Just scored my first estate pipe from Ebay. In unsmoked condition, no less! I like small pipes, and I like saddle bits. I saw it and had to have it. If it was a bulldog too, I'd do a backflip. I mostly smoke while walking in the woods, so it looks like an ideal little pipe.
It's been sitting in someone's closet for a long, long time. Smells like mothballs, although cleaning the bowl and stem with some whiskey got rid of a lot of the smell. The finish was dull and grimy, but all it took was rubbing it on my jeans a little and it shines like new. I thought the bowl was carbonized like a Dr. Grabow at first, but when I swabbed it out with a wool dauber with whiskey on it, all the black came out and I can see where the wood stain goes partway down the bowl, so it was never charred. Must have been coated with some kind of soot.
It has an aluminum stinger. As you can see in the picture, there is a vent for air/smoke to pass through on the side of the stinger, right where it comes out of the stem. Is the vent supposed to be facing up or down? I can't remember which way it was when I took the stem out the first time.
Speaking of the stem, it has a smell that I associate with old dry rotted tires. Much less after cleaning it. I assume it's vulcanite. Is the smell anything I need to worry about, or is that just how it is?
Pictured next to my Missouri Meerschaum Huckleberry Finn, which I turned into a stubby by putting a "Royal" bit on it. Both are a little over 4 inches long. The Short Snorter is more compact, but has a bigger tobacco chamber. Both are about 1-1/4 inches deep, the Huckleberry Finn is 9/16 wide and the Snorter is about 11/16, 1/8 of an inch wider. That's a respectable amount of tobacco for a tiny pipe.
I haven't found much information about it. I found a couple old listings for other "Short Snorter" pipes, that were also marked "Weber" and "Imported Briar," but mine has no other markings besides "Short Snorter."
I picked it up for about $24 with shipping. How did I do--did I find a gem, or overpay for some old junk? I haven't smoked it yet. What's the consensus on breaking in a "brand new" briar, should I smear some honey or something inside the bowl, or just smoke it?
It's been sitting in someone's closet for a long, long time. Smells like mothballs, although cleaning the bowl and stem with some whiskey got rid of a lot of the smell. The finish was dull and grimy, but all it took was rubbing it on my jeans a little and it shines like new. I thought the bowl was carbonized like a Dr. Grabow at first, but when I swabbed it out with a wool dauber with whiskey on it, all the black came out and I can see where the wood stain goes partway down the bowl, so it was never charred. Must have been coated with some kind of soot.
It has an aluminum stinger. As you can see in the picture, there is a vent for air/smoke to pass through on the side of the stinger, right where it comes out of the stem. Is the vent supposed to be facing up or down? I can't remember which way it was when I took the stem out the first time.
Speaking of the stem, it has a smell that I associate with old dry rotted tires. Much less after cleaning it. I assume it's vulcanite. Is the smell anything I need to worry about, or is that just how it is?
Pictured next to my Missouri Meerschaum Huckleberry Finn, which I turned into a stubby by putting a "Royal" bit on it. Both are a little over 4 inches long. The Short Snorter is more compact, but has a bigger tobacco chamber. Both are about 1-1/4 inches deep, the Huckleberry Finn is 9/16 wide and the Snorter is about 11/16, 1/8 of an inch wider. That's a respectable amount of tobacco for a tiny pipe.
I haven't found much information about it. I found a couple old listings for other "Short Snorter" pipes, that were also marked "Weber" and "Imported Briar," but mine has no other markings besides "Short Snorter."
I picked it up for about $24 with shipping. How did I do--did I find a gem, or overpay for some old junk? I haven't smoked it yet. What's the consensus on breaking in a "brand new" briar, should I smear some honey or something inside the bowl, or just smoke it?
