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I hope I can get some advice on a fix like this. Not to bore everyone with details, but there in a fellow here in Chongqing who only smokes Dunhill, and he smokes the shit out of them. He has an old Dunhill he had made decades ago that he burned a hole in on the bottom of the chamber. He was asking me to make him a new bottom for his pipe. It isn't the first time he has done this to a pipe. I took pictures of this one that he had repaired by Dunhill.

Is this something that is done often? He wants me to do this same fix on his other burnt out pipe. does anybody know how to do this? I am meeting with him next week to give him an answer.

Thanks
Kiel

Those fixes are just plugs, but they have to be screwed in & not just glued because of the heat issue.

Standard coarse-thread taps and dies work fine for wood (if you're gentle). Just turn a piece of briar to the right diameter for threading with the die (cup one end a little for appearance), drill out the heel of the pipe with the right size drill for the tap, cut the threads on both, assemble with some hi-temp glue, let cure, cut off the excess, shape it, and rusticate if desired.

LatakiaLover wrote:Those fixes are just plugs, but they have to be screwed in & not just glued because of the heat issue.

Standard coarse-thread taps and dies work fine for wood (if you're gentle). Just turn a piece of briar to the right diameter for threading with the die (cup one end a little for appearance), drill out the heel of the pipe with the right size drill for the tap, cut the threads on both, assemble with some hi-temp glue, let cure, cut off the excess, shape it, and rusticate if desired.

Sounds simple enough (just like making a pipe sounds simple ) I will check out the tools required for the repair and see if I'm comfortable and/or confident committing to this repair.

I told him he should just send it to the Dunhill factory like his last one, but he is leaving in a month to spend the rest of his life on a small island in Micronesia where he doesn't trust the post office. He is kind of stuck on this repair, and in all honesty, if the pipe broke again after I repaired it he probably wouldn't put the blame on me.

As far as the glue goes, would it also be some kind of A+B epoxy?

Thank you
Kiel

This is the best hi-temp epoxy that's readily available:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Epoxy-Hysol-3 ... 10&veh=aff

Besides repairs, it's also good for those occasional pipes you guys make where the bamboo (or whatever) is attached close to the bowl.

Okay, so I turned a piece of briar into a screw, screwed it in with hi-temp epoxy, trimmed up the inside of the bowl a bit and added some pipe puddy, then sawed off nub on the back, sanded, staines, and buffed (a little). This felt like a lot of work and I only hope I did it good enough. This guy really can smoke his bowls all the down.

I still plan to put a bowl coat in it, but I have never made the bowl coat stuff. I am thinking the one with honey will be the most convenient for me.... I just hope it works!

Kiel

Well, now... it looks like another repairman has entered the world.

I know you don't think so at the moment, kamkiel, but the challenge aspect is a slow-burn sort of thing. A little job here, a little job there, then someone will ask for something that forces you to plan an approach before starting work and also requires making a custom tool or two, and the hook will be set.

Finally, some lovely young lady will bring you her favorite grandfather's favorite pipe to resurrect, and she will cry with joy when you hand it back looking like new, and you'll be asking yourself why you ever thought you'd be happy only making pipes.

Go on, laugh. But that's exactly how it will go. You'll see.

Considering it is only the second pipe (not including the pipes I have made) that I have fixed, fixing a broken pipe is a nice feeling. I made sure the two gentlemen I helped both know George from pmf also gets credit for the repairs on their pipes.

Thanks again for your expertise and guidance

Kiel

I thought I would share with everyone a picture of the pipes he gave to me as payment. I was actually pretty excited about this whole trade off. He gave me 7 of his Dunhills.

Damn, you're a rockstar with a payment like that! So essentially you scored a couple grand in payment to fix a crappy burnt out pipe. it must have had some serious sentimental value to trade seven superior pipes for the repair. Craziness!

7 dunhills??? yowzers! Is he interested in any more repair work? if so I can supply you with my phone number and address. Thank you in advance! If he needs any coffee mugs superglued I am available for that as well. My house could use a few Ming dynasty vases.

Joe Hinkle Pipes wrote:7 dunhills??? yowzers! Is he interested in any more repair work? if so I can supply you with my phone number and address. Thank you in advance! If he needs any coffee mugs superglued I am available for that as well. My house could use a few Ming dynasty vases.

I know. So I have been helping him clean up some of his other pipes before he moves to Tahiti. He is an old French man who has been in Chongqing for 8 years. If he wasn't here and some where outside of China, he would have had no problem getting his pipes worked on. He was happy to meet me and was very happy with the work I did.