how were clay pipes made

How Clay Pipes are Made For crafting clay pipes, the clay is typically ground in a mill and mixed with water so that it provides a smooth, workable texture. A lump of clay is then rolled to form what will be the shank and stem, while a larger blob is shaped on one end for the bowl shape.

Full Answer

When was the first clay pipe invented?

A Short History Of Clay Pipes. Pipes of clay were first smoked in England after the introduction of tobacco from Virginia in the late 16th Century.

Where did clay pipe tobacco come from?

Pipes of clay were first smoked in England after the introduction of tobacco from Virginia in the late 16th Century.

What are clay pipes used for?

Today, the main market for clay pipes is for film and TV, reenactments, smokers and collectors. The traditional techniques for making a clay pipe were practised from the 1580s. Clays were prepared, and blanks or ‘dummies’ were rolled. A wire was inserted along the stem and the dummy was pressed in a pre-oiled, two-part mould.

Why are clay pipes out of fashion?

Designers from all over Europe depicted everything from daily farming habits to mythic gods on clay pipes. By the turn of the 20 th Century, clay pipes were once again out of fashion, due to the popularity of cigarettes and the introduction of briar pipes from Italy.

How is clay pipe made?

2:084:22Rex Key demonstrates how he make clay pipes - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThen you lift that up and slide it into the vise squeeze the two halves of them all together in theMoreThen you lift that up and slide it into the vise squeeze the two halves of them all together in the vise and that will squeeze the clay. Into the shape of the pipe. And you bring down the stopper.

Why were clay pipes so long?

The exceptionally long stems of the “churchwarden” clay pipes would keep the heat and smoke away from the face so the line of sight was not obstructed as they kept watch.

Do they still make clay pipes?

The pipe making industry flourished until the beginning of the 20th century when cigarettes became more popular than pipe smoking. As a result, the commercial production of clay pipes dwindled and ceased in the 1960's.

Why were clay pipes only used once?

The lifespan of clay pipes was relatively short throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, lasting only one to two years until they were discarded. (Hume, 1969). However, even after they broke and could no longer be used for tobacco consumption, there were alternative uses for pieces of clay pipe stems.

How can you tell how old a clay pipe is?

Clay pipe bowls can be dated with some certainty according to their shape, size and decoration, and with even more accuracy if they feature a maker's-mark on the 'heel', the protrusion under the bowl. The top pipe bowl above dates from 1640-60 while the one below is a fairly typical decorated one from 1780-1820.

Why do people smoke clay pipes?

Like the more expensive Meerschaum, clay is taken from the ground and considered a pure material because it has no natural smell or flavor of its own. Clay pipes are porous so they naturally filter tobacco smoke, absorb liquid and eliminate odors.

Who smoked clay pipes?

Clay smoking pipes were first used in Britain in the 16th century following the importation of tobacco from the Americas. Early pipes tend to have small bowls as tobacco was relatively expensive at the period.

How long do clay pipes last?

between 50-60 yearsClay pipes typically last between 50-60 years, while PVC pipes are expected to last 100 years before requiring replacement.

What years were clay sewer pipes used?

Clay. Clay is one of the oldest piping materials in the world and in some places, it's still used today. In the United States, it was the material of choice from the 1880s to the 1900s.

Can you smoke out of clay pipe?

YES, ceramic pipes are safe to smoke out of if the maker uses non-toxic, lead-free glazes and clay, fires their pieces at the appropriate temperature based on the types of clay and materials they are using, AND as long as the pipe or water pipe is glazed on the inside.

What tobacco did Sherlock Holmes smoke?

He had his cigarettes made for him by a London tobacconist and kept them in a metal case. His taste in cigars was definitely higher end, with his preference being Cubans. His pipe tobacco was a common black shag.

What kind of pipe did Sherlock Holmes smoke?

In the original chronicles, such as "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches", Sherlock Holmes is described as smoking a long-stemmed cherrywood, which he favored "when in a disputatious, rather than a meditative mood." Holmes smokes an old briar-root pipe on occasion, for example in The Sign of the Four, and an "unsavory" ...

How long are clay sewer pipes?

between 50-60 yearsClay pipes typically last between 50-60 years, while PVC pipes are expected to last 100 years before requiring replacement.

What year did they stop using clay sewer pipes?

