Cooked Pipes

[Schacht]

Hello brothers,

first of all, I don´t take the following too serious and neither does the creator of that pipe, but I thought it would be interesting to hear what you think about it.

It all began when I found an agile discussion about that pipe in a German pipe and tobacco board. Most of the participators found that thing simply outrageous, some obviously even got aggressive when they saw it. The Reaction was unexplainable to me.*

In short - I know the nocent pipemaker in person and went to this carvers workshop the next day, to see the pipe with my own eyes (touching a pipe, is usually most important for me). Of course I told the poor quy about the discussion and when I finished th story, he said he would give the pipe to me for 20,- €, some could say he made me an offer I couldn´t refuse - and so it went to me. I don´t know this for sure, but maybe he wanted to get rid of it?

The point is, technically it´s an interesting piece and I have to admit, I really like its style. The idea is the reconstructioning of old, unusable, smoked pipes by cooking it for five to seven hours in water. After that, the pipe could be a little (or maybe clearly) skewed, but if it´s possible to restore the drilling, nothing speaks against making a smokeable pipe out of it. He finishes the surface by etching and gives it an oil curing - that´s cooking the pipe again in a mixture of oil and wax, before it gets polished. After that, the surface is hard like a stone. There´s no more smell and it´s of course perfectly clean. The mouthpiece is made by hand and new (vulcanite).

The pipemaker calls those pieces "Phoenix Pipes". They taste nearly neutral - some would say "tasteless" but I try do avoid that double meaning. Not that I particularly like the absence of the briar taste, but it can be interesting to enjoy pure tobacco sometimes. It smokes alright, there´s nothing to complain about that.

Here are some pictures:

​

Please excuse, that I avoided the pipe makers name so far. It could be, that the disputable reputation (wich hasn´t always much to do with the pipes) of that carver, has partially caused the truly astounding reaction here in Germany. I simply wanted to know, what pipe smokers from far away think about it. I´ll be happy to mention his name later, if there´s an interest.

Kind regards
Thilo


*it could possibly matter, that some pipe smokers on that board are measuring their own pipes with an accuracy up to the second decimal place, and this is not a joke. Those people are clearly not the perfect target group for these pipes.

 

[Doc Manhattan]

I wonder why it provoked such a controversy! I can't imagine how such a pipe would smoke, but it's a novel experiment.

 

[mark]

Phoenix Pipes,,,,risen from the ashes?,,,,

If it smokes alright what's the problem,,,some people wear their panties three sizes too small,,,

 

[MisterE]

I´d smoke it. 8)

 

[tslots]

My first thought was that it looks like the mummification of briar. Something along these lines, but with a different shape, would fit right in with Trever Talbert's Halloween series.

 

[Harlock999]

Apparently, passions run deep in the pipe world, or at least in Germany! I've often noticed the detail oriented nature of German record collectors, so it wouldn't be surprising to find the same level of involvement from pipe men there.
As for the pipe in question, it vaguely reminds me of some of the heavily sandblasted pipes that are currently in vogue, where a little more wood than usual has been removed.
Interesting...

 

[Frost]

As for the pipe in question, it vaguely reminds me of some of the heavily sandblasted pipes that are currently in vogue, where a little more wood than usual has been removed.
Interesting...

This was my thought as well. Visually speaking the pipe actually strikes me as very interesting and attractive. I don't know if it's just the way the wood burned on this particular pipe, but the twisted and warped shank gives it a very old and more "natural" feel. Like someone just took a branch and carved a pipe out of it with a pocket knife.

I am not surprised that there are more than a few folks who would be offended both aesthetically and by the idea of cooking a pipe. Not having smoked the pipe, I can't speak to the functionality of the process, but aesthetically I do rather like it.

 

[Schacht]

First - thank you very much for your remarks. I knew somehow, that the reaction here would be different, even if I still dont´know why, I have to say that I like the thought that more open-mindet people wouldn´t take this experiment too serious or maybe even like the style. I am positively not surprised.

