipes and they both smoke fine. I recently purchased a silver cap Pete which is gorgeous, and the hole is a touch high, but I kept it because (1) it was stunning, (2) the hole was still within the range of acceptable for me (and that's different for everyone), and (3) experience has taught me that draft hole location is only one factor in whether a pipe smokes well, and maybe not even the most important one.
good info
FifyYou are the high-hole don't care Petemeister!
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Never bought a Peterson, so I can't comment on their quality. I have heard that they can be inconsistent in the past, and they are more expensive than I have ever spent on a pipe. Buying a Peterson has no appeal for me.
The most I've ever spent on a pipe (cob, clay and briar) is £25, and they were all bought new, and had no drilling problems. Spending more money for something with quality problems makes no sense to me. YMMV.
The most I've ever spent on a pipe (cob, clay and briar) is £25, and they were all bought new, and had no drilling problems. Spending more money for something with quality problems makes no sense to me. YMMV.
I have a 40+ year old Peterson that I smoked when I was young, an awesome pipe.
Hirsute
Used to have fun with Commander Yellow Pantyhose
Fify
Great points, Micah. All of my bent Petes are drilled slightly high, but all of them are amazing smokers.
I can pass a pipe cleaner through all of mine as long as I give the cleaner a mid-shank twist on the bent Petes. All of my bent Petes are spigots though, so I really don't even need to worry about it.
I sent back a Pete a couple of weeks ago, but it was due to three scuffs in the silver band. I was quite sad about it. It was a smooth 80s Red Silver Spigot.
At this point I would never buy a Peterson that I cant physically inspect and test ala at a B&M. I cant emphasis enough that both high drilled Petersons of mine caused draft hole to burn and become disfigured my theory is that as the ember gets down to the level of the hole a kind of cross wind happens bringing high heat and eventual ember contact right up against the draught hole. At this point every puff is acting almost like forge bringing all the heat against the back wall of the pipe with no tobacco to soften the blow so to speak as with a pipe that draws more vertical the ember is always cushioned by tobacco on top of the draft hole until the very end. I agree a military mount would be a solution as I can swab the shank at any time as both my bent Petes are gurgly as hell smoking them requires many passes with a pipe cleaner only I cant do it and the pipes sit on the rack ignored. I like to make a distinction here I was PIfed a pipe from our good friend Alpster. I cant say enough good things about this pipe its a bent pipe with absolute flawless smoking mechanics you would be hard pressed to get it to gurgle or have any difficulty passing a pipe cleaner. It smokes very evenly doesn't create hot spots or other phenomenon I get from many other pipes like my Dunhill. Alpsters pipe has much thinner walls than my dunhill but the dunhill will get so hot even from just sipping gently I cant understand what the hell is going on. Sorry for my rant on pipe smoking mechanics but nothing turns me off these days than a pipe that just ticks you off so much when you smoke it that you forget your supposed to be enjoying yourself.
Somewhere, @ouch is once again cussing the loss of custom titles.You are the petemeister!
I miss my custom title
Btw my new Pete showed up, looks good on the drilling (and is stunning if I do say so myself)
Same here. For a while it was “a blind squirrel finds a nut”, since I used the phrase “even a blind squirrel finds a nut”. Then we had an egg nog thread, someone said that fat boys don’t like egg nog, I said that this fat boy does, so it changed to “a fat squirrel finds his nog”.I miss my custom title
Btw my new Pete showed up, looks good on the drilling (and is stunning if I do say so myself)
View attachment 851757
Haha nice!
I miss almost all of my 4200 custom titles.
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I miss my custom title
Btw my new Pete showed up, looks good on the drilling (and is stunning if I do say so myself)
View attachment 851757
Sweet looking pipe! I love my bent pipes.
