I ran across an unusual find yesterday. As far as I can tell it is a Wally Frank reverse poker from the 50's.
By reverse poker, I mean the stem enters the chamber at the top instead of the bottom. The pipe has a bakelite bowl liner which threads into the body of the pipe.
The liner has holes in the bottom of the bowl, and the stummel shank airway enters the chamber at the top, thus it's impossible for moisture to enter the stem.
I'm cleaning it now, so I don't have pics, but it looks like this, without a band.
It appears that pre-Kaywoodie KB&B made these in the 20's as well.
Has anyone seen this before?
It was a pretty good bargain at the antique store for 18 bucks, and it has me thinking in a whole new direction. I have some briar blocks coming, and I'm considering duplicating the concept, perhaps using a Falcon bowl or a replacement bowl for a Calabash gourd.
Using a Falcon bowl would be pretty hot, as you could change the entire vibe of the pipe simply by putting a new bowl on, and the Falcon bowls are plentiful. Thread size doesn't matter too much as the O-Ring trick would allow one to use a Falcon bowl without having to worry about cutting threads.
I'm leaning away from a replacement meerschaum bowl as that would likely necessitate installation of a cork ring in the body of the stummel, unless I used an O-Ring in that fashion.
By reverse poker, I mean the stem enters the chamber at the top instead of the bottom. The pipe has a bakelite bowl liner which threads into the body of the pipe.
The liner has holes in the bottom of the bowl, and the stummel shank airway enters the chamber at the top, thus it's impossible for moisture to enter the stem.
I'm cleaning it now, so I don't have pics, but it looks like this, without a band.
It appears that pre-Kaywoodie KB&B made these in the 20's as well.
Has anyone seen this before?
It was a pretty good bargain at the antique store for 18 bucks, and it has me thinking in a whole new direction. I have some briar blocks coming, and I'm considering duplicating the concept, perhaps using a Falcon bowl or a replacement bowl for a Calabash gourd.
Using a Falcon bowl would be pretty hot, as you could change the entire vibe of the pipe simply by putting a new bowl on, and the Falcon bowls are plentiful. Thread size doesn't matter too much as the O-Ring trick would allow one to use a Falcon bowl without having to worry about cutting threads.
I'm leaning away from a replacement meerschaum bowl as that would likely necessitate installation of a cork ring in the body of the stummel, unless I used an O-Ring in that fashion.
