The Novice's Guide on How to Buy Estate Pipes: Glossary of Terms
Wednesday, July 24, 2013 at 6:26AM | Neill Archer Roan | Permalink tagged Estate Pipe Market, Estate Pipes, Glossary, Terms | in Information 
A Guide to Terms with Annotation
BOWL COATING: A thin application of a fire-resistant paste compound that is applied to a tobacco chamber interior to accelerate cake formation (sometimes called pre-carbonization), and to reduce the possibility of heat damage. Secondary Bowl Coating: In the process of refurbishment, some resellers remove a pipe’s original bowl coating and apply their own version. Some pipemakers do not apply bowl coatings, but resellers sometimes apply one if they are concerned about past or potential damage to a chamber interior. Bowl coating formulas vary. Some are dietary charcoal with organic binder (yogurt or sour cream) and some are waterglass and dietary charcoal. The use or non-use of coatings is controversial; both pro-coating and anti-coating adherents make strong arguments. Unless a reseller or refurbisher has used a coating to conceal the true condition of a pipe, the presence of a coating does not materially impact an estate’s value. (I prefer original condition: the original coating or the original state of no coating.)
BURN-OUT: A severely charred area inside a tobacco chamber. A complete burnout results when the wood is charred or burned from the inside to the outside of a pipe. This is the first issue you should look for in an estate pipe purchase. Burnout renders a pipe worthless in the collectibles market. A partially burnt-out pipe that can be repaired with pipe mud may have minimal value as a smoker.
BUTTON: The articulated, raised area of a stem end that is inserted into the mouth. The stem button facilitates the ease with which a pipe smoker can hold the pipe with the teeth (clench).
CAKE: Accumulated residual carbon that builds up on a bowl interior as a result of smoking a pipe. Cake can conceal heat stress fractures, charring, or a burnout in progress. Some perceive the presence of cake in a pipe as desirable, but too much can cause pipe bowls to crack. Some cake can transmit tobacco “ghosts” (residual flavors). Cake should be no thicker than a dime (1mm or .05 inches).
CHAR OR CHARRING: Refers to a place on a pipe–on the rim or in the tobacco chamber–where the briar has been damaged by scorching or burning, usually by a lighter but sometimes by repeated poor match-lighting. Charred surfaces reduce the value and desirability of a pipe.
CHATTER: Light scratches and/or tooth indentations in the mouthpiece area of a stem. Chatter can almost always be removed by a skilled refurbisher and should not materially impact a pipe’s sales value.
COLLECTIBLE: The extent to which a pipe is valued by those who compete to collect that pipe. Pipes are collectible based on their comparative rarity and desirability as related to their maker; their shape; their place of origin; their date or period of manufacture; their briar quality; the materials from which their non-briar component parts were made, e.g. bakelite, amber, silver, ivory, horn, gold, etc. Some pipes are collectible because of their provenance, i.e. who owned them: a celebrity like Samuel Clemens, or a famous collector like John Loring or Derek Greene.
DRAFT HOLE: The opening of the internal airway into the tobacco chamber through which the smokestream is drawn into the shank and through the stem when smoking a pipe. The positioning of the draft hole should ideally be at the bottom center of the tobacco chamber. Draft holes may be slightly to the right or left of center without affecting smoking quality of a pipe. Draft holes that are drilled too high (above the bottom of the chamber) result in a chambers that do not cake properly and in chamber bottoms where wet tobacco residue can accumulate and sour, resulting in a rank taste.
ESTATE PIPE: Any pipe that has been previously owned–smoked or unsmoked–by any entity other than the maker.
FILL: The presence of wood putty or a super-glue-briar dust paste used to fill a void caused by a flaw in the briar. While fills do not impact smoking quality, their presence generally indicates a lower quality pipe model. Fills become more visible as a pipe is smoked because they do not darken from smoking like briar does.
HANDLING MARKS: Dings, dents, indentations, or scratches marring a pipe that results from careless handling, display, or storage of a pipe. Some shallow handling marks may be removed from a pipe during the refurbishment process (so long as the wood fibers are not broken or cut). Handling marks reduce the value of an estate pipe.
HEAT-STRESS FRACTURES: (sometimes called Heat Fissures) Cracks that open in a chamber interior, often proximal to the draft hole, as a result of stress by heat emitted from the tobacco ember. These cracks can be very small or quite large, but in either case their presence can lead to burnout.
MINT: In the condition the pipe was when it left the factory. Along with “pristine”, this is one of the most abused and misleading words used by estate pipe sellers. A mint pipe should always be unsmoked, absent handling marks, and stem oxidation.
NOMENCLATURE: Stampings on a pipe (usually on the shank) that indicate one, several, or all of the following: manufacturer, brand, model, shape number, year made, serial number, or place of origin. Stampings may also be on stems, silver bands or fitments. Stampings on silver indicate silver purity (Sterling), maker’s mark, place of origin, and year made. Weak nomenclature (usually caused by over-buffing) diminishes a pipe’s value, sometimes very significantly.