As I said before, just as some of you I still don´t understamd why this one has provoked such a controversy here, but maybe this doesn´t matter. The carver who did this piece is Nils Thomsen from Germany. I think Thomsen is not very well established outside Germany. In 2007 he was elected "Pipe Maker of the year" in Germany - it´s an award the Cigar Clan Magazine gives out.

Thanks for mentioning Trever Talbert, I didn´t know this pipemaker and there are some pieces in his "Ligne Bretagne" range, I do really like (unfortunaly most of them are sold).

Now, as I feel a little saver with my strange knurl pipe, I must tell you that I´ve even bought another one of these for my wife. This one looks not that abnormal overall. The bowl is also cooked and oil cured. She loves this pipe pretty much, it smokes rather good, the army mount variation is made of brass and the hand made vulcanite mouth piece feels just great.

Tthat´s it regarding cooked pipes for me, Thomsen also made some other pipes that doesn´t look as crippled as these two and I think I will show some of them within the next few days if you don´t stop me.

P.S.: It´s all about Wittgensteins inversion of Plato´s fantasy-definition: "don´t think, but look" - sorry if translaiting Wittgenstein maybe shows the constraints of my english.

 

[jacko]

Although interesting in concept, the process strikes me as being a tad excessive. Having said that its a marvelous idea to resurrect old neglected basket pipes that would be void of other forms of restoration.

 

[Schacht]

[…] the process strikes me as being a tad excessive. […]

Interesting perception - when I think about Thomsen, "a tad excessive" describes his whole personality pretty good. I see this in every pipe he makes. I recently bought a really great Thomsen pipe, it´s inspired, the briar is very good, it smokes better than any other pipe I got, but there is even some inaccuracy other carvers wouldn´t tolerate. The man´s got his own definition of excellence.

I feel now, that I should maybe show some of his better pipes soon, before Thomsen´s gonna be forever remembered here as the pipe-chef.

 

[Jar]

I am not shocked or surprised at all. On the contrary: it is in my opinion very logical, consequent development of the idea once started by old Mr. Dunhill with His famous "Oil Curing". Not in aspect/sense of improving taste, removing tannic acid, sap etc., but to use thermal operation in order to let the soft parts shrink so, that the harder parts will be more "pronounced" and all together the relief will be more spectacular, "three dimensional". Other words - famous Shell finish. And we still have it's continuation by some of present Masters Pipe Makers. It is in my opinion the continuation of the same "philosophy" of working with structure of the material=briar and it's surface. A lot depends on the structure/quality of briar; the Algerian briar was often used as it's soft parts were really soft, and hard parts - really hard, so the contrast hard-soft was big and so the relief was deep.

The other thing has been already mentioned, and it is reference to work by Mr. Talbot - use of old bowls as basic material for creating new pipes.

 

[Jar]

Ad dendum:
Looking at the pipe shown here by Author of this thread I can't resist the impression, that this very pipe was originally rusticated - the surface was sculpted not always in accordance with the natural directions of the harder briar "veins". This might explain the obvious difference in look of this very piece in comparison to look of the typical sandblasted and then thermaly cured surfaces (Dunhill, Ashton, etc). After closer look at the pictures I somehow think on rustication process as presented by Mrs. Cavicchi here:
Daniela Showing her Rustication Skills
http://www.pipesandtobaccos.com/pipesandtobaccos/info/insights/cavlab.htm
and I guess, that if such Cavicchi pipe would be later exposed to thermal treatment, perhaps the surface would look similar to the pipe shown on the beginning of this thread.

 

[Schacht]

I think you´re completely right, Jacek.
Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts.

 

[Ultraman]

All I needed to do was look at the stem to see how great the pipe maker is. The contrast between twisted, abused wood and that beautifully perfect stem is really interesting. I feel the same way about the second pipe with gold fittings.

Germany, from my knowledge, has been turning out more and more avant garde carvers of late (Uwe Joppe comes to mind) and I really like to see the experimentation.

That pipes are both practical objects and works of art is what drew me to the hobby to begin with. I can relax and enjoy a favorite tobacco while examining the beautiful form of a well crafted pipe.

This was one of the driving principals behind mid century furniture design and architecture.

