A retort is a fairly simple device used to clean and sanitize the interior of a briar pipe. Most pipe smokers are familiar with the concept. Some sort of glass container is used to boil alcohol and a tube transfers the hot vapor to the interior of the pipe via the stem. There are a … Continue reading Rethinking the Retort
It is a summer afternoon in the late 70s. I’m kneeling on the wooden floor of an attic helping my grandfather extend the plywood floor across more of the ceiling joists in order to gain some additional storage space. We finished for the day and began to stand in the cramped space available. I, a … Continue reading The Eye of the Beholder
It’s the morning of Christmas Eve 2018, and as I sit down to enjoy a bowl of Haunted Bookshop with some fresh brewed coffee, it occurs to me that it has been too long since I wrote anything for you. I had great intentions when I started writing at the beginning of 2018, and for … Continue reading Happy Holidays 2018
In my last post, I laid out the challenge of testing a set of 4 different filters in my new Savinelli 311 KS. I first smoked the pipe for several weeks using the Savinelli adapter that basically replaces the filter with an approximately normal airway. I smoked the pipe twice each week, and always smoked … Continue reading Results of the Great Filter Challenge
My first pipe was a Dr Grabow which took 6 mm paper filters. After the first box (I think it came with the pipe) I never bought another filter. Initially this was simply a matter of convenience. I could not detect a difference in the smoke with or without the filter, so the filter was … Continue reading The Great Filter Challenge
In the novel “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” the late Robert M. Pirsig writes about the protagonist experiencing a string of bad results from a motorcycle repair shop that caused more damage than was originally evident. He noticed the rock and roll music playing in the shop on his first visit, and describes … Continue reading Music, Quality, and Pipes
I had someone ask me about a particular product being sold to aid in pipe restoration. I won’t mention the actual product here because I have never used it. But I suspect that it is a type of microcrystalline wax. So this got me thinking about wax, carnuba, and other things people put on their … Continue reading Which Wax?
