I reported on my nifty antique store find here: Antique store find
Well, my suspicion this pipe was almost never smoked grew when I did the clean up. The salt and Everclear treatment, which I ran overnight, resulted in – almost nothing. The very outer edge of the salt pack showed the slightest bit of tan. But only the slightest bit. Compare this to other pipes we’ve all cleaned and had to repeat the procedure for all the black gunk.
For the outside of the bowl I went with olive oil and a soft tooth brush, then buffed with a soft cloth. Worked a treat. I just used some Walker’s and some elbow grease on the stem. It’s not perfect, but I can come back later if I want pure glossy black. I don't mind, though, for older pipes to have one or two faint shadows on the stem, so long as the bit it pristine.
I think in cleaning I figured out why this was a Sasieni second, rather than first quality. When you look at the stem, it LOOKS perfectly square and symmetrical. But in rubbing in the Walker’s, and running up and down the stem, I noticed that it actually had a slight twist to it. You cannot really SEE it, but when you run the stem through your fingers, you notice the stem turn a few degrees in a way it ought not. There is also the slightest circular tool mark on one face of the stem. Nothing you note on casual inspection, but then Joel Sasieni was known to be fanatic about QC (hence his job as factory manager at Dunhill) and you'd expect the same attention to be a legacy in the company.
I broke it in with some Squadron Leader, because a classic bulldog like this cries out for that blend. All I can say is that the next fellow to get this pipe will have a LOT more cleaning to do than I did – because it smoked just perfectly. Effortless draw, cool as an RAF pilot on final approach, only relight required was after I set the pipe down for a few minutes. Just a swell pipe all around and likely to be in heavy rotation.
(Fresh pic to come tonight.)
Well, my suspicion this pipe was almost never smoked grew when I did the clean up. The salt and Everclear treatment, which I ran overnight, resulted in – almost nothing. The very outer edge of the salt pack showed the slightest bit of tan. But only the slightest bit. Compare this to other pipes we’ve all cleaned and had to repeat the procedure for all the black gunk.
For the outside of the bowl I went with olive oil and a soft tooth brush, then buffed with a soft cloth. Worked a treat. I just used some Walker’s and some elbow grease on the stem. It’s not perfect, but I can come back later if I want pure glossy black. I don't mind, though, for older pipes to have one or two faint shadows on the stem, so long as the bit it pristine.
I think in cleaning I figured out why this was a Sasieni second, rather than first quality. When you look at the stem, it LOOKS perfectly square and symmetrical. But in rubbing in the Walker’s, and running up and down the stem, I noticed that it actually had a slight twist to it. You cannot really SEE it, but when you run the stem through your fingers, you notice the stem turn a few degrees in a way it ought not. There is also the slightest circular tool mark on one face of the stem. Nothing you note on casual inspection, but then Joel Sasieni was known to be fanatic about QC (hence his job as factory manager at Dunhill) and you'd expect the same attention to be a legacy in the company.
I broke it in with some Squadron Leader, because a classic bulldog like this cries out for that blend. All I can say is that the next fellow to get this pipe will have a LOT more cleaning to do than I did – because it smoked just perfectly. Effortless draw, cool as an RAF pilot on final approach, only relight required was after I set the pipe down for a few minutes. Just a swell pipe all around and likely to be in heavy rotation.
(Fresh pic to come tonight.)
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