Might be my last dumb questions
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When I sent my wife out to buy my 1st pipe (that's just how I roll), I gave her explicit instructions to get me a pipe that "looked kike a proper pipe" and a 3-in-1 tool because that's what I read you needed.
In the Top_End B&M my missus asked about pipe-cleaners and the staff remarked "No, you won't need those for a while yet..."
Just sayin'
In the Top_End B&M my missus asked about pipe-cleaners and the staff remarked "No, you won't need those for a while yet..."
Just sayin'
Pipe cleaners are my "excuse" to head to a B & M, no questions asked by the missus. 
Me: "I'm off to Goodfellas."
Wife: "Why?"
Me: "Pipe cleaners. I'm out."
Wife: "Oh, okay then."
Never question what works.
Simon
Me: "I'm off to Goodfellas."
Wife: "Why?"
Me: "Pipe cleaners. I'm out."
Wife: "Oh, okay then."
Never question what works.
Simon
i think lankford was mistaken when he said 1/4 inch of cake. 1/4" thick cake would reduce the chambers of my pipes' diameters by more than half. i think maybe he meant 1/4 centimeter?
as for breaking in a pipe - you can get a pouch of prince albert for that. i feel it will taste fine and get the pipe up to speed quickly.
as for breaking in a pipe - you can get a pouch of prince albert for that. i feel it will taste fine and get the pipe up to speed quickly.
Cleaning the bowl after every smoke is personal preference. Not required, but not bad if done gently. Be extra careful when cleaning a meerschaum bowl. It is easy to dig a hole in the bottom. I have done it and had to smoke a taped up pipe for many years until it just fell apart.
Anyone who would say you don't need pipe cleaners yet should lose their job. It is the first thing you buy along with your pipe. Proper pipe maintenance is crucial for enjoying your tobacco. Pipes that are dirty and in my opinion pipes that don't have the proper cake will not give you the best smoke possible. I know some people feel that building a nice cake isn't important, but in my experience my pipes smoke so much better with a dime to a nickles worth of cake in them. They smoke much cooler and therefore the tobacco tastes better, which is my ultimate goal, getting my blends to smoke as great as they can. I have found that my va flakes and vaper flakes build cake very quickly. My last new pipe had a nice cake going after only 15 or so bowls. It is smoking much cooler than it did when new thanks to the cake.
I still laugh at the whole cake game! You either smoke often and build it up or you don't. I simply clean my briars with a cleaner every few bowls and I use wine or brandy to dip the cleaners in before swabbing the bowls and stems.
Either way I have not ever considered this weird topic as important in smoking. After all, it's a pipe and it holds the baccy. I light the baccy and work on smoking it as I intend to do with or without many relights. When I clean I never scrape the bowl I just rub it around with the already dirty pipe cleaner (doubled up into a u shape) around the bowl and it get;s the loose stuff off that way. So I may be indeed building a cake as it is known but it not something I think about.
Besides, the guy asking is so new to smoking and yet no one has mentioned it takes MONTHS and YEARS to build a cake and unless you intend to smoke the same basket pipe for a year you should not worry about cake but worry about your technique.
Either way I have not ever considered this weird topic as important in smoking. After all, it's a pipe and it holds the baccy. I light the baccy and work on smoking it as I intend to do with or without many relights. When I clean I never scrape the bowl I just rub it around with the already dirty pipe cleaner (doubled up into a u shape) around the bowl and it get;s the loose stuff off that way. So I may be indeed building a cake as it is known but it not something I think about.
Besides, the guy asking is so new to smoking and yet no one has mentioned it takes MONTHS and YEARS to build a cake and unless you intend to smoke the same basket pipe for a year you should not worry about cake but worry about your technique.
John, I do the same thing when I am done smoking and my cake builds fairly quickly. I smoke va flakes and vaper flakes and in my experience those build cake much quicker than other blends. I bought a new pipe in the beginning of August and I smoke one bowl in it every 2-3 days. It has already developed a nice cake and it didn't take months or years. You may feel it is not important which is fine, I feel it is very important in protecting my pipes and in giving me a nice cool smoke. Different stokes for different folks I say, what ever works for each individual is all that counts.
kris, that is an old urban legend, cake does not build quicker doing that.
kris, that is an old urban legend, cake does not build quicker doing that.
