DIY Condenser

PSA

I’m hoping next Sunday’s post will reveal photos and ordering details of the PPN Pipe of the Year as well as its matching Sterling Armor Zippo.

Sherlock Holmes “To the Victor” PPN T Shirts went out Friday, Saturday and the remainder tomorrow.

 

SAINT PÁDRAIG, CHARLES PETERSON, AND THE SYSTEM SPIGOT PIPE

by Gary Hamilton

Upon reading the title of this story, I’m sure that you are scratching your head and contemplating what does Saint Pádraig have to do with Charles Peterson, and a System Spigot pipe. Follow along as I make the connection, or at the very least, entertain you with some thought-provoking discussion for the Thinking Man.

As a reader of Peterson Pipe Notes, you are most likely an aficionado and collector of Peterson pipes. And like myself, you probably dabble in learning about all things “Ireland.” Especially if it has to do with pipe smoking. No, as best I can tell from the historical literature, Saint Pádraig was not a pipe smoker. But what we do know is that Saint Pádraig, a 5th century Christian missionary, is celebrated on his feast day each 17th day of March.

Also known as the patron saint of Ireland, or the “Apostle of Ireland,” Saint Pádraig is most widely recognized for his efforts in bringing Christianity to a pagan Ireland. As with all historical figures, there are usually legends that accompany their mention, and Saint Pádraig is no exception. The two legends that you may be most familiar with concern shamrocks and snakes. We will focus on the shamrocks, and leave the snakes for another time.

The image of Saint Pádraig is often depicted in works of stained-glass, or in icon images, holding a cross in one hand and a shamrock in the other. Legend has it that Saint Pádraig used the shamrock to teach the pagan society about Christianity and the Holy Trinity Doctrine. The shamrock, with its three leaves connected to a central stalk, was used by Saint Pádraig as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, representing God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In botanical terms, the shamrock is known as a trifolium, or trefoile type plant.

Somewhat similar in shape, and pre-dating Saint Pádraig’s legendary use of the shamrock, is the shape of the triquetra. In Latin, triquetra is a derivitive of the adjective triquetrus, meaning three- cornered. Many of you may recognize the shape as that of the Trinity knot, which is used to represent the Holy Trinity, much like Saint Pádraig’s use of the shamrock, as legend has it. It seems that an underlying theme of this story line is being connected in multiples of three. But what about Charles Peterson and the System Spigot pipe?

Just as Saint Pádraig is acknowledged as the Apostle of Ireland, perhaps we might consider Charles Peterson to be the “Apostle of Irish Pipe Making.” During the Victorian era, the firm of Kapp & Peterson won worldwide acclaim for their patented pipe, a pipe that smoked cool and dry. The success of the pipe is founded on the patented designs of Charles Peterson. During the last decade of the Victorian era, Charles Peterson was granted patents on three different, yet very significant design aspects, that when combined, yielded the award winning Peterson’s Patent Pipe. As pipe smokers today, we simply know it as the System pipe.

But what exactly are the patents that made Peterson’s pipe so special? Many long-time enthusiasts of the K&P marque can most likely recite all of the details from memory. For those that have just recently become acquainted with the System pipe, the following is a brief review of the patented designs that make a System pipe, a “System” pipe.

First Patent – August 8, 1890 – Patent Number 12393

This patent covers the principle elements of the design.

• A graduated bore stem, whose bore is 5 times larger at the tenon end, than the mouthpiece.
• A reservoir, or sump, drilled below the mortise in the shank of the pipe bowl.
• A cylindrical extension, below the stem’s tenon that passes below the draft hole and into the top of the sump.

 

Second Patent – May 7, 1894 – Patent Number 9059

The second patent is the beginning of what will eventually become the P-Lip mouthpiece.

• The orifice of the mouthpiece is moved from the end of the bit to a position that is angled to be placed slightly nearer the top of the bit.

 

Third Patent – September 3, 1898 – Patent Number 18827

The third patent further refined the mouthpiece. The result is what we know as the P-Lip, or Peterson Lip.

• The refinement in shape included a lower shelf area to tuck the tongue into.
• A refined overall shape, greatly enhancing the ability to “clench” the pipe in one’s mouth.
• The draft hole orifice positioned to direct the smoke to the palate of the mouth.

Charles Peterson, the Apostle of Irish Pipe Making, certainly had his own trinity of patented pipe design accomplishments. Similar to the legend of Saint Pádraig and the use of the shamrock, I present for your consideration, the illustration of “The Peterson System Knot.”  Contained within the Peterson System Knot are all of the required patent elements, tied together, that define what a System pipe is, and should be. I find it very intriguing how the shape of the bowl fits perfectly into the curvature of the triquetra shape. Coincidence? I’ll leave that for the reader to contemplate.

