Salmon & Gluckstein 1894 Silver Billiard

Well....Tom and Emily showed up with a birthday present...what do you all think?

It is Salmon & Gluckstein cased billiard, square shank from 1894. Fantastic craftsman ship with perfect carving. The bit is a screw-fit and seats in perfect line with the shank...after almost 120 years and a lot of use...WOW. What can I say, incredible pipe that I can't wait to smoke. Will take some better pictures of it in the coming weeks, but I just wanted to get it up tonight!

Easter Sunday Pipes.

I have been out in Lachlan's XR6 today so not a lot of pipe smoking no pipes in the Ford.

Lachlan's XR6 Falcon

My 3 favorite pipes.

I love my flake cutter.

All ways perfect flakes.

I smoked my Comoy's filled with Black Malory this morning.
Smoking my 11s Peterson now with Peterson's 3P plug now.
And later before bed i will smoke the Peterson 80s Bulldog with some Gold Brick plug.
Only 3 pipes but they all super classy.  

Pipes i have smoked today.

I smoked the Falcon twice.
Today's tobacco's  were Black Mallory,Wessex Gold brick And Erinmore Flake.

Pipe Packing

I have been experimenting with packing using the air gap method.
You make a packet of tobacco between your fingers and screw it in to the bowl
leaving a air gap under the tobacco.
It needs to be packed fairly tight but the draw has to not be too hard.
It's the balance of just the right amount of tobacco and pressure.
Folded flake tobacco works best but you can use rubbed tobacco.
I find rubbed tobacco to work best if its fluffy and sprinkle some crumbs on top
to help  get it going.
A pipe with a tapered bowl works best.
I use my freehand pipes mostly for this as they have a nicely tapered bowls.
Then you need to try and light the middle of the bowl so it burns towards the outside.
Anyone have any thoughts on this or other packing methods maybe you could post them.

Hobo Dave

The packet or pinch..
The tobacco is Wessex gold brick plug.

Burning from the center out.

Stanwell registration era Straight Grain

Mother and father in-law flying in about 30 minutes from now, so just a quick post. I'll try to get this one cleaned and polished for tomorrow!

Great Stanwell Straight Grain - Selected Briar shape 95 (chimney). The overall bowl height is just over 2", pretty big :) It's also a registration era pipe, so interesting all round. I'll add some captions to the jumble of photo's later as there are some interesting anomalies in the this pipe.

The pipes i have smoked today.

Morning to evening smokes

Peterson Bulldog

Love the grain.

Let us know what pipes you have smoked today.

Interesting pipe YouTube links

Thought I'd create a post for us to share some interesting YouTube (or other video sites) links re. pipe stuff!

The first is a Friday afternoon with the people from Chacom. More than anything I think the air drying barn and the tooling in the factory are incredible!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtZl7f0lJ3E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxPgdpIupz8

Aged Rattray's Black Mallory

Andrea said it smelled nice.

January 2009

Add caption

                                           Black Cavendish Virginia Latakia Oriental

Only smoked a mini cob so far.
I has a unique taste but i like it. 

The tin that keeps on giving i get to smoke it, it cost 1/2 price,I get to stick it to the Nanny State, all so a new tin for my collection and i get to blog about it nice.
The black Malory is good there is something different in i have not tasted before.
I fairly sure its not cased or top flavored.
But then again almost all tobaccos are cased in some way
i wish i knew more and could identify the tobacco flavors.

Mastro De Paja 3C One Sun

For Mastro De Paja this 3C One Sun is one of their higher grades. I got it for a steal on eBay, no-one bid on it for some strange reason. I love everything about this pipe; the long shank, the bend, the small curved bit, the bowl shape, the grain...everything. As if this wasn't enough, it smokes like a dream - thankfully not a wet one! It was made in 1980 and appears to be almost unsmoked.

Mastro De Paja

Here's the box, but what of the pipe? Later perhaps, more work to do! But seriously, There is something about this box that just screams classy to me. It's not often I get excited about both the box AND the pipe.

Tobacco blend

I mixed a blend of Erinmore Flake Irish Cake and Gold Brick.
The  Irish Cake  is calmed down by the Gold brick the Erinmore adds some flavor.
I like this blend a lot it has a fair nicotine kick.
It crept up on me this morning gave me a bit of a head spin i smoked it in my Comoys pipe.
 

To light a pipe, matches!

Many pipeologists use many things to light their little friends. I am a man of matches, and at some point will try a tinder-lighter. For many years I have used these matches in their various forms (they have changed slightly over the years, but mainly in name). They are longer, thicker and slower burning than a standard match. Mostly they measure 55mm! I find them to be the perfect light, somewhere between a match and a spill. They issue forth a soft yellow flame that is easy to place and kind to rims. Moreover, should I need to relight deep in a big bowl, they easily reach.

To An Old Pipe

Companion of my lonely hours,
Full many a time 'twixt night and morn
Thy muse hath roamed through poesy's bowers
Upon thy fragrant pinions borne.
Let others seek the bliss that reigns
In homage paid at beauty's shrine,
We envy not such foolish gains,
In sweet content, old pipe of mine.

Ah! you have been a travelled pipe;
But now, of course, you're getting stale,
Just like myself, and rather ripe;
You've had your fill of cakes and ale,
And half-forgotten memories, too.
And all the pensive thoughts that twine
Around a past that, entre nous,
Has pleasant been, old pipe of mine.

Old pipe of mine, for many a year
What boon companions we have been!
With here a smile and there a tear,
How many changes we have seen!
How many hearts have ceased to beat,
How many eyes have ceased to shine,
How many friends will never meet,
Since first we met, old pipe of mine!

