Love & Hate and Fill Stories

Brothers of Briar

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PreppyHippy

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I wanted to start a thread of thoughts on fills.

These days I hate 'em. I've got a few pipes with small ones and every time I smoke out of them I just wish the manufacturers hadn't had the vanity to put a fill in--I wish they'd left the pinhead-sized flaw just as it was, an unexpected craggy tiny absence. The fills never color the way the rest of the pipe does, and the better the pipe gets from smoking the worse it looks because the fill just stands out more against the aging and handheld briar. Ugh, the pipe just gets uglier and the flaw begins to remind me even more about the mistake. They make me swear not to buy any pipes if there’s any hint of a fill.

Sometimes I wonder if I could somehow remove the fill with, say, a hot needle, but that’s probably too much work and its own invitation to sloppy work at that.

I once had a lower line pipe by one of the main manufacturers with five or six fills that were each probably about two pinheads in size. I smoked it one night on a very windy winter night and the wind super-heated the bowl of tobacco since I didn’t have a wind screen and the briar became very hot quickly. The five or six fills all melted slightly, causing them to have very noticeable little horizontal ridges across them. Of course that made me feel like the idiot that I am, and it meant I didn’t have much time for that pipe anymore. Maybe it would have still provided fine smokes, I don’t know, maybe the heat wrecked it (no visible or scratch-able inside burn out though). But it made me wonder if the manufacturer had used poorer quality fill putty in the first place or if that’s a risk that all pipes with fills have. If the latter, again I wondered why bother?

On the other hand my first pipe was a Savinelli natural, which surely came out of a basket when my girlfriend got it for me. It’s got fills, but it’s a damn good pipe and smokes beautifully. The presence of those fills, in a pipe to which I have sentimental attachment, well, they make the pipe all the slicker in my mind; they show me that I’m not one of those smokers wrapped up in vain perfection after all, and that I care more about the taste than the look. Yeah, I can tell anyone who sees me, I’m proud to be smoking this flawed pipe in the company of anyone!

Similarly I came across an old no name straight billiard marked nothing but “Algerian Briar” and it has three or four pinhead sized fills that are dimpled in from age and whatever. They’re thus more prominently visible. But the pipe is incredibly light for its size and the briar does indeed make it fantastic. Again, I smoke it with public vanity--telling myself “this pipe kicks your pipe’s rear” as I smoke it with smoking buddies.

So I can love and I can hate fills. Still, unless there’s an element of “I know I’m slumming” to the pipe with fills, I hate ‘em. Sometimes they’re a badge of daring honor, sometimes they’re a mark that you’re smoking briar that wasn’t good enough to be a better line of pipe. Drat!

Also makes me wonder if fills could be made to hold if they were made of sterling silver dripped into the flaws, or some other bold triumphing in the wood’s flaw rather than an attempt to cover it up. I imagine the heating and cooling a bowl goes through would probably dislodge any precious metals for fills though.

I post these thoughts and stories to see what reflections other brothers of briar have had about their fills.

Thanks!
 
They just ought to be done properly. And on cheaper pipes, they never have been.

A well-done fill will be invisible for the life of the pipe. The Danes are particularly good at it.

And, per Marty Pulvers, contrary to common belief, you'll find more fills in sandblasts than in smooths. I got a sandblasted Sasieni 4-dot from the family era back in the early '70s that had a huge one. Great pipe, but ugly fill.

:face:
 
Yeah, sometimes I just wish makers would just leave little sand pits and insignificant "beauty marks" on pipes. I saw one pipe that had a small blemish just smoothed inward a little and a polished...i didn't buy it, but it looked alright. Wiley pipes often feature a feathery leaf adornment carved into small blemishes, and it looks kind of cool.

Then there's my neat Brebbia bulldog, beautiful pipe, terrible cheap vulcanite stem, and terra-cotta colored fills that are getting more obvious by the day. I thought they'd hang in the background, but apparently it's stricken with a permanent case of the Pipe Pox. :(

 
I can't stand the darn things. I wish the little imperfections were just left alone on the pipe, it would make them quirky and unique. I understand the desire to have the perfect shape, but I also think the briar is unique and we should let it be unique.
 
