pipemakersforum.com

Sounds weird, right?

Sometimes there's no other way to get where you want to go.

In this case the pipe is a 1911 Peterson #1 (quite scarce, actually... Pete's top grade) that had, of course, a P-lip. But for both smoking reasons and preservation reasons, the owner wanted a swappable fishtail copy. Made from acrylic.

Not as simple as it sounds. One of the secrets of Pete's high production numbers a century ago was by not going down the "cut to fit" road, but by perfecting their molding tech to where their complicated-shape stems were useable straight from the mold.

The resulting stems could be counted on to have the spot-on diameter and taper to fit to an EXACT depth in the shank/tapered mortise. (too deep and the airway hole would be covered; too shallow and the stem attachment reliability would be iffy)

Dimensionally copying one of their molded stems by hand is a bit of a job, though, for technical reasons. Doubleplus true when the material you're working with is Mike Butera's proprietary ToughStuff. As a package deal, it landed solidly on my All Time Top Ten PITA list.

All's well that ends well, though. (No worries about the stummel, btw. It will get some attention before the project is finished)

Ooh! Now I want one... I've got a couple p-lips that I don't love....
Is it possible to alter a p-lip into a serviceable fishtail? Is there enough material there?

Sent from my bloopty-bloop using hooty-hoo.

I've never tried to convert one, so don't know.

They defintely come in diferent sizes, though, so beware: what works for one might not work for another.

seamonster wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 9:36 pm Ooh! Now I want one... I've got a couple p-lips that I don't love....
Is it possible to alter a p-lip into a serviceable fishtail? Is there enough material there?

Sent from my bloopty-bloop using hooty-hoo.

I've seen it done, and done well. The more material you have the better, but since most modern Petes are like .18 behind the button there is usually plenty of room.

The issue with the conversion is that the run of the mill p lip is a very round stem and often slim, so even if you lop the penis tip off and cut a slot, it's still not a great stem pretty often.

Sasquatch wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 3:43 pm...so even if you lop the penis tip off and cut a slot...

"Besides, it stings like hell."

This guy:

The final result.

Trying to remove bowl dents isn't recommended in cases like this, nor is making the rim "optically flat" again. The idea is to improve the overall appearance/condition as much as possible without the pipe looking re-worked. Turn the clock back only partway, in other words.

Color matching the rim---which was taken down to raw wood---to the rest of the bowl is the tricky part.

.

George...man.......good grief, you're a talented guy.

You should have a happy customer. I would be delighted.
DocAitch

Getting old Petes sorted is very satisfying. They are so iconic.

I rarely work on them, though, because in the aftermarket the "tobacco access device" connection is much stronger than the "smokable art" one, plus they are plentiful, so their resale value is low. People just get another instead of fix them.

This one was/is both beautiful in design and a legit-rare #1 grade, however. I'm glad that someone who cared enough happened across it.