Thread: What do I look for in an estate (used) pipe?

Toying around between getting an old pipe or a new one. There are plenty at a couple of antique shops around town, and my grandfather had a small collection (5-6) before he passed. They have been sitting on the shelf ever since.

If I do decide to go vintage, what should I look for? I've done a bit of searching, but the info I find seems to be a bit vague. I know to look for basic issues of wear and tear. Keep an eye out for cracks, or gaps, twists, or cracks at the shank/stem/bit. But what else should I look for? Anything to pay attention to in the bowl? Should I make an effort to inspect the stem at all? I've looked about on here, and found that I definitely should clean them - so done and done on that front.

Just a completely new venture, and looking for a place to start. Thanks in advance for any info that anyone can provide.

I've gotten hundreds ...... literally ...... on ebay. Like buying anything else on ebay, knowing what you're doing is paramount. There are also internet pipe and tobacco vendors who sell 'estate' pipes but IME they charge inflated prices.

I definitely look for a nicely formed cake or signs of how the reaming on the pipe was done. A nice cake is an indicator that the smoker actually took good care of the pipe (though it doesn't always guarantee that it was well maintained it usually suggests it was). Looking for signs of poor reaming is also important.

Personally, I prefer pipes with deeper stamps because it suggests that the pipe was not buffed down when restored. Don't get me wrong, there are good restored pipes out there, but, as with razors, there are lots of poor restored ones out there.

On the stem, I try to look for teeth marks. Not so much from an "ew, that's gross" perspective (you can sterilize and/or buff the stems to clean them), but rather because bite marks can compress the air passageway which can affect how the pipe smokes and can block pipe cleaners. I personally need to be able to put a pipe cleaner in while smoking because sometimes I get a wet smoke.

On a related note, I try to ask whether or not the pipe will pass a pipe cleaner, for the exact same reason.

Lastly, I look at the grain carefully, because that is something I care about. I don't typically buy a pipe with grain I don't like anymore.

Originally Posted by smreno77

Toying around between getting an old pipe or a new one. There are plenty at a couple of antique shops around town, and my grandfather had a small collection (5-6) before he passed. They have been sitting on the shelf ever since.

If I do decide to go vintage, what should I look for?
...snip...

I cannot help you if you want to collect. But if you
want a pipe to smoke there is nothing like holding it
in your hand. If it feels right in your hand and there
are no cracks and the stem is sound enough check
the price.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, your eye.

If you collect what you like the collection will have
a theme and also have value to you. If you collect what
others like you only please them.

And yes watching eBay will help but to do it right
make a book and keep notes.

Estate pipes is a subject I can speak with some authority on. I've restored a bunch of them and truth be told my entire collection of 25 pipes give or take consists of mostly funky old estate pipes that I've restored (mostly four digit Kaywoodies from pre-1938). Some of these came fairly clean and others required quite a bit of effort to make smokeable. As far as what to look for in an estate pipe:

Obviously cleaner is better (less effort to make smoke-ready) that said though, don't be afraid of the really funky ones either. I have this theory that the really funky, nasty ones had to at one time be HEAVILY smoked to get in that condtion and no one I know heavily smokes a bad smoking pipe. So, for easy restoration, semi-clean smokes are best but many of my best smokers came to me really funky and really nasty. The restoration on these is a bit more trouble but generally they turn out to be fabulous smokers. Bottom line: Funk can be cleaned so don't be skeered.

Other things however are a bit more difficult to deal with. Bits that have been chewed through or bowls that are burned through or have charred spots on the bowl. Replacement bits can certainly be had but are hard to find and often time costly. Replacement bits for my old Kaywoodies are almost impossible to replace. In any case, having to replace a bit often puts you, money wise, about where buying a brand new pipe would have. Then we come to burned bowls. The important distinction here is generally, that black rim around the top of the bowl is generally NOT charring or burning but a kind of tar like goo that can be cleaned off. Charring is most often distinguished by a black spot on the sides of the bowl. Pipes with charring on the sides of the bowl are almost always unrecoverable. No matter how clean you make the rest of the pipe, charring to that portion of the bowl has already begun and you can bet that portion of the bowl is thinner than the others and will continue to char and be insanely hot any time the pipe is smoked.

