Burned My New Peterson Calabash

[augustinus]

This is my first time posting on this forum. I have found it very helpful in the past and hope that the same is true for my current dilemma. I had ordered a Peterson Calabash Smooth Fishtail about a week ago and received it this morning. I've smoked two fills and noticed on the second fill there was discoloration, black charring, on the outside of the bowl. As I continued to smoke even further, I began to smell wood burning similar to what one would produce on a piece of wood with a belt sander. At this point I noted that the bowl was now charred on two sides. I emptied the bowl to assess the damage and yes, its burnt full through to the exterior.
Questions; I have always suspected that I smoked my piped too hot, constant drawing on it to maintain the embers. How shall I remedy this phenomenon? I ordered another Calabash, I wanted a small pipe for those times when I step out of the office or shoppe and want a "quick" smoke. I suppose that's why it's considered a ladies pipe, I've overdone it a bit. Lastly, is this pipe now beyond smoking? Will I forever smell that burnt wood odor?
Any feedback is appreciated, even if you want to break my chops, I deserve it.

 

[grouchydog]

Welcome to the forum - love the avatar!
Can you post a pic of the damage? I'm a newb, but it's still rather hard for me to believe you could burn out a non-defective pipe in 2 places after 2 bowls...

 

[conlejm]

Not sure what you are using to light this pipe, but it should not be a butane torch lighter (i.e a blue flame) like the kind used for lighting cigars. Those will burn clear through a briar pipe as they emit too hot a flame.

 

[fishingandpipes]

After two smokes? You could return to Peterson for a replacement I believe. I forget what their guarantee is but I do believe they guarantee against burnout for a certain period of time.

 

[augustinus]

Here are links to the pics. It's been a while since I've "broken in" a pipe. On the second bowl I filled to the top. I'd love some feedback. I suppose I ought to contact Peterson. I bought the pipe off of eBay, from a shop in the UK.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kgrooney/13889995250/in/set-72157644038921890/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kgrooney/14076582265/in/set-72157644038921890/

 

[eastwoodaudio]

Wow, that's a shame, it has some very nice grain on it, I love birdseye.

 

[mso489]

I've never seen anything quite like this, and I have broken in dozens of pipes including five Petersons of

various kinds. Suspect might be, as mentioned above, the lighter; as mentioned above, smoking in a strong

wind or fan; a flaw in the briar (which incidentally isn't suggested by the grain at all). Another possibility

which seems far-fetched but possible would be some kind of flammable residue in the bowl at just that

level. Most pipes would survive a fierce over-smoking for two bowls, although a new pipe is more vulnerable

than a pipe with some cake. If it were mine, I'd ship it back to Peterson and see what they can do for you.

If they don't feel the pipe was abused, they will likely replace it. Over time, this pipe will just deteriorate, so

you either mail it back to Peterson or go ahead and burn it up and write it off.

 

[metarzan]

Did you season the inside of the bowl with pipe sweetener, distilled water or your favorite whiskey before the first bowl? Did you start off with partial bowl and work your way up to a full bowl over several bowls? Did you pack the bowl really, really tight and smoke like a hoover? Was the bowl bare wood or pre-charred from the factory? I could see an unseasoned, raw wood bowl packed tightly to the top and smoked like a banshee possibly catching the briar on fire.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

That's some pretty significant damage. I would second the advice of notifying the folks at Peterson and seeing what comes of it. I've heard Tom Palmer and the folks at Peterson are typically really good about situations like that.
I just cleaned up a Peterson Calabash myself. I cleaned mine up for the same reason you got yours, shorter smokes. I've only had one bowl in it, but the bowl stayed pretty reasonably cool for me. I should note the one I got was an estate that was heavily used.
My guess is it's a combo of packing technique and puffing rhythm. I also think the advice of using a soft flame and not breaking it in in windy conditions is very good advice.
Hope things work out and you can get another one that you like and doesn't have this problem.