Clay pipes started being phased out in the 1960s and 1970s when plastic sewer pipe options such as ABS and PVC were developed.

Why are there so many clay pipes?

3:3919:12The reason why there are so many clay pipes on the Thames ForeshoreYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd also more tobacco could then be fitted into the bowls pipes with long stems snapped easily andMoreAnd also more tobacco could then be fitted into the bowls pipes with long stems snapped easily and so they were often discarded shortly afterwards. So with the prolific amount of clay pipes.

When were clay pipes last used?

Over the next 250 years, almost every city and town and many villages had a clay pipe maker. The clay pipe industry peaked c. 1700, after which snuff-taking became more popular with the upper classes, but the production of clay pipes continued and peaked again in the early-nineteenth century.

Where were clay pipes made?

Until this time, only England, Holland and Germany were making clay pipes but by the 1840s, France had also become world leaders in the craft, and pipe makers also operated in America and Canada and a few other places.

Why are clay pipes important?

Clay pipes not only tell the story of smoking and its evolution , but also reflect social and cultural changes. As tobacco became cheaper, the pipe bowls became bigger and the fashion of the pipes changed over the decades. They are exceedingly valuable to archaeologists and cultural historians because the designs and styles of the pipes help to date other finds, as well as revealing moments in time in our social history.

How are tobacco pipes made?

The making of tobacco pipes from clay, historically by press moulding but more recently also by slip casting (see also wooden pipe making ).

What were Tudor moulds made of?

Tudor moulds were made of carved wood, but metals such as lead, brass, bronze and iron were subsequently used. In the nineteenth century, three- or four- part moulds were used for more complicated designs such as portrait pipes, and steam-powered presses were developed.

How many clay pipe makers are there in the UK?

However, some of these valuable people have passed away in the last few years and there are only three clay pipe makers left in the UK, none of whom are getting any younger and there is need for the craft to be taken up by younger people.

What is the market for clay pipes?

Today, the main market for clay pipes is for film and TV, reenactments, smokers and collectors.

Why do people use slip casting?

Today, due to the shortage of original tools many people use the slip-casting method in plaster moulds. The advantage of using modern materials is that you can make a wider variety of designs, whereas using original tools means you are limited to the design that was on the original mould.

When were clay pipes invented?

Beginning in the late 16th century, clay pipe making has been a long tradition in England, passed on from generation to generation. From the 17th century onwards, pipe makers used iron molds in order to produce their clay pipes. Historians were not exactly sure how the earliest clay pipes were produced in the late 16th century ...

When was the first clay pipe made?

Historians were not exactly sure how the earliest clay pipes were produced in the late 16th century until Mudlark Alan Place miraculously found the earliest known clay pipe mold in the River Thames in 2011. Based on the size and shape of the pipe carved into the mold, the Museum of London has dated it to AD 1580—1610.

How hot does a rex kiln have to be to fire clay pipes?

Step 8: Traditionally, Victorian pipe makers used a wood fired kiln made of bricks to fire the clay pipes at 900° C (1,650° F). To expedite and regulate the process, Rex uses a modern electric kiln which can fire over 1,000 pipes at one time. After the firing process, the pipes are complete and ready for use.

Where is Rex's pipe made?

In the summertime and for special occasions, Rex still demonstrates pipe making at the Broseley Clay Tobacco Pipe Works. If you want to find out more about clay pipe making and see an incredible array of clay pipe designs, I would highly recommend a visit to the museum in Broseley located west of Birmingham, England.

When did clay pipes stop being made?

As a result, the commercial production of clay pipes dwindled and ceased in the 1960’s. In Broseley, England where clay pipe production began in 1590, there is one man who is the only pipe maker in the world who still produces clay pipes using the traditional Victorian methods with original pipe molds from the 19th century.

Where did the brass token come from?

While beachcombing along the River Thames, a mudlark found a beautiful 17th century token with three clay pipes depicted on it (below). The brass token is possibly from a clay pipe making business located south of the River Thames in London. The pipe making industry flourished until the beginning of the 20th century when cigarettes became more ...

Where did clay pipes come from?

Clay pipes have a long history dating back to the Native Americans of pre-colonial North America. Simple clay tobacco pipes were introduced to the British when Sir Walter Raleigh began returning from his voyages to what we now call Virginia with tobacco from The New World.

Why are clay pipes out of fashion?

