If capacity has been reached for the day, the queue will close early. These coatings may include honey and water; powdered sugar and water; Fashion tobacco pipe cigar ash and water; and sour cream, buttermilk, and activated charcoal among many others. Welcome to our store and welcome to our family of enthusiastic pipe aficionados, casual puffers, and curious newcomers—wherever you fit in, we’re happy you’re here.
The shank should be bent upwards, equal to or greater than the stem in length, and more often than not, the bottom of the shank will be flush with the bottom of the bowl, creating a long and flowing line from front to back. Finer examples of this shape can be some of the most expensive pipes on the international market, easily running in the $1,000 to $2,000 range and more. Rustication of tobacco pipe a Volcano is not recommended, and is rarely seen, but both sandblasted and smooth Volcanos can be jaw-dropping works of craftsmanship. When sandblasted, the artisan carefully ensures that the underside of the pipe is kept perfectly smooth to preserve the stunning birdseye grain, making for an exceptional contrast to the rugged top. One of many pipes which finds its inspiration in an object of similar shape, the Egg is not only beautiful to behold, it is one of the most comfortable in the hand, sitting perfectly in one’s palm.
Most, including myself, do not consider it “smoking”, in the same way I don’t consider myself an alcoholic because I have a beer once a week. It’s not an addiction, but certainly appeals to collectors and those that want to explore an incredibly diverse variety of tastes and smells. Also, pipes are made from various materials such as briar, clay, ceramics, corncob, glass, meerschaum, metal, gourd, stone, wood, bog oak and calabash. Pipes were and continue to be made of various sizes depending on what would be placed in the pipe. Because of the long history of pipes and the materials that were used to make them, they have become quite collectible. You may recall movies and television shows of Native Americans smoking pipes.
The word “meerschaum” means “sea foam” in German, alluding to its natural white color and its surprisingly low weight. Meerschaum is a very porous mineral that absorbs the tars and oils during the smoking process, and gradually changes color to a golden brown. Old, well-smoked meerschaum pipes are valued by collectors for their distinctive coloring.
The tobacco chamber runs nearly parallel to the stem, which makes it very difficult to drill proper channel for the smoke and still maintain good smoking mechanics. To combat this, a true Ramses has the draught hole drilled so that it ends a few tenths of a millimeter away from the side and bottom of the tobacco chamber. Another hole is then made through the side of the tobacco chamber which meets the draught hole. This method allows the smoker to smoke the Ramses all the way down to the bottom of the bowl, which is a difficult thing to do with many fully bent pipes.
The bowls of tobacco pipes are commonly made of briar wood, meerschaum, corncob, pear-wood, rose-wood or clay. Less common materials include other dense-grained woods such as cherry, olive, maple, mesquite, oak, and bog-wood. Pipe bowls are sometimes decorated by carving, and moulded clay pipes often had simple decoration in the mould. I made a conscious effort to identify pipe smokers in my travels, as soon as I decided on this focus for today’s column. While many pipe smokers came to mind from Fashion tobacco pipe the past, I could not find anyone and could not identify anyone that I knew who smoked a pipe today.