Silver vs Nickel

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Davey

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I understand that this has NOTHING to do with smoking quality ( except perhaps to venture that nicer briar might be reszerved for a silver fitted pipe?) but is there a downside to a nickel spigot? Wil they chip or flake off?

I am looking at both a Pete silver spigot 150 as well as a 106 system army stem with nickel ferrule....just curious. Quite a difference in price ;)
 
I don't know much about Petersons Dave, but I don't think that there would be any difference in the smoking qualities of either. Depending on the use of the pipe would be the factor for me. It just could be a matter of asthetics. If the pipe is going to be in harsh conditions then nickel might be the right choice. Silver if you are going for the looks and a higher value to the pipe.
 
Hey Dave I have both and see no difference in the smoking properties, only good thing about a spigot is being able to take the pipe apart when it is hot
 
Nickel is an attractive metal -- sometimes I use nickel silver, actually an alloy of nickel, tin, and brass (I think) instead of silver for rings. It polishes to a beautiful finish, oxidizes very slowly, and is inexpensive enough that I can cut rings from bar stock. For spigots, I think silver would be more malleable, and that nickel in this application is likely to be plating over brass.

Jack
 
Davey,

Since you specificaly mention Peterson pipes, this may be of interest to you.

I had the opportunity to talk with Tom Palmer from Peterson a few years ago, and one of the things we discussed was the use of various metals on a pipe.

Tom was very candid regarding the problems his company has had with their silverwork, specifically it's tendency to rapidly tarnish, and the need for constant maintainance.

He indicated that this problem appeared on an inconsistant basis, and that they were constantly working to reduce this tendency.

All silver will eventually tarnish, but for reasons that he could not explain, it appeared to be excessive on their products.

Peterson's does reserve their better briar for their higher grade pipes.
Here is the reply to a enquiry concerning fills.

By way of background, we have hundreds of different pipe shapes and from
say 100 pieces of shapes, say 03, 3-5 pieces would be deemed "fill
free". These special pieces would then be finished with the following series:

Straight Grains
Supremes - Silver and Gold Mounted

In addition the following series could have small root marks but no
putty, namely :-
De Luxe System
De Luxe Classic
Army Spigot
Celtic Natural
Rosslare Natural
Grafton
Hinged Lip Cap Natural
Silver Caps

I trust the above information is of some help and wish you many hours of smoking pleasure.

Kind regards

Tom Palmer
Peterson of Dublin
Peterson House
Sallynoggin
Co. Dublin
IRELAND
 
Davey,

I have a group 5 Peterson straight billiard spigot in a black sand blast finish. It is silver. It EASILY smokes as well as my Dunhills and Castellos. The silver work is maintained by nothing more than stem polish when I clean the stem. Great pipe. Get one. Don't know anything about nickel, but couldn't imagine why they would not smoke as well as silver. Also, this pipe was NOT dip stained and broke in very easily. It is used for va/vaper/burlies. You will be pleased with yours.
 
thomas james":xxlna7h1 said:
Davey,

I have a group 5 Peterson straight billiard spigot in a black sand blast finish. It is silver. It EASILY smokes as well as my Dunhills and Castellos.
I am wondering how it will stand up against a Stanwell.........?
 
I have a Peterson with a nickel mount and one with a silver mount. The silver is obviously higher quality but just like pipemaker stated the silver can tarnish fairly easy. I've had it maybe a month and there is already a fingerprint mark. Easy enough to remove and I'm sure a coat of wax and careful handling will help with future tarnishing.

I've seen some that are really tarnished and some like them that way. I'm all about the shiney look myself though.
 
jhuggett":g90wkf7p said:
I have a Peterson with a nickel mount and one with a silver mount. The silver is obviously higher quality but just like pipemaker stated the silver can tarnish fairly easy. I've had it maybe a month and there is already a fingerprint mark. Easy enough to remove and I'm sure a coat of wax and careful handling will help with future tarnishing.

I've seen some that are really tarnished and some like them that way. I'm all about the shiney look myself though.
Jason,
I use a product called Maas. It does a wonderful job on both my nickel and silver mount Petes, I've tried a few different products but for me Maas yields the best results. It's also designed to slow tarnishing. It works very well...
 
I have a Becker and a L'Anatra with silver that seem to tarnish faster than my two Peterson's that have silver. As far as smoking abilities go, my three Peterson's with nickel bands smoke just as well as the two with silver bands once broke in and that had more to do with the dip staining.
 
thomas james":qfohdmd1 said:
Maybe Leroy Mercer could answer that,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,?

LOL! Careful there, TJ... I've heard it ain't nuthin' fur this feller to toss a man's salad.
 
Awsome guys.

And yes, Thomas, I do believe it shall be my next aquisition. :cheers:
 
To keep the silver and nickel shiny, a jewelers cloth does a quick non-messy job. And I think they're still available from Wal-Mart.

Jim
 
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