Before reaching this point, it needs to be scraped down with a reamer. It is generally recommended to keep the cake at approximately the thickness of a U.S. dime (about 1/20 of an inch or 1.5 mm), though sometimes the cake is removed entirely as part of efforts to eliminate flavors or aromas. An alternative packing technique called the Frank method involves lightly dropping tobacco in the pipe, after which a large plug is gingerly pushed into the bowl all at once. A calabash pipe is rather large and easy to recognize as a pipe when used on a stage in dramatic productions.
The Redmanol corporation manufactured pipes with translucent stems in the 1920s and a series of pipes were manufactured and distributed by the Tar Gard (later Venturi) Corporation of San Francisco from 1965 to 1975. The majority of pipes sold today, whether handmade or machine-made, are fashioned from briar. Briar is a particularly well suited wood for pipe making for a number of reasons. The first and most important characteristic is its natural resistance to fire. The burl absorbs water in nature to supply the tree in the dry times and likewise will absorb the moisture that is a byproduct of combustion. Briar is cut from the root burl of the tree heath (Erica arborea), which is native to the rocky and sandy soils of the Mediterranean region.
With the hard edges of the shank and the round walls of the bowl, it is paramount that the transition of bowl to shank be executed with skill to avoid an awkward appearance. Like the shank, the stem of a Bulldog is also diamond-shaped, with both tapered and saddle-bit stems being equally acceptable. Bulldogs make excellent candidates for combination finishes such as “partially sandblasted” pipes due to their multiple distinct surface areas created by the hard lines of the pipe’s unique shape. The Blowfish is considered a freehand shape in the world of pipe making. It is a perfect example of beautiful asymmetry; it’s organic and graceful, but by no means overly delicate.
Many modern briar pipes are pre-treated by the manufacturer to resist burning. Another technique is to alternate a half-bowl and Filling cut tobacco a full-bowl the first several times the pipe is used to build an even cake. Like Peterson, Vauen pipes manufacturer drew on the association of ‘cleverness’ with smoking pipes to build their brand.
The plug will be sliced into thin flakes by the smoker and then prepared in a similar fashion to flake tobacco. It is considered that plug tobacco holds its flavor better than rubbed or flake tobacco. Flake tobacco (sliced cakes or ropes) may be prepared in several ways.
Generally it is rubbed out with the fingers and palms until it is loose enough to pack. Some people also prefer to dice up very coarse tobaccos before using them, making them easier to pack. While we try to fill the needs and hands of the pipe smokers community, we also do our best to keep the pipe making process an art of form, not to be commercialized and machine made.