Pipe Cleaner Test?

[anotherbob]

This maybe a dumb question but I keep hearing about the pipe cleaner test with a pipe if a pipe cleaner goes straight through the stem and bowl easily. Are there really pipes that don't do that? Cause even my cheap 30 dollar or less pipes I've bought from a basket would take a pipe cleaner easily without removing the stem. Or is there something I am missing here?

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

Yes, there are indeed pipes that flunk.

 

[anotherbob]

I guess my pipe instinct has been good or I've gotten really lucky. Even my second pipe a 20 some dollar bent rusticated pipe would take a cleaner nice and easy with little fuss.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

::cough cough::: petersons ::cough cough::

 

[ashdigger]

I have a Ryan Alden Strawberry that won't pass a cleaner and it's a great smoker.
The myths and mysteries never cease to amaze me.
Science and Ending dumb myths advance one death at a time.

 

[cigrmaster]

I will not own a pipe that doesn't take a pipe cleaner and not just any pipe cleaner. It has to take a BJ Long Tapered fluffy cleaner. If I get a piece of tobacco stuck, I want to be able to clear it. Also in my experience all of my pipes that do take a cleaner smoke nice and dry.

I haven't bought a pipe that didn't take a cleaner in over 20 years.

 

[trubka2]

If I get a piece of tobacco stuck, I want to be able to clear it.

+1
For me, it's not really about whether pipes that don't pass a cleaner smoke well or not. I have a few bent pipes that don't pass a cleaner and are really good smokers. But I'm not going to knowingly buy any more of them. I don't mind detaching a stem from a hot pipe to clear a clog despite the taboo on that, but only if I'm not overly fond of the pipe. If you never, ever get a blocked airway, then I guess it really doesn't matter, and kudos on the flawless packing and tamping.

 

[panamacharlie]

I never understood what the big deal is about passing a cleaner. My Savs and Pete's don't by design, and I have other bents that won't. They all smoke just fine.

 

[luigi]

Some just don't, yeah. I'm ok with that when it's a filtered pipe so I can't reach a tobacco chamber during smokes anyway. A non filtered pipe should pass the cleaner. Buying online can be tricky.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

Buying online can be tricky.

If it is a deal breaker, ask the seller.

 

[warren]

I have to finagle a cleaner through a couple of full bent Pete's. But, they will all pass a cleaner.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I have one pipe, a BST, that presents a bit of a struggle to pass a pipe cleaner. It's a 3/4 bent so I cut it some slack and I don't smoke it that often. I'm with Harris, a piece of tobacco occasionally plugs the airway and is easily removed with a pipe cleaner. Obviously, this isn't a priority with some which is fine.

 

[npod]

I’ve sold off every pipe that wouldn’t pass a cleaner. It’s that important to me.

 

[anotherbob]

so this is another one of the many pipe things that is super important, except when it isn't.

 

[jpmcwjr]

You've got that right, Bob.

 

[lawdawg]

so this is another one of the many pipe things that is super important, except when it isn't.

I disagree. I think a pipe that can pass a cleaner is objectively better than a pipe that can't, even though some people seem to get by fine with pipes that can't. My reasoning is essentially based on what I would describe as the draft mechanics of the pipe. If the pipe can't pass a cleaner, then that means there is no straight path from the bowl to the end of the stem, and that winding path will result in turbulence and greater condensation, and a greater tendency towards a wet gurgly smoke.
I have a wood stove in my house, which I installed myself and burn all winter any time I'm at home. I learned all about wood stoves and how to install and maintain them from the forums on hearth.com. It's basically like this forum, but for wood stove fanatics rather than pipe and tobacco fanatics :: If you have an "offset" in your woodstove chimney (a bend to get around a joist / rafter / etc.) then you will likely find more creosote (buildup) at that offset because of the increased turbulence. I've found the same principal holds true in pipes. Pipes without a straight path from bowl to button tend to gurgle more easily and smoke wetter than pipes with a clear path that could pass a cleaner.

 

[mso489]

Some pipe makers and retailers readily admit that not all bent pipes pass pipe cleaners. A number of pipe smokers insist that by bending the end of the pipe cleaner a little, or some other adjustment, all their bent pipes will. I'm of the previous opinion. I'm always especially impressed when significantly bent pipes pass a pipe cleaner, like my elegant smooth bent Rhodesian by the Austrian pipe maker Kemberling, or my little econo-pipe from Nording, an Eriksen. But other good smokers don't pass a pipe cleaner. Usually with those, as long as the airway is open, I just pipe-cleaner the stem, and then I take off the stem and pipe clean each half as needed, which means not too often. All straight pipes or slightly bent pipes should pass a cleaner, unless their is a stinger or filter in there, which you should immediately ascertain when you buy a pipe. For the folks who can pipe cleaner any bent pipe they've ever handled, I commend them on their dexterity.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

My reasoning is essentially based on what I would describe as the draft mechanics of the pipe. If the pipe can't pass a cleaner, then that means there is no straight path from the bowl to the end of the stem, and that winding path will result in turbulence and greater condensation, and a greater tendency towards a wet gurgly smoke.

My experience is that the pipes I have owned that won’t pass a cleaner are no more or less likely to smoke gurgly or wet than ones that do. (Ones with draft holes drilled high have almost universally smoked wet for me.) I agree that not being able to get a pipe cleaner through to clear out a piece of lodged tobacco is a PITA, and for that reason I own no pipes that flunk.
BTW, Ser Jacopo uses a curved drilling technique on many of their shapes, and they by no means have a “straight path.” Everyone I have owned smoked dryer than a popcorn fart.

 

[lawdawg]

My experience is that the pipes I have owned that won’t pass a cleaner are no more or less likely to smoke gurgly or wet than ones that do. (Ones with draft holes drilled high have almost universally smoked wet for me.) I agree that not being able to get a pipe cleaner through to clear out a piece of lodged tobacco is a PITA, and for that reason I own no pipes that flunk.

The pipes I've had problems with all have had the draft hole drilled at the top of the mortise. I've not had any pipes that won't pass a cleaner, except for those drilled in this manner. I'm working with a relatively small sample size, as I have owned somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 briar pipes. If a pipe smokes good, then no reason to try to invent a reason to dislike it ::

BTW, Ser Jacopo uses a curved drilling technique on many of their shapes, and they by no means have a “straight path.” Everyone I have owned smoked dryer than a popcorn fart.

Replace "straight path" with "smooth path without sharp bends" and I think the goal will be accomplished - no spots in the pipe that would cause turbulence and condensation.
I am willing to admit that my "must pass a cleaner" viewpoint is not necessarily universally applicable to all pipes. the Jacopos sound great and finely-crafted!

 

[mso489]

My reasoning is that for a pipe cleaner to make it through many fully bent pipes or a full U-turn Oom-Paul,the wire in the pipe cleaner would have to bend in a "u" shape almost double. I can make a pipe cleaner do a lot of tricks, but in most cases not that. I don't have any gurgling problems with the bent pipes that don't take a pipe cleaner for me. I see them as two different issues.