How To Prevent Rim Charring?

[JohnMosesBrowning]

I love my pipes and I hate that I char the rims. No matter how careful I am, lighter or matches, the draft, breeze, or wind always seems to push the flame and chars the edge of the rim nearest me.
All help, tips, pointers, advice, and commiserations are welcome and appreciated.

 

[donjgiles]

The key is to keep the bowl level and to keep the fire above the rim and use your drawl to suck the flame into the bowl.
Don

 

[mikethompson]

What Don said, plus, a little layer of saliva on the rim helps too.

 

[scloyd]

Don't touch the flame to the tobacco. Like Don said...hold the flame above the tobacco and draw the flame down.

 

[workman]

I use a zippo. A couple of times per bowl I'll wet a finger with saliva and rub the rim. That's all. My pipes look as new.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Avoid Thai food. That stuff will char a rim every time.

 

[jpmcwjr]

What all the guys said above.
I bet- I hope- that the rims are not actually charred, but coated only with lava/cake/carbon. That can be removed and a drop of mineral oil or a spot of wax will fix it right up.

 

[irishearl]

With your talk of breezes, it sounds like you smoke outside. I never have charring problems because I only smoke indoors and only use matches whose flame is easy to direct carefully.

 

[sablebrush52]

Spit on the rim, a soft flame, don't pack right up to the rim, etc can help mitigate the amount of rim char. Rims will still get a little dark over time, regardless.

 

[brooklynpiper]

Proper light source.
Don't pack the bowl so high I've heard.
Rim spit helps but is unnecessary (title of another book I'm writing)
Even when I have to smoke inside, I often light inside to not have to deal with the wind.

 

[timelord]

Avoid Thai food. That stuff will char a rim every time.

:rofl:
For lovers of Indian food Vindaloo's have a similar effect. My local Indian does a couple of special curries (one chicken and the other goat) which are way off the scale; they will tone them down if asked but even then they make a normal Vindaloo seem fairly tame (writing this is making me hungry!).

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

As the member Irishearl I'm smoking indoors /cars mainly and for the charring light I tend to use matches only,for the relights,depending on the width of the bowl I use either soft flame lighter or matches again,I'm noticing tall-narrower bowl rims tend to darken more

 

[condorlover1]

Do not use your pipe while engaged in pyroflatulence rituals and your rim will be just fine!! :rofl:

 

[ssjones]

don't pack right up to the rim

I remember Mike Glukler imploring pipe smokers to not overpack the bowl, guess he was tired of cleaning rims...

 

[mso489]

The finish on some pipes seem to do much better than others. Spit is what I've always heard, and sometimes do. Like baseball pitchers with a spit ball, you can do it in polite company without anyone noticing. I tolerate a little char as the sign of a well-loved pipe.

 

[alexnc]

Leave at least 1/8” from the top when you load, that will help.

 

[npod]

The key is to keep the bowl level and to keep the fire above the rim and use your drawl to suck the flame into the bowl.
Don

+1

 

[npod]

And remember, charring is bad. But a slight darkening over time is very natural, expected, and not a bad thing.

 

[brooklynpiper]

For those who do get a little restorations, are we bleaching?

 

[jpmcwjr]

No bleach, ever, on my briars. After scrubbing off the lava, drying, I apply a very slight bit of mineral oil, and it looks just right to me.