Another thing we might want to bring up here -- what kind of tobacco you smoke makes a HUGE difference when it comes to building cake.
I break in my briars exclusively with Carter Hall. Why? Because it's neutral tasting, doesn't ghost and never fails to build a cake in a dozen or so bowls. The old OTC burlies are usually good for exorcising ghosts and such as well....
Anyhow, I'm sure everyone on here has a different way to go about breaking in a pipe. I've known guys to coat the bowl with honey, or smoke only heavy latakia blends, or to make it a point to fill the bowl only 10 percent for each 3.5 smokes or whatever.....The best thing is to experiment and find what works best for you (heck, it's half the fun). Remember that while your briar needs to be cleaned (pipe cleaners are your best friend), it's still a pretty rugged piece of wood that won't be easily damaged if you don't throw it off a cliff, run over it in a Mac truck, or smoke any Mixture 79.
I break in my briars exclusively with Carter Hall. Why? Because it's neutral tasting, doesn't ghost and never fails to build a cake in a dozen or so bowls. The old OTC burlies are usually good for exorcising ghosts and such as well....
Anyhow, I'm sure everyone on here has a different way to go about breaking in a pipe. I've known guys to coat the bowl with honey, or smoke only heavy latakia blends, or to make it a point to fill the bowl only 10 percent for each 3.5 smokes or whatever.....The best thing is to experiment and find what works best for you (heck, it's half the fun). Remember that while your briar needs to be cleaned (pipe cleaners are your best friend), it's still a pretty rugged piece of wood that won't be easily damaged if you don't throw it off a cliff, run over it in a Mac truck, or smoke any Mixture 79.
Cake is over rated .Clean the stem with several pipe cleaners until they no longer look grose . Take the cleanest one and fold it like a horse shoe . Brush out the bowl .Take your self a Brawney paper towel and cork screw it into the bowl useing a twisting motion .Throw all the used pipe cleaners and the nasty paper towel in the trash . The cake will end up being harder and about a year from now you might have to ream the bowl . But I doubt it . You may use alcohal on the pipe cleaners if you wish make sure it is the kind you like to drink . Some for you some for pipe and then some more for you .Try not to get any alcohal on the finish .Oh and you need to let the pipe cool off before you do all this . I heard about this guy who took the stem out of a freshly smoked pipe and well the rest is just too sad to tell .A clean pipe is a happy pipe ,and every man likes for his pipe to be cleaned right . :roll:
I was drawn to this thread expecting dumber than this. You disappoint me. :
:
You won't get a really noticeable amount of cake forming for at least 5-10 bowls in a new pipe.
You will know it when you see it, once it's dried, it actually gets quite hard (they don't put a blade on a pipe tool for nothing) and the chamber will appear rough and bumpy with the stuff.
You also don't have to worry too much about burning a briar (or pearwood, actually) chamber wall. It can handle quite a bit of heat. A cake layer is extra protection, but it does also change the flavor of your tobacco.
These are things I wish I knew when I started pipe smoking regularly last December.
but so long as you don't go at the chamber with the fury of an axe murderer or rodeo clown, a blade actually can help scrape the chamber wall down fairly smooth (I have tried that).
And I think there is a pipe cleaning method on Youtube designed around "saving money on pipe cleaners", that very well may have stolen Igloo's thinking on this one. ::
:You won't get a really noticeable amount of cake forming for at least 5-10 bowls in a new pipe.
You will know it when you see it, once it's dried, it actually gets quite hard (they don't put a blade on a pipe tool for nothing) and the chamber will appear rough and bumpy with the stuff.
You also don't have to worry too much about burning a briar (or pearwood, actually) chamber wall. It can handle quite a bit of heat. A cake layer is extra protection, but it does also change the flavor of your tobacco.
These are things I wish I knew when I started pipe smoking regularly last December.
It's more than normal, I'd say it's pretty much unavoidable.
Cleaning with high proof alcohol and salt is the best way (not because I've tried it, but because I've got faith in my knowledge of chemistry :
but so long as you don't go at the chamber with the fury of an axe murderer or rodeo clown, a blade actually can help scrape the chamber wall down fairly smooth (I have tried that).And I think there is a pipe cleaning method on Youtube designed around "saving money on pipe cleaners", that very well may have stolen Igloo's thinking on this one. :
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