Bare Wood Chambers on Brand New Pipes

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olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
Well, just had my second session with my no longer brand new churchwarden. I've a bit of an issue, though.
The christening was with Capstan Yellow ready rubbed, and I could taste a bit of the grassiness of the VAs. I fired the second bowl to-day with Blockade Runner, and... man, all I could taste was burnt wood. How long till the chamber gets primed and I can start tasting the actual tobacco? This experience is making me want to avoid uncoated chambers from now on.

 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,378
70,056
60
Vegas Baby!!!
I have artisan pipes with no coating and the first couple of bowls were a bit "woody".
Try some Prince Albert, since it cakes at near record speed.

 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
Won't an OTC ghost the pipe? I had intended this pipe to be dedicated to VA/VaPer blends. It is my understanding that VA/VaPers have a very subtle taste profile and can be easily overshadowed by stuff like latakia or aros.

 

cranseiron

Part of the Furniture Now
May 17, 2013
586
49
McHenry, MS
Yeah, it varies per pipe. I have a commissioned pipe that took forever to get past the new briar stage. It was worth the wait, though so give it some time. Like Ash said, change tobacco's.

 
May 9, 2018
1,687
86
Raleigh, NC
Honestly, I've ended up removing the coatings in my pipes that had it. I'd rather pop in some Carter Hall and let it slowly build that carbon layer. Not sure I've ever heard of something like CH ghosting a pipe, but if it did, you could always run PA through it to cleanse it a bit.

 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
Have no access to either OTC. What's in Lane's department that matches them? My local B&M carries bulk Lane's blends.
In my 'cellar' I've HGL, MV-1000, and... well, I have to ask which is the actual number for what the local shop sells as 'Commodore'. I've also BCA.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,348
Won't an OTC ghost the pipe?
Ghosting is blown out of proportion. Most ghosts can be cleared out with one or two smokes. Even a Lakeland can be killed with a lat bomb. If you had a good experience with Capstan in the pipe, finish breaking it in with that. :puffy:

 
Sep 18, 2015
3,253
41,957
I like to use Carter Hall for break in, Briar Fox is another good one but pretty much any straight Burley will work just fine. I would stay away from the heavily topped aro’s.

 

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
I also think ghosting is overrated. A light aro won't ruin your pipe. Even mild virginias will eliminate the ghost after a few bowls. I haven't had a lakeland blend yet, so I don't know about those. Lat ghosts are stubborn and for my palate unpleasant, so I try to avoid those, but a light aro ghost like vanilla or liquorice is no problem.

 
Jun 27, 2016
1,273
117
I started to avoid coated bowls, you never know what's hiding under there. Plus, I like the new briar flavor, & I've found some coatings to taste weird. If I get a pipe with a coating, I wipe it out with alcohol.

 

oldmansmoking

Part of the Furniture Now
May 13, 2017
587
65
UK
Hate the coating in new pipes. Bought a new Peterson K Briar the coating covered a poor drill into the chamber. Coating come of exposing it, thankfully carbon has covered the area.

All the pipes I have had that were coated tasted bad for 3 or 4 smokes.

Much prefer a bare wood chamber.

 
Jan 28, 2018
12,952
134,613
66
Sarasota, FL
I like to break in with Virginia blends. I think you can tell more about how neutral the pipe smokes with that genre than any other. And a Virginia won't ghost the pipe. Perhaps you're smoking a bit hot but it isn't totally unusual to taste a bit of wood on a new pipe.

 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
Yeah, I have a fast cadence. It doesn't help either that my Kiribi's flint died and the large flame of the Bic tends to char the rim (cobs) or the inner edge of the rim (this particular pipe). I'll just keep at it with Capstan, I guess.
I don't mind pre-carbs/coatings, as long as they're not an exaggeration like the one applied to the Nording Compass I recently got: man, it took like 60 swabbings with vodka for the Q-tip to come out grey instead of black!
Maybe I'll follow the pipe maker's (MacQueen) advice and apply some honey to the chamber. Not keen on coatings of my own, but maybe.

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
I've never met a bowl coating that didn't taste far more disgusting than bare wood. As far as the Lane question, try Lane Limited Ready-Rubbed. It is pretty spot-on as an old-school burley OTC. I love the stuff almost as much as Prince Albert.

 
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