PSA: See 2023 System Day Challenge
at end of post
Not being overly enthusiastic about Dunhill pipes and the online fervor they can create in an online auction, coupled with the fact that the early 1980s were a dark time in pipe manufacturing, I never bought into the whole birth year pipe fad. I always passively looked for a decent 1982 Peterson, but hallmarks from this year don’t show up too often. My search had been fruitless for some time when much to my surprise, a pipe showed up on eBay by a well-known and respected estate seller and fellow Pipedia contributor. So I submitted a bid, one I thought was not overly enthusiastic but a respectable contender. I ended up winning the auction with $1 dollar on my max bid to spare.
A week later this beautiful little 1982 Deluxe System smooth, 1982 showed up at my doorstep. The only thing wrong with the pipe was it was missing its chimney, which I had known prior to bidding because I asked the seller. Knowing that the typically out of stock chimneys sold online as replacements were made with the current M6.3X1 threads rather than the M7X1 threads used in the early 80s and that the new chimneys also lack the cross vents typically drilled in condensers of the earlier era I elected to turn my own replacement, not a problem for a man with a lathe.
I started by measuring the threads in the tenon to determine whether they were M6.3X1 or M7X1 and determined that they were in fact M7X1. I made a drawing to establish some rough dimensions based on a condenser from a new Pub pipe and the known details of older cross-vented chimneys. Once I had a set of dimensions to work from, I could select an appropriate piece of stock. In this case a .5″ (12mm) piece of aluminum rod stock fit the bill. After selecting my stock, I laid out all the tools I would need to complete the task.
The first order of business was to turn a chucking holder for the treaded condenser blank. This would be used to hold the threaded blank in the lathe chuck and as a depth stop for cross vent drilling later in the process. I started by turning the holder down to my desired OD and drilling a pilot hole for the female M7X1 threads. I then tapped the holder with an M7X1 plug cutting tap.
With the holder all sorted it was time to start working on the condenser itself. I started by facing the stock and drilling the 3.5mm bore of the condenser and chamfering the thread side bore to 60d.
A quick look in the Machineries Handbook told me the major OD for M7X1 external threads should be 6.9mm, so I turned down the threaded portion to 6.9mm in preparation for thread cutting.
Once the major OD was established, I cut the threads by hand with a die and then relieved the threads with a parting tool. After chasing the threads in the stem with a tap to clean out any debris I test fitted it to the condenser blank before parting it to continue shaping.
With the blank now parted from its source stock and off the lathe it was time to tackle the cross vents while the condenser sides were still parallel. This was done by using the holder turned earlier as a depth stop to locate both holes in the same circumference plane. The blank was clamped in a V-block drill guide and two holes drilled 120d apart.
Final shaping of the chimney was done on the lathe with a 5/16″ corner radius cutter and the taper was cut to roughly 3 degrees. All holes and bores were deburred with a tri-blade burnishing tool and the bore was reamed with the 3.5mm bit again. And just like that, this 1982 20S Deluxe System was back in the fight smoking just as well as it did the day it was made.
Above: My repaired 20S shown with my “Custom Deluxe” Nov 2015 Craftsman, a PPN-CPG Zippo, bone scale Rogers pipe knife and a hand-cut camel bone chimney for another project.
Keep it Geeky Pete fans,
Fletch Hiner
125th Anniversary System Day Challenge
Yes, it’s true! This is the 125th anniversary of the third and final patent of the System pipe. This year’s challenge takes it cue from a passage in my pipe-smoking novel The X-Pipe (which is in the editing and book design process):
“The Smoker is incomplete without the body of the pipe; the pipe is incomplete without the soul of the tobacco; smoke from the tobacco is incomplete without the censing spirit of its transformative power. These four are united yet distinct; in community, yet one.”
To receive your CPG certificate or the new merit badge, address these four elements in a sentence or two accompanied by an illustrative photo and email them to petegeek1896@gmail.com:
- The “Smoker”—your name and global location as you want it to appear in the post;
- The System Pipe—your chosen System pipe;
- The Tobacco—the tobacco you will most likely smoke on System Day 2023;
- The “Transformative Power”—your most probable hour and locale for celebrating System Day.
Your entry must be received by Saturday, September 2nd, 5pm CDT, to be included in the System Day 2023 blog post for Sunday, September 3rd.
Great write-up! The 20s is one of my favorite shapes. Somehow delivers a fairly long smoke despite it’s size.
Great work Fletcher, thank you for sharing what you did to make this Pete whole again! Thanks Mark for bringing us these stories of Pete Geeks who overcome challenges to make Peterson pipes their chosen instrument of transformative power! be well…
Holy cow that is sick work!!! Love hearing of the Pete Geek talent out there 🙂
Beautiful lathe work. An M7 thread is an uncommon thing here in Germany isn’t it.
Nice work Fletch, great write up and pictures on the process, and nice 20s. When making replacement “Peterson “Chimneys”, Comoy’s “Grand Slams” and other tenon “fitments” of aluminum or bone or ebonite or whatever material, I have found many different thread pitch/diameters. I have taps and dies in SAE Fine and Coarse, Metric Fine and Coarse, and BSF, BSW, sizes and patterns. It seems I never have the exact right one and need to find another. There is such a dizzying array used in the last 100+ years, including custom cut, especially in bone. If I had a newer lathe… Read more »
John, I did get one those antique tenon/tap sets on eBay coupled with the fact I have a very large chunk of the tooling that came out of Ehrlichs. I have a very deep stash of pipe tenon taps and NOS bone tenons. My lathe is also a pia to do any threading on.
