Menu
What's new

Your latest pipe/pipe tobacco purchase thread....

K Williams

K Williams

Rating - 100%
19   0   0
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
Messages
6,938
Location
Long Island, NY, USA
BrewinHooligan said:
There is a lot more to the draw than the diameter it was drilled... Geometry of the pipe, how the stem is finished where it goes into the shank, etc. there's quite a bit of science that goes into pipes that is far beyond me. I've been studying up on it and have contemplated trying to make a pipe from one of the kits you can buy with pre-drilled blocks but I already have too many irons in the fire.
Click to expand...
I've also considered making a pipe from a pre-drilled briar kit. Just for the hell of it...
 
cgraunke

cgraunke

BoM March '14
Rating - 100%
229   0   0
Joined
Aug 14, 2013
Messages
7,681
Location
Spring strong sweet tall green grass grow...
SeaGarr said:
That's what they say - don't know what that means though.
Click to expand...
There's a large number of "production" pipes that are assigned numbers. These numbers represent a set shape of pipe. The Savinelli 320 has a nice following, so take that for example. The proper name for the shape is an "Author", but anybody can make an Author pipe, and they all might be a little different. Savinelli calls theirs the "320". Now, there are likely over 100 different Sav 320s throughout different families and styles, but they all will maintain the same shape. Search in Google or eBay for "Savinelli 320" and you'll see what I mean. Other production houses use numbering as well; Peterson, Brigham, etc... and they will all maintain consistency of their numbered shapes throughout their lines.
One problem with this is that it's harder to make a pipe that works with the grain of the briar when the shape and size is constrained. A pipe artisan making one at a time, all by hand can make minor adjustments as necessary to get the optimal product, and you might never see the same pipe twice, but a pipe coming off a production line with an obvious flaw or poor grain structure either gets thrown out or rusticated to hide those flaws. (you'll notice rusticated pipes are consistently lower priced, as they're more forgiving) The pipe you got is probably more akin to a freehand artisan pipe, but may not have met the standard of their "Autograph" series, so you ended up with a bad-ass pipe that no one else will likely ever have an exact duplicate of at a much more palatable cost than some of their $600 pieces.
 
SeaGarr

SeaGarr

Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Feb 4, 2015
Messages
1,150
Location
Kansas
cgraunke said:
There's a large number of "production" pipes that are assigned numbers. These numbers represent a set shape of pipe. The Savinelli 320 has a nice following, so take that for example. The proper name for the shape is an "Author", but anybody can make an Author pipe, and they all might be a little different. Savinelli calls theirs the "320". Now, there are likely over 100 different Sav 320s throughout different families and styles, but they all will maintain the same shape. Search in Google or eBay for "Savinelli 320" and you'll see what I mean. Other production houses use numbering as well; Peterson, Brigham, etc... and they will all maintain consistency of their numbered shapes throughout their lines.
One problem with this is that it's harder to make a pipe that works with the grain of the briar when the shape and size is constrained. A pipe artisan making one at a time, all by hand can make minor adjustments as necessary to get the optimal product, and you might never see the same pipe twice, but a pipe coming off a production line with an obvious flaw or poor grain structure either gets thrown out or rusticated to hide those flaws. (you'll notice rusticated pipes are consistently lower priced, as they're more forgiving) The pipe you got is probably more akin to a freehand artisan pipe, but may not have met the standard of their "Autograph" series, so you ended up with a bad-ass pipe that no one else will likely ever have an exact duplicate of at a much more palatable cost than some of their $600 pieces.
Click to expand...
Dude... I don't think I could have received a better answer from the manufacturer. Thank you! I totally get it. That would explain why I couldn't find another one to compare prices against.

Of course the uniqueness, helps me like the pipe a bit more too :). Not that I need too much convincing. It's beautifully balanced giving it the illusion that it's lighter than my other (considerably smaller) pipes, and it inaugural smoke bore out that it smokes like a champ! I am well pleased :).

Speaking of those 320's, talk about near cult status lol.

Thanks again Clint.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top