If anyone is interested

[vortex]

VERY nice, Alan! :thumbs:

 

[bfreebern]

Yes, very nice!

I'm hoping to start collecting in the next few months.

 

[LilBastage]

Your building quite a collection! Do you smoke them in rotation or grab whatever looks good to you at the time?
Must be a lot of fun bringing those estate pipes back to life.

It is a lot of fun, but I do prefer to purchase pipes from some of the sites that already clean them up. It's much easier that way! I've actually tossed more pipes than I've been able to save going the eBay route. Of course, I tend to bid on lots of multiple pipes for VERY low prices. I don't think I'll be purchasing anymore eBay pipes unless something really jumps out at me.

To answer your first question, I just grab what looks good to me as long as it's had at least a week's rest. That may be overkill, but I don't want to get in a rut of only smoking 5 or 6 pipes while the rest sit in the rack. I look at my pipes the same way I look at my cigars: they are meant to be smoked. If I just sit and stare at them, I feel I'm doing the makers a disservice.

I've smoked all of them (except the two newest) at least once, some of them more. After my initial burst of reentering the piping practice I'll need to slow down a little. I'm smoking more now than I have in a long time. Once spring arrives there's a lot more work to do around here, so that will slow me down.

Did that Nording 2B come from Frenchy's?

Yes it did. Several of my pipes have come from Frenchy's. He's a great guy to deal with. Awesome service and he usually has a very good selection. His prices are pretty darn good, too.


Thanks for all the kind words. I'm really having a lot of fun.