Dunhill airways

Subject: Dunhill airways Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:18 pm

Ok so here's the deal. I have these 2 Dunhills, a 1964 6120 and a 1977 51033. Both have gaps in the shank between the end of the tenon and the end of the mortise - as in you put the stem in and there's still a gap in there of about 1/8th of an inch where stuff can accumulate. The Lat man remedied the 51033 with a delrin insert that is a perfect fit for the gap, and the 6120 will end up going the same route. Once the insert was put in the pipe smoked wonderfully. It tended to gurgle before and tasted off because of the hard, old build up that had taken hold there over the years.

Is this not unusual with Dunhills?
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These are horrible times and all sorts of horrible people are prospering, but we must never let this disturb our equanimity or deflect us from our sacred duty to annoy and hinder them at every turn.
I BLATANTLY ENDORSE

Subject: Re: Dunhill airways Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:24 am

Subject: Re: Dunhill airways Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:22 am

While certainly not a representative sample, the one Dunhill that I had demonstrated exactly that same problem. It smoked wet, and unpleasant. I ended up trading it off.

I have another english made pipe that I acquired recently that also had that as one of its "issues." I ended up making a delrin mortise plug and that took care of that particular problem quite nicely.

Subject: Re: Dunhill airways Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:34 pm

My Dunhill Shell Rhodesian has the same 1/8 gap you mention but I don't recall any gurgling. On a whim I checked a couple of other pipes, Don Carlos, Ardor, Radice, Cavicci, Comoy and several Brissett's and they do not have the gap. I wonder if this is just a manufacturing process of Dunhill's much like what Peterson does with their mortise and tenons?
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Arizona, where the temperature is always warm but the pipe smoking is always cool. Mikem

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Subject: Re: Dunhill airways Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:38 pm

Italian Stallion Joined : 09 Dec 2007 Posts : 2237

I have eight Dunhill grp 5/6 straight billiards. They do have a small gap between the tenon and mortise but so do my other pipes. My theory is that it is intentional to compensate for the different expansion rate of two dissimilar materials. My D'hills are excellent smokers; sweet and dry. No gurgles. Once a month I remove the stems on all pipes and clean that "area" out. Stems are not removed at any other times. My other "high" grades smoke just as well; as do a couple mid grades and a couple dirt cheap low grades. I DO like D'hill stem material much better than any other brand because of its high vulcanite content.

Bottom line,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,any properly cured briar that is drilled right should give a good smoke. This would include Petes, Savs and Stanwells. Pay more and you get more "pretty." Not more "better." It's about technique and the tobacco.

tj

Subject: Re: Dunhill airways Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:13 pm

Subject: Re: Dunhill airways Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:44 pm

Excellent responses gentlemen! Many thanks!

Perhaps Dunhill should include a fitted delrin insert for these gaps and place them in the pipe, just as they do (did? Do they still do this?) with the metal tube, so each smoker can choose to use it or not based on personal preference.
_________________
These are horrible times and all sorts of horrible people are prospering, but we must never let this disturb our equanimity or deflect us from our sacred duty to annoy and hinder them at every turn.
I BLATANTLY ENDORSE

Joined : 10 Dec 2007 Posts : 208

I acquired an Estella 515EX about 4 years ago as a gift from a friend in his 80s who had quit smoking many years ago and finally decided to get rid of his collection and I was the lucky recipient. There were some nice pipes in that collection—old Barlings, Ben Wades, and Charatans, among others—but none of them smoke any better than that great big honkin' Estella.

I'm partial to old Italian wood; maybe it's in the DNA. I own 7 Castellos, and they're all great smokers. But the crown-jewel smokers among all my briar pipes are my old Caminettos. I have 21 from the Ascorti-Radice era, and there simply isn't any pipe (other than my calabashes) that smokes drier, sweeter, or cooler. I read somewhere that Pepino and Gigi started with ebauchons that had been air-cured for 30 years. If that's true, I don't know the extent to which it accounts for the old Caminettos' fabulous smoking qualities, but they sure are great pipes. I smoke them more than anything else.

Vito jocolor

p.s. I haven't checked them all, but with the exception of the military-mount stems, all of the pipes I checked have a gap between the tenon and the end of the mortise.
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"Anyone who attempts to generate random numbers by deterministic means is, of course, living in a state of sin." -- John von Neumann