By the turn of the 20 th Century, clay pipes were once again out of fashion, due to the popularity of cigarettes and the introduction of briar pipes from Italy. The history of clay pipes might have ended here, but for the resurgence of tobacco enthusiasts in the 1970s.

Why is clay considered a pure material?

Like the more expensive Meerschaum, clay is taken from the ground and considered a pure material because it has no natural smell or flavor of its own. Clay pipes are porous so they naturally filter tobacco smoke, absorb liquid and eliminate odors.

What is on a clay pipe?

Almost every aspect of everyday life was celebrated on a clay pipe including: plants, animals, birds, Coats of Arms, Royal events, names of Inns, Masonic symbolism, sporting events, advertising, heads of celebrities and even characters from mythology.

When did clay pipes start to be used?

The habit spread quickly across the country and by the mid 17th Century the manufacture of clay pipes was a well established trade. By 1680-1700, when the industry reached a peak, almost every town and city in England had pipe makers. Millions were being produced not only for local use but also for export.

Why were clay pipes in low demand?

The beginning of the 20th Century was still a prosperous period; however, by the 1930’s clay pipes were in low demand once again due to changes in society, competition from the cigarette and World Wars.

Where were clay pipes first smoked?

A Short History of Clay Pipes, by Heather Coleman. Image Courtesy of Heather Coleman. Pipes of clay were first smoked in England after the introduction of tobacco from Virginia in the late 16th Century.

Why were pipe bowls increased?

The size of the pipe bowl was increased over the decades to keep up with fashion and to allow more tobacco to be consumed. Long pipes allowed a cooler smoke, but also broke more easily and so they were often thrown away on the spot after use.

Where did Hugh Scott find clay pipes?

Around the same time, an amateur archaeologist, Hugh Scott (entomologist, biogeographer, and then curator of the Museum of Zoology), moved into a new build in Millington Road. He found a large number of clay pipes and some clay wig curlers in his garden topsoil. The boys of Littleton House gave him further finds from a nearby large plot. This was a school for mentally disadvantaged boys which was supported by the scientific instrument maker, Horace Darwin. In all, 180 pipes, from 1.25 acres, formed Scott’s collection.

Why were pipe bowls made?

Because of the high price of tobacco, pipe bowls in the ‘early’ phase of smoking (1580-1660) were small and well-made. As the price of tobacco dropped, the bowls increased in size and quality deteriorated. In addition, the pipes developed large heavy stems and bowls. However, over time, manufacturing processes continued to improve while tobacco became cheaper. By the late 18th century, manufacturers were producing novelty bowls, complete with moulded designs of popular celebrities and politicians, commemorative events, and advertising wording. The artistic pipes reached their peak by the latter half of the 19th century. They then fell out of favour, being replaced by wooden pipes, cigarettes and cigars.

Where were pipes found?

A pipe much like number 7 was found in an old house in Crooked Lane, London , after the Great Fire of 1666. Pipes 8-10 show an enlargement of the bowl, which indicates a likely later date. Interestingly, the pronounced heel shapes of pipes 5 and 6 match those belonging to people who died of the plague in London in 1665, when smoking was much practised as a means of warding off infection. Some scholars suggest that these might be Dutch in origin. Certainly pipes attributed to the Dutch have been found in Cambridge.

What happened to pipes in Cambridge?

The people of Cambridge have thrown and dropped huge numbers of pipes into the Cam over the centuries. And, as the town was an important port until the arrival of the railways, the international shipping trade supplemented the supply. Many foreign pipes, particularly from Northern Europe, have found their way onto its muddy bottom.

Why were clay pipes made?

Clay pipes were made in diminishing numbers up to the First World War, when the trade entered a sharp decline, largely because of the popularity of cigarette smoking. A few clay pipes continued to be made just after the war, but since then they have been made either as curiosities of for specialist purposes. Churchwarden clay pipes, for example, were an essential part of certain chemistry experiments carried out in schools up to the 1960s.

What is the oldest clay pipe?

The oldest clay pipes found in Bingham date from 1620-1630 (32305, 41670). The bowl is slightly bulbous with an internal diameter a little less than 10 mm and there is a flat heel. The internal depth of the bowl is about one inch (25 mm). Some of the earliest pipe bowls have a milled ring around the rim, though there are others with a plain rim. The opening of the pipe bowl pointed forward, always making an angle to the stem. With time the size of the bowl increased and some were made with a pointed spur instead of a flat heel ( 27364 ). The spurred bowls tended to be less bulbous than those with flat heels (44193). These two forms co-existed.

