333. Gary Hamilton’s St. Patrick’s Day Tampers are Here!
10:41am CST / UTC-6 or GMT-6: The SPD Tampers have sold out. Many, many thanks to all the PGs for participating in this event. Mel Bud will begin sending out invoices Monday. Banner: All 42 SPD Tampers – Divided Into 7 “Groups” In anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day, CPG Gary Hamilton has been working long and hard on this special CPG event, a group of unique St. Patrick's Day tampers created for the Pete Geek community. He began thinking about it seriously not long after the Texas Pipe Show back in October. Not long afterwards, we began talking about the possibility of creating some Irish flag tampers for the 25th anniversary of the SPD pipes. He's been more-or-less in continual thought or work on the project ever since. Each tamper, he told me, takes about three hours from start to finish, so these are what I’d call artisan quality. You can read about how he makes them further below. If, like me, you're not a craftsman but find how things are made to be endlessly fascinating, you're in for a treat! This was one of the prototypes Gary brought to the Texas Pipe Show last October To expedite getting the SPD Tamper to you, Gary’s turned over the shipping to our favorite tech, Mel Bud. It took some considerable head-scratching to figure out how to do this, but of course, she’s not called Gigi around here for nothing (that’s Girl Genius). She’s got a Google Form for you to fill out if you decide you want one or more. Do familiarize yourself with the process before you fill out the form: The GROUPS with more than 5 tampers available have been divided into sub-groups (A, B, C). When all tampers in each sub-group have been sold, that subgroup will display This option is no longer available. Orders are time-stamped. You may want to include a 2nd choice in the Comments section, as everything is strictly first-come, first served. US price including first class shipping: $50 each. International price including USPS First-class Package International Service Shipping: $60 each. I will ship out the first batch on Wednesday, March 8th. If there are remaining tampers, they will be advertised in the March 12th post & shipped Wednesday, March 15th. Gary will bring remaining inventory and a few specials to the Chicago Pipe Show. Payment will be made through PayPal. Please watch for a PayPal request from Mark Irwin. Deadline for payment: Friday, March10, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. CST (GMT-6). Tampers not paid for by deadline will be released for sale on March 12th. Questions? Send email to petegeek1896@gmail.com. You must fill out this Google Form: TAMPER ORDER FORM THE ST. PATRICK'S DAY TAMPERS GROUP #1: 11 Total / Top Flag Design 100mm (4”) Tall – Tamper Head Diameter 12-13mm (1/2” approximate) The shank handle is European beech wood and the tamp head is Gabon Ebony wood, separated by an aluminum accent ring. The top set Tri-Color flag is laminated acrylic,…