ORIGINAL CONDITION: This term is generally applied when a pipe meets the following conditions: it possesses its original stem; it has its original finish (staining); it has had no alterations made to the draft hole, stem, or button orifice (stem opening at the mouthpiece); the tobacco chamber retains its original bowl coating or its original non-coated state; and it has had no major repairs (plugs, fills, pipe mud applications) made to the pipe. A pipe may be re-waxed, cleaned, or buffed and still be considered original condition.
OXIDATION: A physical or chemical change in a vulcanite/ebonite (hard rubber) pipe stem brought about by oxygen, sunlight, or a pipe smoker’s saliva interacting with the material resulting in a color change from black to gray-green to olive green to brown to yellow, depending on severity. Severely oxidized stems decrease an estate pipe’s value because it may not be possible to restore the stem to its original black color. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to completely remove all traces of oxidation without damaging a stem, particularly stem nomenclature.
PIPE MUD: Used in repair of compromised pipes. A thick fire-resistant paste comprised of cigar ash and water that can be applied to charred areas, potential burnouts, or heat-stress fractures to reduce the possibility of burnout. When pipe mud is applied and then a bowl is coated, it is nearly impossible to detect the presence of the mud repair. The presence of pipe mud indicates either an original defect or a repair to a pipe and diminishes the value of a pipe where it can be detected.
REAMING: The process by which cake is removed from the tobacco chamber.
REFURBISH: Restoring a pipe to its optimal condition: one that as closely resembles new as is possible. Includes removal of stem oxidation; internal drafthole cleaning by removing smoking tars, carbon and tobacco residue; removal of tars from rim; removal or minimizing scratches, dents, and dings in the briar bowl; the removal of excess cake; the application of a carnauba wax coating on the wood exterior to create a shiny finish.
RESTORE: See Refurbish.
RIM: The bowl top above the tobacco chamber.
STEM-SHANK JUNCTION: Where the wooden shank and the vulcanite (ebonite) stem meet. Sometimes called “stem-shank transition” or “transition”. Ideally, the junction should be uninterrupted and smooth with no space between the stem and the shank. Over-buffed or over-sanded stems often feature rounded shoulders on the outer edge of the stem. This results from sanding or working on the stem after it has been removed from the pipe shank. A compromised stem-shank junction reduces the value of the estate pipe. The reduction varies according to the severity of the shoulder rounding.
STEM: The non-wooden part of the pipe the end of which (mouthpiece) is inserted in the mouth. Stems are typically made from special hard rubber materials (vulcanite, also called ebonite) or from acrylics or specialized plastics like bakelite. Some stems are made from amber, horn, and, in rare instances, ivory.
TAR: Gummy black oil and carbon deposits that accumulate on the bowl rim and in the draft hole. Tar sometimes looks like char, but tar can be removed through cleaning. Char cannot. Because the presence of excessive tar on a pipe’s rim cannot easily be differentiated from charring, if you cannot inspect the pipe yourself, assume the worst and prepare to pay less for the pipe.
TOBACCO CHAMBER: Where the tobacco is loaded for smoking purposes.
TOOTH MARKS: Indentations in the stem surface at the mouthpiece end of the stem caused by excessive tooth pressure when clenching a pipe with the teeth. Light or shallow tooth marks can sometimes be removed in the refurbishment process. The presence of deep toothmarks reduces the value of an estate pipe.
TOOTH WAVES: Slight indentations or irregularities in the smoothness of a stem surface that are artifacts of the toothmark removal process. Some tooth waves can be removed in the restoration process. Tooth waves reduce the value of an estate pipe, but less so than tooth marks.
UNSMOKED: A condition wherein a pipe has never been loaded with tobacco, lit, then smoked. Unsmoked estates, especially those that are thirty or more years old, are very rare. Expect to pay a premium for an unsmoked estate.
VINTAGE: The specific year or range of years within which it can be proved that a pipe was produced according to stampings on the pipe. Vintages are most easily determined with Dunhill-branded pipes because they stamped their production according to year. Vintage is often used by sellers in place of “old” or “used.”
Reader Comments (5)
Putting together a "glossary of terms" can be especially harrowing because of the likelihood of leaving some out or controversy within the hobby caused by different interpretations or opinions.
For instance, you say that a drilling that is off-center will not affect the smoking qualities of the pipe, but that has not been my experience. Also, if a pipe maker or factory carelessly drills the draft hole to the left or the right, I always wonder, "what else were they careless about in making this pipe?"
Regarding the term "Estate Pipes," did you see the recent exchange in Pipes & Tobaccos magazine between Ben Rapaport and Chuck Stanion in which Ben said the term, "estate pipes," should be abandoned in favor of the term, "used pipes." I wrote to both gentlemen and said, "If I am buying, I call them used pipes, and if I am selling, I call them estate pipes."
However, if a pipe has been unsmoked, I think of it as a new pipe and not an estate pipe, even though technically you are probably correct to call it an estate pipe.
One suggested additional term for your glossary is "Hot Spot," which occurs once in a while in an otherwise great-smoking pipe, where one little spot gets hotter on the outer surface of the bowl than the rest of the bowl.
In any event, all of my comments are made in a spirit of praise for your incredible contribution to the hobby with this series of articles.