Stanwell Majestic 85

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Spearl

Pipe is brand new and is being offered at a reputable online pipe and tobacco shop.

So, then...

Buying a bargain that doesn't speak to you (at any price) is wasted money.
Buying a bargain that calls to you can be a good thing.
Reputable dealer and new $50 Stanwell sounds good together.

Worst case is buy, inspect, hate it and send it back (you pay the postage - standard deal from good guys). Best case, it looks right, feels right and smokes like a champ for a buck per year, 50-years worth. Look for a well-situated airhole (bottom, dead center) and a good mortise-tenon fit*. For $50 maybe it has a few fills in it which has no bearing on the smoking. Baggie over the bit and try it out (carefully) for feel in the teeth. I'm not a Stanwell guy but I can't ever remember hearing someone saying they got a Stannie and it was rotten. Nope - never that.

* mortise/tenon fit is a predictor of gurgle factor. A gap may become a moisture trap during a smoke and start gurgling, which sucks. Following the "always clockwise remove-and-reinsert" twisting motion, carefully remove the stem (of a pipe you may buy) and gauge the depth of the mortise with a pipe cleaner; compare that depth to the length of the tenon. If there is much of a deviation you may have a gurgler in your hand. Little to no gap means a good smoker to me. Take a moment to study the airhole location - a pocket LED flashlight is good for that. Look for the airhole to be center and bottom in the smoking chamber; deviations can be a bad thing. While you're at it, check the diameter of the airhole through the shank (can you handle all these technical pipe words?) to be 4mm (11/64"); in- exhale through the stem and see if it whistles. Less than 4mm in the airhole and a whistling stem might mean a wet pipe. A drill bit in your fingers can usually correct these little deviations, if they exist, in about 2 minutes.

This footnote is at (or beyond) the limits of my expertise. Maybe someone brighter and better informed can confirm/deny this "check it out" methodology.