I went and did it !

[Lostmason]

Good on you for not holding up a smoking device as something holy that ought not be tampered with. Some may say you ruined the value of an antique but IMO if a 100 year old antique is unable to do the job it was designed and built for, then it's a shame someone didn't throw it in the trash 99 years ago. Now you've got something that functions like it should, AND it's old AND it's cool! It just doesn't get any better than that. Now just be careful not to go and drop it on the concrete... which is something that would invariable happen to me...

I recalled where in a previous thread here or at that other place,you stated that you grabbed a hack saw anytime you got
a pipe with a stinger.( I could be wrong though) What put me over the edge was reading a book that Warren, @Pugsley , sent me
"In Search Of Pipe Dreams" by Rick Newcomb. In it he discusses how he purchases these high end pipes and has them drilled out
to what he believes is a perfect draw. He ask's the one question that we all have to decide at some point, just what type of
pipe collector are we. Am I looking for a pretty shelf piece, or am I looking for a good smoker? I aint rich enough for shelf art,
I want to smoke my pipes and it should be enjoyable. So I've been playing with the dremel for cleaning old cake, and I opened
up the draw on a Bruce Peters. And with a noticable improvement I decided I wanted to enjoy that "old" meer.Now I'a glad I did !

[Emperor Zurg]

I recalled where in a previous thread here or at that other place,you stated that you grabbed a hack saw anytime you got
a pipe with a stinger.

That probably wasn't me since I don't have many pipes but I've read that many times and I agree. I am totally not above modifying something just because it's expensive or old or unique. To me, some object that is too fancy to use it's just something to get in the way and eventually get broke after I've babysat the stupid thing and worried about it for years It would be different if it was a keepsake in memory of someone or of times past or whatnot and I couldn't fix it without great risk of destroying it; then, even if it didn't work, I'd probably hang on to it anyway.

[Pugsley]

I recalled where in a previous thread here or at that other place,you stated that you grabbed a hack saw anytime you got
a pipe with a stinger.( I could be wrong though) What put me over the edge was reading a book that Warren, @Pugsley , sent me
"In Search Of Pipe Dreams" by Rick Newcomb. In it he discusses how he purchases these high end pipes and has them drilled out
to what he believes is a perfect draw. He ask's the one question that we all have to decide at some point, just what type of
pipe collector are we. Am I looking for a pretty shelf piece, or am I looking for a good smoker? I aint rich enough for shelf art,
I want to smoke my pipes and it should be enjoyable. So I've been playing with the dremel for cleaning old cake, and I opened
up the draw on a Bruce Peters. And with a noticable improvement I decided I wanted to enjoy that "old" meer.Now I'a glad I did !

That book really opened my eyes too. Before I read it I felt it would be an insult to the artisan who created it to make alterations, but now I don't hesitate to drill it out or file the stem to make it more comfortable. I may have destroyed the resale value on some but I didn't buy them as investments, I bought them to smoke and enjoy.

[Lostmason]

That book really opened my eyes too. Before I read it I felt it would be an insult to the artisan who created it to make alterations, but now I don't hesitate to drill it out or file the stem to make it more comfortable. I may have destroyed the resale value on some but I didn't buy them as investments, I bought them to smoke and enjoy.

That is a really good read. I caught a few post mentioning it on other forums, and they weren't complimentary.
They try to paint Mr Newcomb as an elitist, but I caught where several places he stated that you could find
wonderful pipes for less money and that he has several machine made pipes that are great smokers. I did
think that A.Menedez who wrote the epilog, is a bit of an elitist. But it's not his book. I've decided that I'm
going to go thru all my pipes, and those that are a bit on the tough side will get some modifying.That Dunhill
definatly doesn't need it though. It smokes like a dream,kind of the standard I'm looking for in the rest.