I smoked it :-) I'll fill the bottom with pipe mud and avoid Peterson in the future.
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I don't know what I'll do in the future; I don't want to avoid P&C but I may have to.
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I blame Peterson for drilling a poor draft hole, P&C for selling a flawed pipe and myself for not doing any due diligence with P&C. Live and learn I suppose!
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Sending back the Capri was easy enough, but I'll see how they handle this. If they make it good, I'll probably still use them. If not, screw 'em. They really need to fix all the errors on their web site.
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Aren't the same staff people working at P&C as before? If so, it would be nice to blame CI, but the problems would still be P&C's issues.

Bad hole drilled is a Peterson QC issue. Should P&C caught it? Possibly. Maybe you check such things regularly. But, if you get busy, can things get missed, especially if you do not expect such things from a company like Peterson?

P&C has been too good a company, for too long, to just write off.

Peace of The Lord be with you.
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Agree! I should have asked them to look at it, so it's really on me. Then I smoked it, so it's really, REALLY on me :-)

Rev, you are a true asset to these forums. Thank you so much for all of your help!
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In addition to Todd' comments, I myself have never had an order issue with P&C to date. However, if one ever does present itself, then a telephone call to the CS dept is in order to calmly resolve the issue. I've had a few issues in the past with other companies which were easily resolved over the telephone. So, moving along here...

Finished a restore on a recent unknown billiard from an *Bay win:

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It came out fairly good. The bowl received about four coats of Halcyon II (which had been recommended for sandblasted or rusticated type bowls). Around the third coat, I used my wifes hairdryer set to low heat which helped dissolve the Halcyon II and penetrate the briar. Applied quite a bit of elbow grease with a terry type cloth, and we be done. I can see where a buffing wheel or maybe a Dremel tool with a buffing wheel would come in handy in the future.

The only issue is a slightly loose stem. After cleaning the mortise and tenon, this apparently opened things up just a smidge. There is some resistance, but not enough to my satisfaction.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated on how to tighten-up the tenon /mortise issue. I hear that Beeswax is one way. Any others?

And yes, I know, I do have duct tape out in the garage, but...Ha!
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Here is the Gresham Giant estate I recently got off of Ebay. Apparently these are made by Comoy. I believe it is the Smooth Apple model. Needs a little work although structurally it looks pretty good (in my noob opinion). I scraped out the bowl and it's getting a salt bath now. The stem also may need to be replaced. After the salt bath is it ready to go after you get all the salt out or is there another step to clean it out?

Pretty happy with what I'm seeing for $11.
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Looks like a nice blast.

As for the loose stem, smoke it. When I have a loose stem, oftentimes just smoking a bowl will tighten up the stem. Hey, it is a very quick fix if it works. If you are afraid of it falling apart while smoking, a little scotch tape will hold it together till you are done.

If that doesn't work, then the beeswax is the next step.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

Todd
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My apologies. The red colored "you"s above were meant to apply to P&C, not to "you." I was meaning that working in the store when stock comes in can often mean you get distracted from one task by an immediate customer or something - then you come back and maybe pipe gets missed. Or, you (P&C or any other Sales Co.) expect quality product, the day is busy, you just stock the shelf without really looking.

Hey, I remember getting a pipe from an online store. It was a higher end pipe from a well-known, reputable store. Got the pipe and a cleaner would not pass through the stem. As it was a straight pipe, I tried to look through the pipe, couldn't see light through it. When all was said and done, we determined that all the drill shavings were still stuck in the stem. Smoked great when I got them out, but it passed QC at the manufacturer and the store.

Peace of the Lord be with you.
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My frustration is that it happened twice within a week.
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A little update: I don't know why I didn't notice it before but the emails regarding my issues with P&C come from "CI Fulfillment/ Cigars". At any rate, everything has been pretty easy; they even sent me paid return shipping labels. I think they already shipped my replacement, as well. I'm hopeful.
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Good deal!
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Thanks for the info Todd. May have to burn a couple of bowls:-)
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That is awesome. Sounds like they are looking to take care of you. Just sad the problems to start with. But like been stated before others have had some drill shavings. In fact worse yet is one was a gift and when they person that got it as a gift went to smoke it They seen it didn't want to draw. Took the Stem out and found out that the pipe hadn't been drilled out. They said because it was a gift they took it and drilled it out and smokes great now :-)

I am almost thinking that that pipe may have been a display to start with. Back in the day they would put blanks on display. They looked like the real deal but were not smoke-able. I don't know how long ago they stopped doing that because it was about 23 years ago when I wanted a pipe and the shop owner was like sorry i am out of that one right now. I said I will buy the display one. That was when he showed me that it was not a drilled pipe. May have been because it was in a High crime rate area too LOL. Or that was just the way it was I don't know.

Good to hear they are looking to take care of you. Maybe they will toss in some extra Tobacco for the trouble :-)

James
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With my luck it would be some horrid aromatic. :-)
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Out in the field today, and decided to stop by one of the oldest tobacconist in the Beverly Hills area before returning home. A couple of ounces of "Father Demsey" blend:

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You can find a review of "Father Demsey" here:

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/3809/kramers-pipe-and-tobacco-shop-father-dempsey

Its a cozy little shop on Santa Monica Blvd, and if you're in the area one of these fine days, you owe it to yourself to stop in and make a purchase, cuz they have a nice variety of everything. Including history and a few boxes of beetle bitten pre-embargo Cubans on display:

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Hey Mark, I just checked out their web site. It sounds like great place and a nice blend.
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Update: It seems that the pipe I ordered is out of stock. :-) They called me and asked if I had another choice. Fortunately, there was another one from that same line I wanted, so it's on its way. I also got my refund for the first pipe. Upon reflection, I think I'm gonna like this one better; it's a bit more understated.
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That's a really nice looking pipe! I like it a lot.
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