Saint Claude Pipes, Any Thoughts On Them ?

[syngent]

Well i lost my chance at a beautiful peterson in my local shop, someone swooped it up before me, but i noticed a very similar pipe that i actually like the looks of more and felt better in the hand, but i know nothing of the manufacturer of them and cant seem to find much online about them

Anyone own or know anything of a french maker called Saint Claude (obviously, be kind of wierd to title the thread that way about another pipe)

pipe is 80 bucks looks good still have to have a good gander down the barrel of the pipe and then figure out what i am supposed to be looking for lol but is this a good name overall or even if it looks good i should stay away ?

kind of looks something like this slightly different shape though

 

[Commander Quan]

That looks exactly like a green version of Peterson's Killarney line. If the drilling looks good I say go for it.

edit: After a little looking around the brand of that pipe is a EWA and they are made in Saint Claude France.

 

[syngent]

I seen that come up a few times, maybe thats why i cant find reviews or anything on them, thanks Derrick,.... im still looking into what to look for as far as drilling goes but im at work until 2 today to catch up on that before going to have a look at this thing, its almost the same as the peterson they had in, wish i didnt hold off on picking that up this one is slightly smaller i actually like the looks of it more anyway and can save a few bucks so if the drilling looks okay from what i can tell anyway i think i would be happy with it

 

[Commander Quan]

You'll have to look, but it seams like these are drilled to accept a 4 mm filters which are the Brigham filters. It wouldn't hurt to not use a filter if you don't' want to, but it's just something to consider.

 

[syngent]

Well the store sells lots of brigham stuff so i would imagine they would have the filter if i choose that route

 

[Commander Quan]

When you look at the drilling make sure the draft hole comes out at the bottom of the pipe bowl, or at least not too high on the side wall. Take the pipe apart, if it seams stuck as and look down into the shank. The draft hole should be close to the center, it it's too offset you'll have trouble passing a pipe cleaner down the stem into the bowl if you decide not to use the filters, but the biggest issue is the hole at the bottom. Most bent pipes have the draft hole slightly higher than the heal just because it's difficult to drill around a bend, but if it's too high you'll always have lots of unbunt tobacco in the bottom of the pipe

 

[syngent]

alright google searching the "pipe drill" proves to be a bit more complicated then i thought, either i get how to select your first pipe in a very general sense from online sellers, or i put the "drill(ing)" word in and i get all kinds of how to make stuff but i have come across a few burried forum posts so if i am missing anything let me know and ill keep searching but see if my list is correct

stem hole is at bottom of bowl so tobacco wont be burning below the hole (not a big problem, can be fixed with ash mud but preferable not to go that route)

bowl hole is evenly walled all the way around and not off centre

inner sides are smooth with no gouges or scoring

stem fits properly aligned

no cracks

am i missing anything ill keep hunting stuff down if i am

 

[Commander Quan]

That pretty much sums it up. Post some pictures if you get it.

 

[syngent]

Will do, thanks for the premium saturday morning time spent with me too lol hope i didnt interupt any good smoking, coffee, shaving, or anything else you may be up to

 

[Commander Quan]

Nah. Just sitting in the office "working".

 

[syngent]

although it would seem the peterson may still be there or another one, but it is part of the celtic series, and commanding about 190 bucks ! for 120 more then the EWA ill have to have a good look at both and put some thought into it

 

[syngent]

well they did have one peterson left, but it had a problem and im not sure it mattered, they gave me a bit of a deal on it and said as long as i dont smoke it i could bring it back but that it shouldnt be a problem , the walls on this pipe are much thicker then my lorenzetti i love the colour of it and the celtic design on the ring is gorgeous

heres a pick of the issue, looks like when they drilled threw the stem hole they hit the inner bowl a bit it gouged it a tiny bit but it isnt big, and the wood above hole scored up a bit but its very thin and i would imagine would burn away with first light, and it isnt scored above the stem hole



but other then that this is a gorgeous pipe, the lady tossed in a nice looking pipe tool and a box of proper matches with it, and they have a pipe event coming up so im excited to go to that and meet some pipers in real life who can shake their heads at me lol think ill get things working well with my lorenzetti before i get into this guy but since they are hard to find and not made anymore i would rather have it waiting in my cupboard then in their retail shelf waiting on someone else to buy it

 

[Commander Quan]

Looks good. There's no problems with that drilling.

 

[syngent]

glad to hear it, shes a beauty, now i just have to decide what gets put into it first, but i think the pertersons seems about right to break it in

 

[Commander Quan]

Go for it. I love me some. Uni Flake

 

[syngent]

Just did and it was splendid, wasnt sure about this shape, but it sits very well hanging from the mouth, the stem caught me off gaurd as the opening to it points to the roof of the mouth i wasnt expecting it but i like it, the silver ring looked a bit dull but i could feel many hands had been on this pipe so i polished the ring very gently with a mild polish for silver and it shined right up glaring its beauty at me,... and used a towel moistened in warm water and carefully cleaned the outside of the pipe

let my flake sit for an hour packed the bottom part of the bowl and had my first few puffs and loved every minute of it so glad i did this

 

[Commander Quan]

Your first Pete is pretty special. The next dozen are pretty sweet too.

 

[syngent]

lmao, man i think i have to start to grow a beard now so i can stay out of the other side of the forum, between this place the nib and the rest of the shaving stuff i think i may have to sell my place and move into my car so i can have all the stuff i want

 

[Argonaut]

Congratulations on a fine pipe!

 

[syngent]

Congratulations on a fine pipe!

thank you, i am quite pleased, if i never had another one i think i would be happy with this one, but thank goodness i can have another one cause there are 2 more i wish to add over time to my collection lmao.... but this is totally my favourite right now !


ENJOYMENT !