Recent content by PLANofMAN

Our heat pump is dying. Looks like it will be almost 10k to replace it, since our current one is 20 years old and no one will service it. Whelp. That's our savings for the year gone.

Peterson seconds were once stamped "reject." If I recall what I've read correctly, that stopped before WWII. For what it's worth, rejects and seconds from that time period are often better quality briar than what are sold as firsts today. If there are Hallmarks on the silver band, you can use...

Grape seed oil does not go rancid, it's why I use it on cast iron cookware instead of other seasoning options. (It also has a higher smoke point than most other food safe oils). I doubt very much that it tastes as good as almond oil from a smoking perspective. Looking forward to your results!

About $250 in maple money, I reckon.

Never thought about that... Either the microwave or almond oil. No worries about it going rancid over time?

Yeah, cutting board oil is just mineral oil in a fancier bottle with a much higher price tag. It's very much like lighter fluid. You can buy the Zippo fluid in a small container, or you can buy a gallon of Naptha at the local hardware store for about the same price. Same stuff. :) Edit: a...

Pasteur Pharmacy. Not tobacco related, but traditional wet shaving and pipe smoking often go hand-in-hand, and there's no greater Mecca for wet shavers in the U.S. than NYC's Pasteur Pharmacy.

FYI, this is what I meant when I said "dry estate pipes." Same pipe, before and after.

Chat GPT is famous for telling people what they want to hear. Follow up questions generally wind up deflating the balloon of patched together fiction, especially if you start asking for the sources of the information.

I've seen people use heat shrink tubing to protect the mouthpiece on pipes from tooth chatter. I'm a fan of using a DIY mix of mineral oil and beeswax on my pipes to retard oxidation on the stems, gives a nice low luster shine to the pipe bowl too. What the British would likely call 'patina.'...

Generally, the shape number is the last couple of digits, and the first number is the 'finish,' or it can be an identifier of the line of pipes the pipe was part of. The Royal Danish and Royal Guard lines are marked with a 900 series number, and 600 series number, respectively. In this...