I forgot to mention. I “cheat” and instead of turning a holder for each project, I just use my threading die squared up in the chuck.
I was excited about a lot of things in this post. First, that another Pete Geek worked diligently to obtain a birth year Peterson. Second, that he was younger than I was… even if only by two years. (This gives me great hope for our hobby) Lastly, I was impressed with the repair to the chimney.
What a great way to.begin my morning. Thank you gents.
I’m fascinated by machinist work, and the attention to detail shown here. Thanks for sharing this story!
fun read, nice fabrication! I work in a big ole’ machine shop for a large US manufacturer. I imagine walking in clenching a system pipe to do a repair/fab on and just how long it would take HR banish me for good!
hmm maybe I need a new 313, 314 or 317 for System Day
You made it to the comments! I’m so glad. As this year is the 125th anniversary, we all need the 12.5 Deluxe, don’t we? That’s a 317 in Premier and Standard…
That sounds like an extra challenge, Mark!
🙂 Indeed it is. If you HAVE one or ACQUIRE one, I think there needs to be a “125th Anniversary” Merit badge. What do you think? That will help me deal with my PAD in just ordering one…..
Since I have one, I love that idea! Do we get extra credit if it has a ‘Hand Cut’ stem?
Only if you enter the competition using that pipe in your photo! 🙂
Highly recommend the 314. I don’t have many small pipes but the 314 is amazing for fishing. Light it, tamp it, touch it with the flame once more and it smokes to the end of the bowl with no fuss. At least mine does. Identical pipe shapes still seem to have personalities of their own.
Incredible work! It takes quite a special skill set to accomplish something like this and I’m in awe of folks who can. Great job! But, I was stumped a little at first when the article said the pipe was missing its “chimney.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard the condenser or tenon or filter, called that. Funny expression chimney, I usually think of an external smokestack. But I guess it acts the same.
It’s the word used by the old-time craftsmen. The story is in the big Peterson book.
Nice work Fletch and great pictures, thanks for sharing! And now I see another tool I need – a V-block drilling guide. ?
The Peterson chimney’s/tenon extensions/condensers I have seen, all have three vent holes (if they have them at all). I use a custom made dividing plate behind my chuck to get the 120 degree spacing and use my Dremmel in a custom QD tool holder to cross drill the three holes.
Well done, Sir!
Being not unclever with a toolbox, I’ll try it if one of my systems misses its chimney…
Absolutely love this!!
Fletch, you almost make me want to return to toolmaking/moldmaking. After years of not having access to lathes and Bridgeport machines, it’s great to see your work. Your step by step instructions with great photos are a pleasure to see. Another great job well done. Enjoy those great Peterson Briars.
Hello Fletch, It’s great to see yet another “Pete Geek” machinist at work in the restoration and fabrication of parts for a fine Peterson pipe! Nice work. So, I’ve just got to ask the question, where did you source the camel bone for the tenon extension (chimney in old speak) that you show in the last photograph? How did it machine? I know Paul Combs was working with beef bone in a past post for a tenon extension and I recall maybe the machining qualities were somewhat problematic, if I’m remembering the story correctly. Seems like the ranks of the… Read more »
Gary, I got the camel bone from a luthier supply shop online. The reason I chose it was because it comes in 0.5” round stock that’s ready to Chuck up in a lathe. It turns beautifully and threads very nicely. The lathe is a Cummins 5278 7”X12”. It’s a great little lathe for pipe work but needs quite a bit of tune up out of the box.
Fletch, thank you so much for the heads up on the camel bone, I know there are a few Pete Geek’s like myself that have already started sourcing the camel bone material to give it a try! For the sake of Peterson pipe history, I’ve got to give it a try! However, the aluminum tenon extensions are working very satisfactorily for me. I understand on the “tune up” comment about the lathe. I just finished getting a new lathe in the shop set up, and you are right, a bit of “tuning” was required, on a brand new machine. A… Read more »
Gary, I’m using brazed carbide. I also hone my carbide’s on an Arkansas stone. I would avoid HSS with bone, it has a tendency tear and chip if you don’t have a mirror polished tool.
Perfect! This is good information to know!
Mr. Hiner, First, beautiful work! Second, I am wanting to purchase 2 Peterson 4AB stems. One to replace a stem for a 309 and the other as a backup for my 4AB. Peterson said they could get me a couple, but they sent me the wrong stem and gave me my money back which I take to indicate that they cannot do it at this time. I was sent to you to see if you might be able to provide a couple. If so, please email me with the cost at paul@heberspringswater.com. Thank you!
I recently acquired an XL 339 Deluxe whose tenon is threaded for the smaller narrow tenon chimney but has no extension in it. It was not threaded for the larger chimney- I tried one from a 9s and no dice. Is there anyone who can make one of the narrow gauge versions that will fit mine? The tip of the tenon is convexed and not flat like my 4B or 9S etc… I’d be happy to send the pipe or stem to make my beautiful pipe whole again. Thanks in advance for this awesome article! Fletch did a beautiful job… Read more »