OH MY GOD! A FILL ! Who would smoke a pipe with those in it ? :twisted: :twisted: What's someone gonna think, if you don't have a PERFECT pipe !! All I can say is if that's how you feel, don't buy anything but custom made $1000.00 pipes ! But watch out for whats in your 'bac :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
 
I know that many have said that rusticated pipes typically are well grained wood but I was always told that rustication was used initially to hide pits and flaws in what would otherwise been a good pipe.

I was also told years ago that a resticated pipe shed heat better than a smooth surface, as the rustication increased the surface area.

Who knows? I do know that a pipe with dimples travels just as far as a smooth pipe off the end of a 3 Wood :lol!:
 
shootist51":09hf3kwz said:
I do know that a pipe with dimples travels just as far as a smooth pipe off the end of a 3 Wood :lol!:
Video .... please!
 
monbla256":p77mnht1 said:
OH MY GOD! A FILL ! Who would smoke a pipe with those in it ? :twisted: :twisted: What's someone gonna think, if you don't have a PERFECT pipe !! All I can say is if that's how you feel, don't buy anything but custom made $1000.00 pipes ! But watch out for whats in your 'bac :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Forsooth, my good man! But nay, the question is what this someone, this I, this mortal coil, this very paragon of animals in my present person, is gonna think that is the issue. The disdain of the fill that springs anew, again, and repeatedly as one otherwise grows fond of a, maybe, medium grade pipe. The angst that comes unbidden from within, mon ami, the challenge of one’s internal nag with whom there’s no peace except through the couch or drink. Not what someone else is gonna think.

Pride sits with us as we sinners smoke, and even as I smoke alone my wispy mental mistress Pride makes me wince at a pipe with pox. Except in the cases when indeed, pride reverses its understanding of the fills, and burns brightly in its triumphant colors as I puff an extraordinary and old Algerian Briar with cheeks scarred by small pox yet rendered radiant and elbow candy for it.

And sure, there’s pride in boasting rights when smoking in good company, and we also pick our pipes to show our taste when seen, so yes, maybe there’s some vain seeking of implicit good taste, coolness, or wisdom in quality pipe gathering too. But mostly I think fills make me wince, public or private, because I just wish they weren’t there and I know they’re a facade, a cover up, and the manufacturer’s own wondering what someone’s gonna think.
 
It is what it is... my pipes will be around a lot longer than me, fills and all... as long as they smoke fine in my lifetime, I'll let some other poor bastard lament over them in his. :lol:
 
Simple Man":6zo2d7s2 said:
It is what it is... my pipes will be around a lot longer than me, fills and all... as long as they smoke fine in my lifetime, I'll let some other poor bastard lament over them in his. :lol:
+1 AMEN :p
 
All of my pipes are in the $100 or less price range,yes some have noticeable fills and it doesnt bother me, but if I paid alot more for a pipe I would be more critical of them.I guess when it comes down to it Im more into the baccy end of it than the pipes.As long as pipe looks halfway decent and smokes good Im happy with it.
 
I don't mind the occasional small fill on basket and mid grade pipes. If a pipe has quite a few I tend to think that there is something wrong with the briar. Who knows how many fills are under the surface of the pipe just waiting to cause burn out. Of course that can be said of high grade pipes too, but generally speaking, if the pipe shows tons of fills the quality of the briar is not good and it will probably have a shorter lifespan than pipes with no fills. I could be way off base here, but that is my opinion.

As an amateur pipemaker I am often torn between rustication when a pipe has a couple of blemishes but also has some great grain. (I've never been a fan of partial rustication) Most stummels with flaws are indeed rusticated, but I've had perfectly clean briar with really bland grain. rustication is a no-brainer in that case.
 
1) How well does the pipe perform for you?.....................Select an integer between 1 - 10.

