More fill than briar???

[Kyle Weiss]

Screw it, Zeno, more pipes for us that don't mind. I'm with ya 100%. :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

a stem that doesn't sit flush?

Long story on that one too. Both wood and briar change dimensions crossing the Atlantic. Sounds like bullshit but people who deal in & repair basses and 'cellos know that, no matter how old and well seasoned one is (and 250 years is not exceptionally old), the first thing you do when one comes to the Western Hemisphere from Europe for the first time is loosen the strings, separate 90% of the top from the sides, and let it adjust to its new environment for a year. If you don't, the back & sides expanding will split the top wide open along the grain lines.

And once it "sets" in its new dimension set, the adjustment is permanent -- send it back to Europe and it will retain its western dimensions. The difference is measurable.

Same thing CAN happen with briar. It especially shows up noticeably in mis-matches between stems (which don't change) and shank ends (which do). There is nothing a Danish (for example) maker can do about this, and it drives some of them near crazy. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them have deals (or their importer does) going to send them with shanks/stems 90% finished for final adjustment by somebody first rate over here.

FWIW

:face:

 

[Anonymous]

You would definitely notice a fill, unless the pipe was painted or blackened out.

It depends. If they do it with mastic (plastic wood) and stain it, even if it's not apparent at first, the darkening that comes with age and use (absorbtion of hand oils, mostly) will leave it sticking out like a zit because it won't change color along with the rest of the pipe.

The solutions (I'm told) can involve a type of clay that will, or a mastic of briar dust with a binding agent. The trick with both is to come up with a formula that won't contract, leaving a noticeable, sunken depression in an otherwise smoothly rounded surface.

Where there's a will (and saving a lot of money every time a common problem comes up is a real good motivator), there will be a way found. Or several.

The (so-called) "free market" is the least free system imaginable. It leaves nearly no latitude for commercial integrity once competition for market share exceeds the ability of people with integrity to produce what's necessary to live decently. Cheapening and over-production are two historical constants in the later stages of the usury cycle.

The alternative is the medieval Guild System, where prices are set by craftsmen's guilds (producers' cartels), not dis-similar to agricultural co-ops. Through price- and professional birth control, "supply" can be kept in balance with "demand" rather than swamping it. Like any other system, it requires integrity to keep from being abused (think ABA, AMA, etc.). But then again, as we are discovering, so does everything.

:face:

 

[Airborne]

=

 

[Kyle Weiss]

It depends. If they do it with mastic (plastic wood) and stain it, even if it's not apparent at first, the darkening that comes with age and use (absorbtion of hand oils, mostly) will leave it sticking out like a zit because it won't change color along with the rest of the pipe.

The solutions (I'm told) can involve a type of clay that will, or a mastic of briar dust with a binding agent. The trick with both is to come up with a formula that won't contract, leaving a noticeable, sunken depression in an otherwise smoothly rounded surface.

Where there's a will (and saving a lot of money every time a common problem comes up is a real good motivator), there will be a way found. Or several.

Interesting. I guess I haven't smoked enough or come across that in a well-smoked pipe yet. If a fill is even less noticeable, even better. I have noticed, at times, some fills almost look like football-shaped "plugs" (like you'd see in press-board laminates), they have wood grain and take on stain and color just like the real thing...because it's the real thing, I suspect, just kind of grafted from one location to another. Some are good, until you realize most grain doesn't grow at sharp right angles. :lol:

Like any other system, it requires integrity to keep from being abused (think ABA, AMA, etc.). But then again, as we are discovering, so does everything.

:face:

Absolutely. Our "discovering" just means we're late to the game--been goin' on like this for a long time, just seems so easy these days. Sometimes I forget my free-market lovin' self is an anomaly because of this pesky integrity. Fortunately I find others--that makes it worthwhile in more ways than one.

 

[Smoker99]

I won't knowingly buy a pipe with a fill. Fill free pipes are expensive, but so be it. Also, many so called artisan makers sell their pipes with flaws, ie pits exposed, and get big bucks for them. I would rather have a pipe with some exposed pits than fills.