 

[virginiacob]

Do you tend to smoke your tobacco dry? Also, do you find yourself "puffing" more than "sipping" on your pipe? The reason I ask is that I had a customer who experienced a burn-out with one of my cob pipes. I tried to duplicate the problem he had without success, but the customer did inform me that he liked to smoke his tobacco dry and usually loaded the pipe the night before and smoked it the next day. The burn-out also occurred with him while smoking the pipe outside on a fairly windy day. The only thing I could think of that might have caused the burn-out was a combination of smoking the pipe outside on the windy day along with the dry tobacco that may have burned hotter than normal. The combination of which may have lead to the pipe bowl combusting and burning.
As others have said, I'd recommend that if you are able to get the pipe replaced, that you start out with a half bowl of tobacco and slowly work up to a full bowl in order to build up a cake coating which should help protect the wood from burning. Also, if you start to feel the bowl getting too hot to the touch, then you may need to slow down a bit and allow the pipe to cool (as a general rule, with briar and cob pipes, if I start feeling the bowl getting a bit too hot for me to comfortably hold in my hand, then I slow down my smoking technique and allow the bowl to cool down).
Burn-outs can certainly happen (and do on occasion) and can be attributed to either a possible flaw in the pipe or perhaps a possibly flawed smoking technique by the smoker. Most pipe manufacturers will do their best to try and satisfy their customers and I know Peterson is certainly one of the best so I would imagine they will certainly try and do right by you. As a general rule, if a customer has a problem with one of my Old Dominion cob pipes, I'm more than happy to immediately send them out a replacement but we do try and determine what may have caused the problem and if it proved to be a pipe flaw, then we can try and take steps to remedy the problem from re-occurring. I wouldn't be surprised if Peterson agrees to send you a replacement that they may request you to send them (or their designated agent/dealer) the damaged pipe so that they can examine it and try and diagnose the problem as well.

 

[settersbrace]

My thinking is kind of in line with Virginiacob but after seeing the pics I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around what might have gone wrong here. It just seems to me that in order to get that bowl hot enough to burn through, broke in or not, the inside of your mouth and tongue would be equally damaged. I've accidentally gotten my cobs going pretty good while outdoors on very windy days and even then didn't damage the bowl. I'd send it off to Peterson, something's very wrong there IMO.

 

[augustinus]

Thanks for all the advice and responses. I'll try to answer many of the question, for there seems to be a common thesis.

I always light my pipe with wooden SWAN matches. I tried the lighters, I ended up singeing the edges of the bowl. The tobacco I was using is Lane Limited 1Q bulk. It is more on the wetter side. I stored it in my garage in a mason jar. (virginiacob) I am a very strong "puffer" not a "sipper", I'll remember that. Did I burn my tongue or mouth? Not one bit, that's what was so confusing to me. I happened to grab the bowl and the bloody thing dang near scalded my fingers. I had no warning of burning tongue or any other signal. I was smoking it in my car waiting to pick up the kids from school. I literally just received the pipe today from the post. It was only five or six hours in my possession. It was not seasoned or "broken in," bare wood. I will admit, that I did not break it in in the proper fashion as I have been taught to do and as (metazoan) had properly described.
Again, thanks for all of your replies and advice, I really appreciate it. I've sent an email to Peterson with the photos and an invoice. I'm sure they'd rather have it back in Ireland rather than me shipping it back to the vendor in England.
Cheers,

 

[andrew]

Really breaking in a pipe is quite a subjective thing, there's many people who just stuff and puff and don't put much thought into it. If the pipe is getting that hot though you're definitely smoking too fast. There has been alot of talk of issues with peterson quality control lately, so I think contacting peterson is the right ally. Also to prevent scorching the rim of the bowl always lick your finger and coat the top of the bowl with saliva or water before lighting and you won't scorch the rim.

 

[augustinus]

UPDATE-Per the advice on this wonderful forum, I've contacted Peterson. They asked that I mail the pipe to them. Like I've mentioned already, it very well may be my bad. I'll keep all of you kind come apprised.

 

[pylorns]

Great, glad to hear they are going to take a look.

 

[msandoval858]

Wow 8O
I've often been guilty of puffing a bit much and getting my pipes pretty warm but I couldn't imagine how hot it would have to get to burn like that. I would honestly think that something with that briar had to be flawed to see that kind of damage in two smokes?

 

[pitchfork]

That is impressive. Wow. Burning tobacco couldn't possibly do that much damage after one or two smokes. Were you smoking match heads? Are you on the CIA's bad list?
Must be a flaw of some sort in the briar -- probably a big, gaping fissure that allowed the briar to smolder and burn. At least you didn't set your car on fire.

 

[apatim]

I, for one, look forward to learning the results. This is fascinating!

 

[dochudson]

how were you able to hold onto it and continue?
btw, you may want to break your photo's into groups as you gave the world access to your m-6 pictures and a picture of I'm guessing wife/gf/daughter.

 

[tuold]

Wow! I've never seen a bowl so scorched. As others have said, if you can't hold your pipe comfortably in your hand you should put it down for awhile until it cools off, then relight.