Cracks on Inside of My Pipe's Bowl

Looks interesting. Heat just ate through it like that? Or were there some pockets like that in it from the start? I would think you're okay, just take it easy on the SG flakes. It'll burn hotter if any of those pockets get closer to the surface. Is the draw okay?

Danger. Looks concerning. Time for Pipe Mud. Google the technique and mix some ash/mud and fill those defects. Then smoke some light tobacco, like an oriental forward blend, shag cut, easy to burn. The bowl will eventually fill with cake. I would avoid the flakes and virginias for at least 10-15 bowls until a slight cake forms.

Hard to tell without it in my hand but it looks like you built up some cake and the cake has come away from the wall of the bowl. This happens to me quite often and if that is the case then all is just fine.

Looks like a pipe that was initially treated with honey, or something else that was sticky, to accelerate the build-up of cake -- which eventually becomes crumbly and falls out in chunks. I'd suggest reaming back significantly and resume smoking it.

the bowl was plain wood with no black coating when I got it from my brother.

Click to expand...

So I read this sentence to mean the bowl was virgin when you got it. But as the others above mention, maybe there was cake already. If that is the case, then yes it might be crumbling cake. But if it was a new bowl, then it's concerning and I would use pipe mud.

Yeah,loose cake is what it looks like to me. I'd say the pipe is ok & just needs a careful ream & then restart the cake.

They look like chunks that have broken out from a soft, badly formed cake. Start by carefully trimming away this cake. It the depressions were just broken cake then you can start rebuilding a cake, but this time do it right. Wipe the interior of the bowl with a bit of paper toweling or a couple of pipe cleaners after smoking and let the chamber dry. Do this repeatedly over time and you will build a thin hard protective layer of carbon that isn't permeated with the bits of unsmoked tobacco that make for soft cakes that fall apart.
If the depressions are clearly in the wood, then you have a couple of choices for treatment. You can build up some thickness in the depressions using pipe mud or you can build up the depressions using layers of pipe mud and then carefully restore a thin cake all around using pipe mud. You can also build up the depressions with a thin coatings of silicate gel mixed with fine or slightly coarse ash and then apply that around the interior of the chamber to give it a protective coating. That offers a bit more long term protection than just pipe mud.
Any way that you go about it, smoke the pipe very, very slowly for the first 10 or so bowls, just to give a little time to build up a little bit of cake. Keep the bowl temperature as low as possible. Frankly it's the way to properly smoke a pipe anyway.
Samuel Gawith flakes always need drying out to get the best out of them. They're sopping wet. I've given SG flakes anywhere from 3 - 5 hours of dry time.

Just crumbly cake, clean it out and start over.

Yep, chipped cake.

Looks like only loose cake to me; is silicate gel not supposed to cause something of a health concern ?

I prefer an organic bowlcoating, like clycerin and powdered charcoal .

Cracks are filled with pipemud made from wood ash and distilled water. Rock solid.

I have had this happen to pipes that built up cake from English blends. I just remove the cake and start over with a good Virginia , IMHO always build up nice/tough carbon

I have the same "holes" in one of my pipes.
My pipe doesn't get hotter.

The tobacco doesn't taste any different.

The moisture feels the same.

So just let the cake build up and fill the holes.
BUT: I'm no expert.

Best overall is to carefully ream, as jpm & others said. Then check the briar carefully & if you don't see problems, start smoking to rebuild the cake. While new cake on top of old won't cause problems immediately, sooner of later enough new cake is going to build up that it *will* risk potential problems if the underlying layer is uneven.
Bill

Several good analyses. sablebrush especially resonated with my opinion, and I think he has good pipe maintenance and repair saavy, but all posts are on task.