Be Sure And Check That Shank

irish · Dec 17, 2013

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have always thought I did a pretty good job cleaning estate pipes. I always ream the bowl, usually either do a salt treatment or retort job, give the stem a Oxy clean bath and an everclear cleaning. Today I was cleaning a Sasieni Four Dot, a pretty old pipe I picked up quite a while back in a Antique store. I had already done the above mentioned and have smoked it some but not a lot. Well after Kashmir and a couple others told me to be sure and clean the shank on a recent Comoy I bought I thought I would check out the shank on this Sasieni. All I can say is "Damn"!! It took me 45 mins and using a ton of Qtips, a pack of pipe cleaners and I don't know how many shank brushes. The bowl and stem were spotless but the shank had enough cake built up in it to smoke a bowl. It was disgusting to say the least. So for you new guys and gals that might have been like me , and maybe even a few of you vets, thinking just retorting and cleaning the bowl and stem was good enough, please "Be sure and Check that Shank"!! :puffpipe:

kashmir · Dec 17, 2013

The stem's tenon on most pipes does not occupy the full volume of the mortise in the shank. The unoccupied area between the end of the tenon and the back wall of the mortise is called the plenum. A little known term. The plenum rapidly fills with filth after only a handful of smokes. After decades of use the plenum becomes a veritable stink hole - the armpit of Satan. A dirty plenum will stink your smoke. It is a,pipe destroyer. I can not emphasize enough how important it is to keep a clean pipe. I spend a lot of my free time reading about WWII. Over and over I come across the directive to soldiers to keep their weapons clean. In mud, sand, sea water - the most important chore of an infantryman was to keep his weapon in tip top shape. Clean, lubricated and free of obstructions. So it is with our pipes. Nothing is more important than pipe hygiene, if you are to maximize a pipe's full potential. No other part of a pipe's anatomy is as important as the plenum. Keep it clean!

murf · Dec 17, 2013

I thought I did a good job cleaning out my grandfather's old pipe. I better go check again, just to make sure...

teufelhund · Dec 17, 2013

Funny you should mention weapon maintenance Kashmir; I've used bore brushes to clean pipe shanks before. A bristly .22 is just about perfect.

kashmir · Dec 17, 2013

The plenum really represents an interesting conundrum in pipe lore. It can be measured easy enough by measuring the tenon length, then the mortise depth. A subtraction yields the "plenum value". Usually measured in mm or fractions thereof. Some small plenum value is accepted to account for contraction and expansion, due to temperature and humidity fluctuations. Although I've heard various pipe artisans claiming a zero plenum value. That is, the tenon hits the back wall of the mortise, with no gap. But most, nearly all, pipes have a gap. And this attracts filth like a magnet does iron shavings. Q-tips dipped in high proof alcohol are the best tool. You go through a bunch. Alternatively, nylon shank brushes dipped in alcohol do a commendable job. Get out a pile of paper towels to mop up the mess. Sine pipe brands are better than others. Also, within a brand there are great differences. For instance, Comoy Traditions have a negligible plenum. Easy to clean. Whereas Comoy Grand Slams possess a plenum large enough to park a Cadillac, due to the cavernous void left by the absence of their stingers. These require a maid service to keep clean.

woodsroad · Dec 17, 2013

Funny you should mention weapon maintenance Kashmir; I've used bore brushes to clean pipe shanks before. A bristly .22...

Me too.
I cleaned several estates today, and the shanks on all of them were plugged with crap, as usual. I fill the bowl part-way with hot ethanol, and run a bronze bore brush on a pistol-sized cleaning rod in and out of the shank, all the while tipping the stummel back and forth to keep flushing the shank. Finish up with a bore mop, which is essentially an industrial-strength pipe cleaner.
Also:

Bristle Pipe Cleaners

Super-Duty Q-Tips

irish · Dec 17, 2013

That is funny , I started cleaning several other estates I got and ended up using several bore brushes on a pistol cleaning rod and finished up with bore mops !! :puffpipe:

woodsroad · Dec 18, 2013

Ha!

Did you try some Hoppe's or Ed's Red on the shank?

irish · Dec 18, 2013

Shooters Choice and Sweets !!

tamer291 · Dec 18, 2013

I recently cleaned a couple of estate pipes. I was amazed at how nasty the shanks were too. If anything it made me pay attention to my cleaning habits on my own pipes.

allan · Dec 18, 2013

Kash
This explanation of the 'plenum' (I didn't realize it existed) was excellent. The past Sunday I used some q tips to clean that area with everclear after the wire brush and was amazed at the gunk coming out. Clean pipe, happy pipe.
Thank you for all of your postings.

northernneil · Dec 18, 2013

I find Brigham Estate pipes to have notoriously filthy plenum's due to their filters. When I was cleaning out my Dad's old Brigham, I spent more time cleaning the shank than any other part of the pipe. It just seamed the pipe cleaners kept coming out dirty!

kashmir · Dec 18, 2013

Yeah, I'm often surprised how foul the shank is among the various estates I pick up. The chamber will be nicely reamed and clean, no tar pit there; the stem glossy and clean; the outside buffed shiny; but the shank ... more specifically the plenum ... is a stink hole - a veritable cesspool of of vile resinous fermented dottle sap. It is by far the ugliest thing under the sun. I half expect small vermin like black mites to be nesting in there, spewing their poisons and reeking my smoak. It is the home of ghosts.

woodsroad · Dec 18, 2013

a veritable cesspool of of vile resinous fermented dottle sap

I have to remember that one for the next time I get really mad at someone.

pruss · Dec 18, 2013

I get after the shank with a bronze bore brush and 99% iso; before I move to the airway with a nylon shank brush with 99% iso. After which I hit the shank and airway with bristle cleaners and iso until cleaners run clean. This is a great "watch a movie while doing" activity. It made the recent remake of Judge Dredd watchable... as most of the time I was looking down the barrel of a pipe shank.
-- Pat

captainsousie · Dec 18, 2013

Yeah, I'm often surprised how foul the shank is among the various estates I pick up. The chamber will be nicely reamed and clean, no tar pit there; the stem glossy and clean; the outside buffed shiny; but the shank ... more specifically the plenum ... is a stink hole - a veritable cesspool of of vile resinous fermented dottle sap. It is by far the ugliest thing under the sun. I half expect small vermin like black mites to be nesting in there, spewing their poisons and reeking my smoak. It is the home of ghosts.

:clap: That is by far the most accurate assessment of plenum-goo I've ever read. It's been the real source of nasty from the "clean and ready to smoke" estates I have purchased and, in my belief, usually the culprit of the terrible ghosts I always hear about.

sablebrush52 · Dec 19, 2013

Great observations! When I clean up an estate, every bit 'o crap is removed. It isn't done until every bit of the airway is cleaned back to the wood. Same goes for the stem. Loads of disgusting reddish pooh comes out of those seemingly clean stems. The pipe is clean when there's NOTHING left to remove.

petes03 · Dec 19, 2013

I know what you mean, I cleaned a Charatan pot (1960's) a few years ago, and it took me two days to get the shank clean on it! I've cleaned up a good bit of estates, but that one was by far the worst!

Be Sure And Check That Shank

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