How deep are bowls in the seventeenth century?

In the last quarter of the seventeenth century the bowls were becoming less bulbous and bowls were longer, some as deep as 36 mm (33887). The flat heel seems to have been phased out. A small heel is present is some (39919), though some pipes continued to be made with a broad, flattened spur (42614).

What was the shape of the bowls in the early eighteenth century?

In the first half of the eighteenth century the bulbous shape to the bowls disappeared and they became almost parallel sided (41646). The pipes were better made, thinner walled and more brittle. Heeled spurs were common (411864, 42599 ). The internal diameter at the rim is around 16 mm and internal depth 36 mm. The most significant change, however, is that by the middle of the century the rim of the bowl had become parallel to the pipe stem. Narrow, nearly pointed spurs are as common as broad, flattened spurs.

How many fragments of clay tobacco pipes were collected?

Over 5780 fragments of clay tobacco pipes were collected. They were identified and catalogued by Peter Hammond. In the text below find numbers of some examples are in brackets.

When was the first decorated pipe found?

The earliest decorated pipe found in Bingham dates from 1660 –1680 by which time the internal diameter of the bowl was 12 mm at the rim and the internal depth of the bowl had increased to 28 mm. The decorated pipe ( 44194) has a mulberry decoration on both sides of the bowl and the flat heal tapers backwards.

Who made the pipes?

Most of the identifiable fragments of pipes from the early part of the nineteenth century were made by William Turpin of Newark, but several other pipe makers were also recognised. Among them are:

What type of sewer pipe is used for underground?

Plastic sewer pipe for underground installations is available in both ABS and PVC. Both types of pipe have smooth interiors for an excellent carrying capacity of solid waste matter. The smooth exteriors also help resist (but not entirely prevent) root anchorage.

What is the name of the sewer pipe that is still in the ground?

In older properties built before the 1950s, you might find clay pipe, cast-iron pipe, or a fiber conduit pipe called Orangeburg. Clay and cast-iron are older types of sewer piping and can remain in the ground as long as they are still moving the waste with no leaks. Orangeburg sewer pipe is worth replacing if you have the ground opened up, even if the Orangeburg appears to be in good shape.

How strong is cast iron pipe?

One of the best things about cast iron pipe is that it is incredibly strong. A four-inch diameter sewer pipe can withstand well over two tons of pressure per linear foot. By contrast, clay, ABS, and PVC pipe are all subject to breakage. Cast-iron sewer pipe is heavy and difficult for a do-it-yourselfer to cut.

Is Orangeburg sewer pipe worth replacing?

Clay and cast-iron are older types of sewer piping and can remain in the ground as long as they are still moving the waste with no leaks. Orangeburg sewer pipe is worth replacing if you have the ground opened up, even if the Orangeburg appears to be in good shape. Even older homes might have newer plastic sewer pipe.

Is cast iron pipe flammable?

Cast iron pipe is non-flammable. This is not an issue for below-ground installations. But should you decide to continue the cast-iron into the house, you can feel secure knowing that cast-iron pipe will not melt in a fire. Cast-Iron Sewer Pipe.

Is cast iron pipe still used?

Cast-iron sewer pipe, like clay pipe, is associated with older homes, yet it is still installed today. One of the best things about cast iron pipe is that it is incredibly strong. A four-inch diameter sewer pipe can withstand well over two tons of pressure per linear foot. By contrast, clay, ABS, and PVC pipe are all subject to breakage.

Do homes have plastic sewer lines?

Homes built from the 1970s onwards tend to have plastic sewer pipe. In some rare instances, you may find older cast-iron or clay sewer lines at a new house . The new house (and even some remodeled houses) will often have new pipe installed within the house envelope itself and extending a few feet into the yard. The yard area is where the old sewer pipe will start up again and continue all the way to the city sewer main .

History

Techniques

• The traditional techniques for making a clay pipe were practised from the 1580s. Clays were prepared, and blanks or ‘dummies’ were rolled. A wire was inserted along the stem and the dummy was pressed in a pre-oiled, two-part mould. A stopper is then inserted to form the bowl and the wire pushed through into the bowl. The excess clay is trimmed off ...

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