Though here and there the road was deep,
And now and then the rain would fall;
We managed every time to keep
A sturdy forehead to them all!
And even when she left my side,
We didn't wait to fret or pine,
Oh, no; we said the world was wide,
And luck would turn, old pipe of mine!

Anon

Folded Erinmore

Though i would try some Erinmore flake folded in to my Falcon.
You get more tobacco in the pipe with this method.
It was a bit hard to light as Erinmore flake is a thicker than the flakes i normally cut.
Chuck is right about thinner flakes are easier to handle.
Erinmore is fairly soft and bendy compared to my plugs.
I am sure the tobacco has a better taste this way.

First light.

Burning well now.

It is smoking well  the pipe lasts longer with this method.   

The Black Dudeen by Robert W. Service

Humping it here in the dug-out,
     Sucking me black dudeen,
     I'd like to say in a general way,
     There's nothing like Nickyteen;
     There's nothing like Nickyteen, me boys,
     Be it pipes or snipes or cigars;
     So be sure that a bloke
     Has plenty to smoke,
     If you wants him to fight your wars.
When I've eat my fill and my belt is snug,
I begin to think of my baccy plug.
I whittle a fill in my horny palm,
And the bowl of me old clay pipe I cram.
I trim the edges, I tamp it down,
I nurse a light with an anxious frown;
I begin to draw, and my cheeks tuck in,
And all my face is a blissful grin;
And up in a cloud the good smoke goes,
And the good pipe glimmers and fades and glows;
In its throat it chuckles a cheery song,
For I likes it hot and I likes it strong.
Oh, it's good is grub when you're feeling hollow,
But the best of a meal's the smoke to follow.
There was Micky and me on a night patrol,
Having to hide in a fizz-bang hole;
And sure I thought I was worse than dead
Wi' them crump-crumps hustlin' over me head.
Sure I thought 'twas the dirty spot,
Hammer and tongs till the air was hot.
And mind you, water up to your knees.
And cold! A monkey of brass would freeze.
And if we ventured our noses out
A "typewriter" clattered its pills about.
The field of glory! Well, I don't think!
I'd sooner be safe and snug in clink.
Then Micky, he goes and he cops one bad,
He always was having ill-luck, poor lad.
Says he: "Old chummy, I'm booked right through;
Death and me 'as a wrongday voo.
But . . . 'aven't you got a pinch of shag? --
I'd sell me perishin' soul for a fag."
And there he shivered and cussed his luck,
So I gave him me old black pipe to suck.
And he heaves a sigh, and he takes to it
Like a babby takes to his mammy's tit;
Like an infant takes to his mother's breast,
Poor little Micky! he went to rest.
But the dawn was near, though the night was black,
So I left him there and I started back.
And I laughed as the silly old bullets came,
For the bullet ain't made wot's got me name.
Yet some of 'em buzzed onhealthily near,
And one little blighter just chipped me ear.
But there! I got to the trench all right,
When sudden I jumped wi' a start o' fright,
And a word that doesn't look well in type:
I'D CLEAN FORGOTTEN ME OLD CLAY PIPE.
So I had to do it all over again,
Crawling out on that filthy plain.
Through shells and bombs and bullets and all --
Only this time -- I do not crawl.
I run like a man wot's missing a train,
Or a tom-cat caught in a plump of rain.
I hear the spit of a quick-fire gun
Tickle my heels, but I run, I run.
Through crash and crackle, and flicker and flame,
(Oh, the packet ain't issued wot's got me name!)
I run like a man that's no ideer
Of hunting around for a sooveneer.
I run bang into a German chap,
And he stares like an owl, so I bash his map.
And just to show him that I'm his boss,
I gives him a kick on the parados.
And I marches him back with me all serene,
With, TUCKED IN ME GUB, ME OLD DUDEEN.
     Sitting here in the trenches
     Me heart's a-splittin' with spleen,
     For a parcel o' lead comes missing me head,
     But it smashes me old dudeen.
     God blast that red-headed sniper!
     I'll give him somethin' to snipe;
     Before the war's through
     Just see how I do
     That blighter that smashed me pipe.

Folded Flake

Getting ready.

Folded a flake.

Perfect flakes what a pleasure.

Stuffed it in and fired it up.
Took a bit of lighting and tamping but it's burning well now.
This Bulldog is fast becoming my favorite.
The size and shape of the bowl seems just perfect for me.
And i love the look.

'Man Pipe' (distributed by Comoy's)

Laxey Pipe Ltd. was located in Old Laxey on the Isle of Man. They closed in 2001/2002 as their main pipe production was centered around African meerschaum from Tanzania and Kenya, which has now dried-up.

They also produced meerschaum pipes for big manufacturers such as Peterson's, Barling and Nording from the 1960s through to 2001.

Most of their briars were meerschaum lined, but this one was not. I bought it for a few dollars at a market in Brisbane (Australia) many years ago. I've never smoked it and have never even polished it until today. Still, I have had numerous 'culls' of my pipes and have never been able to (for some strange reason) part with it.

These pipes were distributed by Comoy's. This particular pipe is carved, has many fills and as in places quite thin in the bowl. However it is drilled well, the briar is of excellent quality and the bit is the nicest fitting of almost any pipe I own. Enjoy!

'Great Britain' I only photographed these as I knew I'd probably lose them when polishing the bit.

Man Pipe went by many names including Manxpipe, Manxman, Manxland etc.

As close as I could get to the actual colour of the pipe.

This pipe is so comfortable in the hand, always a smooth little nook to put a finger in...