So often in this business we are tasked with the challenge of picking out a new pipe for a customer that just doesn’t know what to choose out of the hundreds that we have to offer. We ask them if they want bent or straight, rustic or smooth, inexpensive or over the top, but we rarely asked if they would consider “estate”.
Why? Common misconceptions are that an estate pipe has been contaminated by the previous user, not worthy of reuse. This might be true of pipes that don’t go through the vigorous cleaning process that we put all of our estate pipes through.
- First, we examine each pipe for structural defects to ensure that no pipe that is about to burn through or has a cracked shank ever makes it into your possession.
- After a visual assessment has been done, we take any pipe that has a grimy stem and buff it back to perfection. This is done by a professional and we take particular care in doing this to be sure not to buff out any markings that are apparent on the stem.
- While at the buffing wheel we will polish the briar back to its nice original shine.
- As for the bowl itself, it gets a good reaming out, leaving a satisfying layer of protective cake on the walls and any build up at the mouth of the bowl is masterfully removed.
- Each pipe is then sterilized with an alcohol of some type or in some cases a diluted bleach solution.
We truly believe that there is nothing more satisfying then taking a very used estate pipe and bringing it back to its former glory.
In these times of “being Green” we would like to offer up the possibility of recycling! Briar is growing more scarce and craftsmanship is becoming harder and harder to find. The estate pipes offered on our site are tried and true, cleaned, already broken in and in somecases *unsmoked*. These pipes are drastically marked down from the original retail price and for a seasoned smoker, they can really be an economically feasible means of obtaining that top of the line pipe.
To the collector, these pipes are a rare opportunity to find that piece of history. Just like time showing in a face, a pipe can really convey the story of its life and how it can stand up to the tests of time. As anyone can tell you, things just aren’t made as well as they used to be, so an estate pipe is definitely a way to pick up a quality piece of briar. If an estate pipe has been broken in and smoked for all these years, it proves to a responsible pipe smoker that they can rest assured that it will continue to smoke well.
I bring up all these points so that we can all consider the estate pipe. These orphans of the pipe world need to be adopted. They made someone happy for many years, they can make you happy for many more.
Jason, surely there is another midium that can be explored for pipe making, as far as my small knoledge goes it has to be a dense grained wood with little or no moisture content, surly your shop could ask the fabracators to try a few different sustainable wood types for a new range of ECO pipes…..concider this smoking is seen as a disgusting habbit and to the most point i would agree being a Paramedic i have seen the results of people smoking 20-40 per day over many years but when it comes to cigar and pipe smoking i would class it as a more refined and dignafied form of smoking. I can only speak for myself here but i find when i am smoking some good tabbaco or a nice cigar i take my time to enjoy it instead of gulping it down, now if one could have an ECO range of pipes this might bring a whole spectrum of users, my pipe which is made from teak works very well and delivers a nice cool even draw and allows the flovour to be delivered without any probs and the cost was nothing but time, i am fast running out of nice tabbacco to smoke so i will have to come with some bucks to get some more from you, pity the postage is so dear.
Regards your irish pipe smoking friend Chris Cullen
Chris,
Thank you for your insight. I’m sure all our readers can benefit from taking a stab at making there own pipes, too. Using a dense briar is key! A pipe can be very relaxing and a great alternative to the typical ryo smoker.
Beau