Btw, I wonder if the same people who take issue with Thomsen's experimentation would have also lambasted Sixten Ivarrson when he first started to "playing" with conventions.

I have a feeling they might have criticized his peewit shape for being an affront to the classic billiard. Until of course, it gained in value

 

[djf1]

I like the look, but I'm struggling to find the use of this method on a perfectly good briar since the process neutralizes the briar completely. For me the reason I enjoy good briar is because of the unique and different taste that it adds to the smoke. I would think that taking a high end pipe and cooking it would be a waste of briar.
I guess basket pipes and low end briar pieces would actually benefit from this process as its a unique look indeed.

 

[Jar]

Well, the briar as such is not providing tasty smoking, because of the tannic acid and sap. Therefore briar has to be cured before carving the shape of pipe. The simplest method is so called air curing which has been often combined with boiling the briar in water and later the boiled pieces were just dried. The more sophisticated method is this known as oil curing in it's different variations. Perhaps Mr. Mimmo Romeo - professional briar cutter and briar supplier will better then the undersigned explain the process of preparation of the briar including boiling it in order to remove tannic acid etc.
http://www.romeobriar.com/pipesite/me.html
Unfortunately Mr. Romeo removed the video presentation that shows the process of boiling, so we have just to believe his words: …The blocks has been boiled, they are dry and ready for use.
… stated here:
http://www.romeobriar.com/briarshop/us.html
And Mr. Romeo at work is showed here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xDclEWYEvE&NR=1
Similar information we find here:
http://www.theitalianpipe.com/make/briarcut.htm
briar cutter for over 60 years, Mr. Salvatore Posella, says:
…After showing me how he cuts the briar, he took the time to show me the huge metal container which the family uses to boil and cure the wood…
The matters of removing tannic acid, sap, and general informations on preparation of briar including boiling are explained here:
http://www.rdfield.com/Articles/Curing.htm
…The wood, sack by sack, is boiled. Although the wood is dead it still has all kinds of nasty stuff in it that would turn the mouth of a pipe smoker inside out if this step wasn’t taken first. You see, boiling removes most of the sap and other impurities and replaces it with water….
http://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Curing_%26_Treating
…the stummels are boiled one last time in a mixture I learned from Mike Butera, which has the effect of removing any remaining resin from with the drilled tobacco chamber and also of enhancing the wood's burn resistance. After this, the stummels are dried naturally and treated with yet another process to aid the removal of the water gained during boiling…
Some interesting informations /inputs are here:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/briar-curing
...Briar blocks are cured by boiling them for 12 to 24 hours to remove the sap and resin in the wood and then drying them….
To end with: let me add the link to the original Dunhill oil curing patent. And please, forgive me, it this has been already published in our Forum.
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=yOhBAAAAEBAJ&dq=%22dunhill%22

 

[portasio]

very interesting thread, thanks schacht and also jar for the explanation.

mankind loves taboos and defending them passionately.

if makers didn't experiment, we'd never have briar pipes.

kudos to those who dare to try something different. double kudos if it actually works.

 

[Buddy Springman]

There are many who think that a pipe can be "smoked-out" in five thousand (give or take) bowls because the pores become clogged. Personally, I've always thought that wood porosity was irrelevant given the relative size of the chamber. But GLP says he has a pipe that literally oozes juices during the smoke - so maybe porosity does matter.

If so, I see no problem with trying to restore it by cooking-off tars, etc.

Buddy

 

[Jar]

I believe that the specific structure of the briar is the important factor. Maybe the information on briar published here:
http://pipedia.org/docs/CharacteristicsOfBriar.pdf
will be interesting to us.
Every pipe requires proper maintaining, what includes cleaning. Cleaning, specially of very "dirty" = of a clogged structure pipe requires use/cleaning or simply "bathing" (if needed be) in strong alcohol, and then the "pores" will not get clogged, or, if they were clogged, they will be "opened" again. Between my good smokers I happen to have few briars dating to 1912, 1914, 1918 which still provide me with sweet smoke, and I bet that they were smoked more then 5 or more thousand times.