Articles by Chuck Stanion | Smokingpipes Daily Reader

Meerschaum Coloring

November 30, 2018 by Chuck Stanion

12 Comments

Meerschaums have been popular for far longer than briar pipes and maintain an enthusiastic following. Briar wasn't introduced as an accepted and durable material for pipes until the late 1800s, after all, and previous to that meerschaum was king. It's a remarkably neutral material, and many profess that it is an accurate medium ... Read More

Pipes and Cats

November 23, 2018 by Chuck Stanion

7 Comments

My wife innocently asked if there were any pipes in my collection that were of particular value to me and if I might point them out to her. I'm no fool, so I naturally responded that I had nothing worth more than $10 and that all my pipes were virtually valueless. Then I started searching the house for lethal traps. ... Read More

Peterson Shape Chart

November 15, 2018 by Chuck Stanion

8 Comments

For more than 150 years, Peterson of Dublin has enjoyed an enviable reputation for serving pipesmokers worldwide by manufacturing fine smoking instruments in a multitude of shapes to suit the most particular and exacting of enthusiasts. It's perhaps most famous for its System pipes, which provide a reservoir to catch moisture ... Read More

The Mayans & Tobacco

November 9, 2018 by Chuck Stanion

8 Comments

Tobacco was first used by humans about 18,000 years ago, according to the accepted scientific canon. The Mayan civilization was the most likely to have first cultivated the plants, however, beginning about 5,000 years ago. ... Read More

Flat-Bottomed Burls: They Make the Smoking World go 'Round

October 26, 2018 by Chuck Stanion

3 Comments

The title of this essay may be somewhat misleading, as it is not about flat-bottomed burls, but about tamping for flat-bottomed tobacco chambers. The pun on the Queen song was just too irresistible. ... Read More

Modern Sandblasting

September 28, 2018 by Chuck Stanion

2 Comments

Except for the beginning of pipe sandblasting more than 100 years ago, when curing techniques, softer Algerian briar (if that story is not a fable) and early, unsophisticated procedures launched deeply craggy sandblasts, sandblasted pipes have been mainly low profile in texture. Even today, in Denmark, the heart of artisan pipemaking ... Read More

J.T. Cooke: The Tesla of Pipe Sandblasting

August 3, 2018 by Chuck Stanion

6 Comments

No discussion of pipe sandblasting is complete without referencing J.T. Cooke. I've referred to J.T. in the past as the Thomas Edison of pipe sandblasting, but I think that's unfair. Edison was a jerk, and J.T. Cooke is the opposite. He's intelligent, warm, and rational in all the right proportions. ... Read More

The Unsurpassed Blast

July 11, 2018 by Chuck Stanion

4 Comments

We're emerging from an attitude about sandblasted pipes that has been entrenched for decades. Common knowledge said that sandblasting was reserved for pipes with flaws, and was thus a second-tier finish. ... Read More

How Tobacco Ages

July 2, 2018 by Chuck Stanion

19 Comments

I know how I age: Resentfully. But tobacco ages more gracefully, and every pipe smoker should take advantage of that process to attain the pinnacle of what pipe smoking offers. ... Read More

Farewell McClelland

March 9, 2018 by Chuck Stanion

31 Comments

I'm a Virginia/Perique smoker, and my daily smoke for the past ten years has been McClelland's Beacon, a flake of unsurpassed complexity and clean, pure taste. It hasn't been an outrageously popular blend—I think I probably bought more than anyone else over the years. It is my friend and I'll miss it desperately.

Chuck Stanion