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A little while ago i acquired a Rainer Barbi blowfish for a very good price. The main reason for the bargain price was it was advertised as having had a burnout, which had been repaired with 'silver'. The pictures were woeful, so it was hard to tell, but i had a punt.

Here it is....

Now i can't see any fill in the chamber. It smokes great, and i have smoked it a few dozen times, although right towards the end of the bowl the fill area gets a bit hotter than the briar. There's no sign of any charred briar inside or out, and it hasn't changed since i used it.

If you look closely you can see a brown fill below the silver. Coloured waterglass? It seems an odd pattern for a burnout too, almost like it was miss-drilled originally.
I can't imagine this flaw/mistake was there at the time of manufacture given the prices he charges, and it's fully stamped so probably not an old shop pipe, so what happened, and what was done to fix it?!

Never seen one like this before, and wondered if any of you experienced guys had?

I've not seen a repair like this before. It's possible the chamber was drilled right and over-reamed. I have seen that before.

Looks like a piece of threaded rod and epoxy to me.

caskwith wrote:Looks like a piece of threaded rod and epoxy to me.

Yup. I'd guess the burn / flaw was routed out a little to accept a piece of a bolt laid in sideways, then it was slathered in epoxy, glued in place, and ground flush after it cured.

Interesting.

Gees! I would have rather seen a plug of wood or putty in the hole then a screw ground down.
Hope the price was right considering the repair quality.
I fear that after a while being that the metal will absorb and hold the heat longer that the adhesive will soften and the repair may fall out after time or just from expanding and retracting at different ratios then the briar.

Keen eyes Chris, i bet you're right. Even more bizarre than i thought! I would love to know why someone would do that!
No sign of epoxy or metal in the chamber fortunately.

Well it smokes, and i kind of like the look of it. It reminds me of Japanese pottery where cracks are repaired with metal to highlight them.

Will it last? Who knows, but it hasn't changed since i got it.
Cost around £60 as i recall, so not complaining.

Your lucky to have a Barbi Pipe. No more will be made and that bothers me, as I think of Him often!I would send that pipe to George as fast as you can and have it repaired properly! You have a pipe that was made with passion! Why take chances? It could last you a lifetime.

pipedreamer thanks for the reply. For some reason i only just saw it! That's not a bad idea at all.

George, any suggestions as to what could be done? Are you game for a challenge?!