I purchased an estate pipe a few months ago and I’ve never gotten it to taste right, with 10 or so bowls of varying tobaccos. I’ve since determined that my problem likely rests within the mortise. It’s black as coal and smells like burnt rubber/tar. I don’t know if it’s actually charred, or simply infused with unsavory leftovers from hard smoking. There’s no measurable buildup of material in there, it’s still smooth and seems to be almost the original inside diameter.. it’s just pitch black and smells/tastes awful.
My thought is to buy a set of shank brushes and dip them in Everclear and repeatedly scrub and let dry and repeat a few times. Does this sound like a logical first step, or is there a better method for cleaning mortises? Also, if it is indeed charred, I wonder if I’d be ok to lightly sand that top layer away? It’s a Peterson Spigot, I’m assuming a half a millimeter of material gone inside the mortise would still fit ok since the stem is a tapered friction fit, and it looks like it contacts the silver cap on the shank and not the inside of the mortise itself. Thanks!
My thought is to buy a set of shank brushes and dip them in Everclear and repeatedly scrub and let dry and repeat a few times. Does this sound like a logical first step, or is there a better method for cleaning mortises? Also, if it is indeed charred, I wonder if I’d be ok to lightly sand that top layer away? It’s a Peterson Spigot, I’m assuming a half a millimeter of material gone inside the mortise would still fit ok since the stem is a tapered friction fit, and it looks like it contacts the silver cap on the shank and not the inside of the mortise itself. Thanks!