Now, getting around to that System Spigot pipe, is it truly a System pipe? The reservoir sump is present, as is the P-Lip and graduated bore of the stem. However, below the spigot mount of the stem we find no presence of the cylindrical extension of the tenon as described in the patent documents of 1890.

In Peterson Pipe Notes #358, Mark has documented some classic misconceptions regarding the Peterson System pipe. The missive is titled “Categorical System Mistakes,” and the content ties in perfectly here. Consider for example that a System pipe without a P-Lip is not a System pipe. As Mark further describes, such pipes are “neither fish nor fowl” but just plain foul.

I believe that a similar argument can be made for the so-called System Spigot pipe. Close examination of the spigot stem reveals the absence of the all-important extension, or condenser, a required patent design element of a System pipe. While outwardly beautiful, the spigot stem is categorically out of place when being considered a component of a System pipe, unless it has been fitted with an appropriate extension.

For historical context, as Mark points out in Peterson Pipe Notes No.#270, the Spigot pipe dates back to the Kapp & Peterson catalog of 1906, and were considered a non-System line of pipes in that era. Over time, the spigot pipes evolved into what would eventually be known as the Classic Range in the Peterson catalog. But how did the current System Spigot pipe come to be? My intuition favors a concept of outward beauty versus internal function. There is no denying that the sterling spigot stem, when mounted to a sterling capped pipe shank, is a work of art. And so much the better if the bowl is from the System line. So, is the existence of the current System Spigot simply a case of artistic form winning out over functionality of the patent designs? I will let the Thinking Man come to his or her own conclusions on the matter.

Which brings us to this point in the story where once again we find inveterate pipeman Chas. Mundungus musing about a particular pipe, a very nice 307 System Spigot. The substance of the conversation revolves around how could such a wonderful looking pipe, also be such a poor smoking pipe? All the usual suspects were considered as to explaining the less than desirable smoking performance, with no definitive conclusion ever reached. Then the “Ah-Ha” moment of contemplation revealed itself through the fragrant smoke from a nice Virginia flake tobacco. The spigot stem does not have a functional tenon extension, or in this case, a condenser. Of course, that must be it exclaimed Mundungus! But can the situation be remedied?

Join me for another workshop adventure to see what can be done to fit a proper patent design condenser to the spigot stem of this venerable 307 System bowl.

Another Workshop Adventure
with your host
Gary Hamilton CPG

The initial concern to fitting a condenser to this spigot tenon is determining if there is enough material there to work with.

A quick check indicates about 8mm’s of vulcanite to work with, and that should be satisfactory.

I wanted to get a quick measurement of the draft hole diameter through the stem’s tenon. For this I typically use drill bits to find the one that has that “just right” fit. Not to lose, not too tight. And this draft hole measured right at the expected 4 mm diameter. However, an unexpected irregularity was noticed in determining the diameter.

As revealed by the drill bit (you can see from the photo above), the center line axis of the draft hole is not on centerline with the axis of the stem. I could explain in great detail how this happens during the manufacturing process, but in the end, it won’t change anything we are going to do here. And besides, smoke traveling through a draft hole has no concerns if it’s not on a centerline axis with the stem.

With a healthy dose of vinyl tape tightly wrapped around the stem to protect it, the assembly is now ready to clamp for the drilling process.

The plan for this spigot stem is to drill a 6mm diameter counterbore into the end of the tenon. This will leave 1mm per side of vulcanite remaining at the very end of the spigot mounting, and will allow for the 4mm draft hole diameter to be continued through the condenser body. The spigot mount will provide support to the vulcanite at the small end, but I wouldn’t advise anything less than 1mm per side for this modification.

Using a specially designed clamp on the compound rest of the lathe, the stem is lightly secured in place. The next step is to get everything lined up and centered in both horizontal and vertical planes of the stem’s body. This is probably the most crucial of all the steps. Because if you get it wrong, the result will be similar to what you observed a couple of photos back. And a condenser misaligned to the stem just looks pitiful.

Using an 8mm diameter gauge pin, held in the collet chuck on the lathe’s spindle, the alignment process begins. Starting in the vertical plane, the uniquely designed “V” jaws of the clamp can be moved up or down for alignment. The “V” jaws can also be rotated for fine tuning the axial alignment in both planes.

Seen here, a view looking down on the horizontal plane for alignment to the centerline axis. It is usually an iterative process, adjusting back and forth between vertical and horizontal to get proper alignment.

A 6mm diameter center cutting end mill is installed in the collet chuck, and a depth mark is made for how deep to drill the counterbore hole. In this case, it is about 8mm in depth.

