Rossi 3 mm draw ?

[caa55]

Hello,
I'm used to Savinelli's and typically don't use the filter or the adapter so it's an open draw. I just purchased my first Rossi pipe and it looks like the draw is engineered for 3 mm all the way thru (shaft hole and stem - states 3 mm on box). Haven't smoked it yet but initially it seems restricted compared to what I'm used to. (Hoping it turns out to be fine when actually smoked).
Guess it'll boil down to personal preference but I'm curious if most find a 3 mm draw too narrow or 'just right'?
thanks.

 

[aldecaker]

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool 5/32" guy, which is approximately 4 mm. My sole Savinelli always gets smoked with the balsa filter, but for unfiltered pipes, if they're tighter than 5/32, I open them up. MM cobs are way bigger than that, of course, but if I use an aftermarket stem, I funnel them and open them up with a 5/32" tapered drill bit. That size is just what I've developed a preference for after a lot of trial and error.

 

[brudnod]

I have 4 and 5 mm drill bits. Some pipes just need to be drilled out from gunk that has accumulated but there are a few pipes that need opening up just because the draw is too tight. Never having measured them, can't say what the diameter is but obviously less than 4 mm. With time you find your sweet spot for draw keeping in mind that Poiseuille's Law states that the resistance to flow of a viscous substance like pipe smoke is indirectly related to the fourth power of the radius and proportional to the length. Meaning that the tighter the diameter the much greater the resistance AND the longer the length the greater the resistance. Which is why a Churchwarden seems to have a more restricted draw than a shorty.

 

[agnosticpipe]

I just checked my Rossi Otranto against my Savinelli Punto Oro, both filterless pipes, and found the stem bore to be 9/64 for both, and shank bore to be the same on the Rossi, but the Sav shank bore is 5/32. Sorry, I don't have metric drill bits, but I believe 9/64 is a just little more than 3mm. Either way both pipes are excellent smokers and the draw is fine for me. I will enlarge any pipe I get to at least 9/64 if not 5/32.
I think Rossi pipes are a great value for the money. Their shapes are like the Savinelli line, and most of them come filterless too, which is a plus for me.

 

[bigpond]

Smoke it and keep an open mind. You can always open it up afterward. Most of my pipes from the "golden age" sit around 3.1mm.

 

[caa55]

Thanks for the info.
First smoke wasn't so great; felt restricted. I then worked on it by running several pipe cleaners thru it and poking around hole with a tamping tool (the 'tooth pick') and it seems to have freed up a bit. I'll use it a while longer and see if I think I need to open it up.
Regarding enlarging the draw hole, do you use a power drilling tool or a hand tool? Also, do you attempt to open the stem any on either end ?
thanks.

 

[fitzy]

For me 4mm is the bottom end of the sweet spot. Any smaller and the draw is way too tight.

 

[aldecaker]

I think member Stanlaurel had made a link of my description of the way I do mine. If you get with him he can probably forward it to you.

 

[stanlaurel]

Here is that thread.

 

[aldecaker]

I just PM'd you, Stanlaurel. Disregard! You beat me to it.

 

[brudnod]

Bigpond, I am officially impressed. You have honed down the precision from mm to micron!