2) How much do you like smoking said pipe?....................Select an integer between 1 - 10

3) How beautiful is the pipe on general standards?............Select an integer between 1 - 10

4) How important is question 3?.....................................Select an integer between 1 - 10

If your pipe scored 4 - 11, you should get a new pipe for yourself. Perhaps another would like it more.

If your pipe scored 12 - 35, everything's probably okay with some adjustments, either to pipe, approach or attitude--in other words, totally normal.

If your pipe scored 35 or above, congratulations, you're likely a Zen master of intrinsic/interpretive beauty, lucky, rich or blissfully ignorant. Say hi to your supermodel wife for me, provided she isn't spinning plates, feeding the world's starving or arm wrestling bears.

8)
 
I'm with you. You can pick up no name estates with no fills for cheap keep an eye out on ebay and antique stores. If I see a fill I won't buy it. Don't have but nine pipes and I like em cheap so it's a slow growing collection. I have rustic and a blast pipe if they have em I can't see em so I don't care. I'm not snobby it's just difference in colors really bug me. So another option is to take a pipe you really like with a flaw and rusticate it. But I have broke pipes doing that so it's a risk.
 
I used to work with a guy named Phil.

It was Phil's job to answer the phone, and schedule interviews for prospective employees over the phone.

Any time a prospective employee would ask his name, and how to spell it, he would always respond, "F-I-L-L." :scratch:

Phil felt those interviewees always seemed to be the sharpest, and most thorough of everyone he scheduled.
 
You get what you pay for and fills are part of cheaper pipes. I don't have too many pipes with fills, but these are two examples.

With the right stain, they can blend in. This one is on my Digby, a GBD 2nd because of fills. Not too offensive and I love the shape so much and it smokes great. You can just see the fill on the heel of the bowl.



This "Selected Straight Grain", by Comoys has one fill. I repaired it and restained the pipe. I used the Super-Glue/briar dust method to fill the hold once the putt was removed. A 2 stage contrast stain hid if fairly well.


 
Nice resto work there Riff!

Unfortunately fills are a necessary evil. Many pipes have them, at least the pipes that are in my price range. I think that certain makers are better than others regarding the blending-in and covering-up of fills though.
 
While I don't think I would have phrased it as such, I do agree with you Monbla. I'm not really bothered by fills.

I do have one pipe, a dublin with a really thick bowl, that has a rather large fill right in the middle of the plateau. That does annoy me, but just because its always in my field of view. I also have a hand made pipe that is absolutely gorgeous that does have one small pit on the outside of the bowl. In my opinion, it adds character to the pipe. I find it to be an attribute to the atheistic of the pipe, rather than a detriment. Beyond those two examples I don't really care about the fills.
 
While I'm not crazy about fills, it's difficult to impossible to know for sure that they are there or not there when buying the pipe. As someone wrote above, the Danes are very good at concealing them. Even Bo Nordh put fills in his pipes, although he purported that he didn't.

I'm a lot more concerned about a pipe with a lousy stem and poor smoking qualities than I am about fills.

The first good pipe I ever bought is a Sasieni 4 Dot Viscount Lascelles which I purchased 42 years ago. It has been one of my very favorite pipes since I bought it, even though it has mediocre grain at best (in those days I didn't know or care about grain). Still, it has a couple of tiny fills. As good as I thought that pipe was, as a favor to me Jack Howell restemmed the pipe for me. The difference was oh-my-Gawd better. The pipe has always been a tasty smoke, but now it is sublime.

This is one of the last pipes I would ever let go of. Do the fills fill me with ambivalence about that? Not at all. This is a pipe that has accompanied my pipe-smoking journey from the outset.
 
One experience, a cheap Nording from Mars (the site, not the planet), "fills" was a bit light of a term...they were football-shaped patches, more than a dozen of them, wedged into one side of the pipe...the side not pictured on the site...though they took it back, it was one of the worst attempts to conceal imperfections on a pipe I'd ever seen.

 
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