After making the requisite adjustments, alignment is achieved, and the “V” jaws are fully tightened to secure the stem for drilling. A second alignment check is made, just to ensure that nothing has shifted during the final tightening.

 

A 6mm diameter center cutting end mill is installed in the collet chuck, and a depth mark is made for how deep to drill the counterbore hole. In this case, it is about 8mm in depth.

 

Drilling to the required depth with a slow feed rate of the cutter into the vulcanite. The cutter speed was set at aproxiamtley 800 RPM. The cutter was peridically retracted from the counterbore hole to clean out the swarf.

 

With some caution, and silent conversation with Charles Peterson, the drilling of the counterbore is complete.

Now we have the receptacle in which to fit the condenser. As I’ve done in the past on some of these modifications, this condenser will be a slip, or friction fit design.

The next order of operation will be machining the condenser body.

 

The process of machining the condenser body is the same process as I have written about previously in posts #322 and #397, so I would like to refer the reader to those postings for more “step by step” insight as to the process of machining the condenser body.

For this particular story, the lesson that I wanted to share is the concept of “work holding” and proper alignment. One of the most tedious jobs of a machinist is determing the best way to securely hold the workpiece for machining, and getting the alignment correct.

Sometimes, due to the shape of the work, the first task is making a fit for purpose jig or fixture to hold the work. The actual drilling of this stem took less than a minute, it took an hour to get it all set up to drill.

 

The finished condenser really compliments the overall look of the spigot style stem. We now have an actual System Spigot pipe, honoring all three of the patent design components that Charles Peterson envisioned so many years ago.

But what about the function? The last time I saw Chas. Mundungus he was smoking this pipe. Well, let’s just say he was all smiles.

Many thanks to Kapp & Peterson
for the educational use
of their archival materials

 

 

The 2024 Tolkien Challenge continues–
final deadline is not until All Hallow’s Eve, October 30th.
See Post #422 for details on entering for your CPG or Merit Badge.

Eric B., CPG.  For the Hobbit Day Challenge, I made the hard call to only use pipes from my rather small Peterson collection.  While it will limit options, its been fun to think about which pipe best fits each character.

For Thorin Oakenshield I chose a 2013 SPD XL90 I bought as an estate and attempted to restore.  I learned the hard way that Fiebing’s light brown is not a good substitute for a walnut stain.  However, the pipe goes well with Thorin: he’s a king without a kingdom, so ‘shabby chic’ fits him.

 

We know Bilbo was smoking a long wooden pipe when Gandalf first approached him and the last picture in The Hobbit shows him with a churchwarden; however, those are impractical pipes for a journey.  Also, he ran out his door without even a pocket handkerchief, let alone a pipe and tobacco.  Gandalf later brought these items to him.  I’m choosing to believe Gandalf would have chosen a practical pipe (that would fit in a pocket as referenced when he was lost and alone in the Goblins’ tunnels).  I also imagine Bilbo having nice pipes, so a smooth Cara 120 with would match my image of Bilbo.  Finally, this is a pipe I can picture Tolkien himself smoking.

 

Aragorn is described by Gandalf ‘as the greatest traveler and huntsman of this age of the world’ (LOTR p58).  He would need a rugged pipe, and System pipes are as rugged as they come.  I chose the pipe that I gave to one of my sons before his first deployment.  This System 302 has been through the Northwest Passage in a cruise around North America and around the world, even to the North Pole.  It’s a well-traveled pipe; that makes it a good fit for a Ranger.

 

We know in The Hobbit that Gandalf was smoking a short clay pipe (H p13).  A cutty would be a great choice but since I don’t have one, I chose my first Pete for him, an Irish Army 86.  It’s light weight and can be broken down while still hot; a good choice for a wizard who is constantly on the move.

 

In the sake of brevity I will put Peregrin Took, Gimli son of Gloin and Meriadoc Brandybuck together.  Pippin seemed devoted to his pipes, so much so that he carried a spare with him on the journey.  I picture him with the 2022 POY/14B/ Twain System.  I imagine this 999 Rusticated Aran as the pipe he gifted to Gimli at the gates of Isengard (it was described as having a wide, flattened bowl- LOTR p563): a good pipe for a dwarf.  Finally, this last pipe has the distinction of being a gift purchased for me by my son in Dublin at the Grafton Street store on one of his journeys: a brandy for a Brandybuck.

 

 

About the Banner

Seen in the background of this week’s banner is another must for your next Peterson Pilgrimage to Ireland: the pilgrimage walk up “the Reek,” Croag Patrick, Ireland’s holy mountain.