Other than that, structural integrity is everything. Any visible cracks? does the bit and the shank come together properly? If old and funky are your biggest enemies no problem if the pipe is structurally damaged or the bowl has begun to burn through, IMHO it is not a great candidate for restoration.

You can take pretty much any pipe that is in one piece and make it smokeable, sometimes sublimely so. The main thing that varies is how much work it takes (and that's a big variation). The big things to watch out for have been covered thoroughly.

As to "why buy vintage," many folks will tell you (and I wouldn't necessarily disagree) that older pipes, particularly getting back into the first half of the last century were generally speaking made to a higher standard and they had easy access to better briar than is commonly available to pipe makers today. In fact many makers today struggle to get quality briar. So there can be advantages to buying older pipes, of course there is something about having a pipe from new that is nice as well. Myself I like both - I enjoy the process of restoring estate pipes and wondering where they've been, their history, etc. - but I also love the magic of taking flame to a bowl of tobacco in a brand new pipe.

Here is how I would take care of a nasty pipe, more or less:

-Separate shank and bowl. If they are stuck don't force it, put it in the freezer for a bit too cool it off and it may become easy.
-Set stem to soak in undiluted bleach, covering up any maker's marks with vaseline so that the bleach doesn't eat off the enamel. This removes the oxidation but leaves the stem with a "fuzzy" appearance that will need to be buffed off.
-While that's going, start on the stummel first by reaming out the bowl (not all the way to wood, but just to a normal level of cake). Then clean out the airway if necessary by stepping through a few sizes of drill bits turned by hand, followed by a shank brush or bristle cleaners.
-Clean up the outside with a wet towel. If there is stubborn tar built up on the rim, spit on a cloth works wonders. I finish by using a hand applied wax I have, called Halcyon II. I do this before using alcohol as it will help protect the stain from any accidental drips/spills and give you plenty of time to brush them off.
-Then set the pipe in a stand and plug the airway with a fluffy pipe cleaner, making sure that it clears the walls of the mortise as it exits, fill the bowl with coarse kosher salt, and then soak it in alcohol (highest percentage you can find). Depending on how bad it is this may take a while to remove the built up flavors from the previous owner. You will see the pipe cleaner start to soak up the tars, I like to change it and add more alcohol every once in a while until it starts to come out clean-ish. Then take it all out, and swab repeadedly with q-tips and pipe cleaners.
-While it soaks finish the stem, with wet dry paper then polishing/rubbing compounds. Make sure to coat it in wax or at least chap stick to protect against oxidation (all this is assuming a vulcanite stem)
-Let the pipe dry, stem disconnected, at least 24 hours.
-Smoke. If any unwanted flavors still remain, repeat a salt and alcohol soak. If there is a moldy smell dump a few drops of alcohol in the bowl and set it on fire (CAREFULLY) and let it burn out. It is a low temp flame that will not harm the bowl.

For some motivation, here's a Peterson Deluxe from 1984 I did recently:

Before:




After:




And a Peterson Shamrock from probaly 1947-1948 (no before shot):

Thank you very much for all of the wonderful responses. I actually was able to pick up the pipes that my grandfather had. Eight in total. I took two into my local Tinderbox and had them polish them up. They cleaned the gunk/tar off the rim of the bowls, and I asked about anything necessary for a deeper cleaning. They said that I'd be good to go... wish me luck. I'll be enjoying my first smoke in just a bit. I will put to use the advice I've received for cleaning the other six. Great. Just what I needed. Another hobby. HA!

Edit: Ooops. They are mostly old Comoy's. At least from the mid-70s and before. Seem to be reliable from what I hear and read. Just kind of cool to have the heirloom factor too.

I know this is a bit of a dead thread but it seems to have quite a bit of great advice in it.
Any tips on cleaning up a meerschaum pipe? I picked one up at an antique store/flea market last week and would like to smoke it but I don't want to damage it cleaning it up.

so bill did you get both of those pipes or just the one. if it is the one i think it is, i didnt do anything to the one i have which is very similar, i just cleaned the bit with some isopropol alcohol(91) till i didnt get any gunk on the cleaner and filled it with some nice stout english tobacco and smoked away, figured id smoke out the ghosts, luckily it didnt have any.

I ended up with this one plus the captain black stand it's on and 3 safetey razors for $25. It's a cell pic so it's crappy. Pipe looks well coloured but smells worse than a Tijuana donkey...