Thread: Pipe of the Day

Lovely examples of some stellar pipes, Jimmy. If anyone can keep the show and tell aspect of this thread alive indefinitely, Its you. Curious about that Presbyterian mixture I see in the background, How do you like it?

Originally Posted by Razorfaust

Lovely examples of some stellar pipes, Jimmy. If anyone can keep the show and tell aspect of this thread alive indefinitely, Its you. Curious about that Presbyterian mixture I see in the background, How do you like it?

I tried it on a recommendation from a friend. I'm a Presbyterian, so it seemed like a perfect match. It is a good blend, light latakia. I liked it, but not enough to order another tin.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

The late Bill Taylor, of Ashton Pipes, used to stamp first quality pipes 'Taylor Made' when they were gifts to individuals. Later on he used the stamp for seconds that were cheaper than the first quality pipes. The ELX bulldog on the left is of the former variety, and the Canadian on the right of the latter. Both great smokers.

Attachment 245603

How do you tell the difference then? Are there obvious flaws? From the pictures it is hard to tell.

Originally Posted by 32t

How do you tell the difference then? Are there obvious flaws? From the pictures it is hard to tell.

The stems are the main thing. A 'first' has a silver (aluminum) ring around a dot. The 'second' doesn't. The first would have a handcut stem, the second might have a molded stem. There is more to it than that, and maybe I'll expand on it sometime, but that is in essence the easiest way to tell the gift 'Taylor Made' from the 'second.'

Now I have to learn the difference from a molded and a hand cut stem.......

Originally Posted by 32t

Now I have to learn the difference from a molded and a hand cut stem.......

A molded stem is just that. Cast rubber and the tenon (the part that goes into the mortise) is fitted to the pipe. A handcut stem is made from a solid rod of vulcanite, or acrylic, from start to finish. Minimal work on a molded stem so the pipe can be cheaper.

With Ashton, the English pound was really high against the dollar for awhile there. So Bill Taylor began doing the Taylor Made line to drum up biz by offering a less expensive pipe. Many times there was nothing at all 'second' about the wood, but instead of the hand cut stem he used molded to cut costs.

Is cast rubber softer than Vulcanite [hard rubber]? Is there parting lines in the cast piece? Acrylic is another plastic that can be cast.

A well finished cast piece would be hard to tell from a hand cut piece unless the casting process was visible from poor finishing.

And there would be probably many similar cast pieces.

Or there are imperfections in the hand cut piece that wouldn't show up in the cast one....

Just thinking.

Originally Posted by 32t

Is cast rubber softer than Vulcanite [hard rubber]? Is there parting lines in the cast piece? Acrylic is another plastic that can be cast.

A well finished cast piece would be hard to tell from a hand cut piece unless the casting process was visible from poor finishing.

And there would be probably many similar cast pieces.

Or there are imperfections in the hand cut piece that wouldn't show up in the cast one....

Just thinking.

I said 'rubber' which is what vulcanite is, but the molded stems are usually not of the quality of the rod that is used in hand cut stems. The slot at the lip of the pipe is most of the time square on the ends. The tenon is drilled and glued in on a molded AFAIK. Hand cut is turned on a lathe. The casting marks would be polished out. Acrylic stems, like on a Castello, are hand made. Even some higher grade pipes used molded stems. One of my favorites, Upshall did. When they used a hand cut stem they marked the pipe 'HC'. Anyway ...... I'm pretty sure my info is right ...... got it from reading, talking to people who were 'in the know.'

A beautiful afternoon here with temps in the mid 80's. Perfect timing for a break with my estate GBD loaded with TSUGE Ryugin. I hope everyone has a great Friday.

Here is a better shot of hand cut versus molded stems ;

Here are three pipes, a Dunhill shape 60 circa 1936 with bowling ball hand cut bit, a big Upshall Dublin with a molded stem, and a ELX Ashton HT (hand turned) sandblast with a hand cut bit.



Note the tenon on the hand cut Ashton where it joins the face of the part that butts up against the mortise. You can see the angle where it joins, turned on the lathe. Now the drilled and glued tenon of the Upshall molded stem where it meets the face. No angle.



Finally, the slots on the three. The Upshall on the left has the characteristic squared slot of a molded stem, the Ashton was custom made for the original owner with an old style (forget what it is called) where the draught hole is, as you see round. Finally, a more traditional hand cut slot on the Dunhill. Note the rounded contour at the ends of the slot.

Another point of interest (maybe) the vulcanite on the Dunhill stem was known as 'bowling ball' back in those days, because of the similarity of the material with some of the bowling balls of the day. Same stuff on the Ashton for the past 20 years is called 'brindle.'