Draft Hole Too Small

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Wellington

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 31, 2012
531
578
Hi, I've finally gotten frustrated enough with my Graco straight stem to ask about improving it. I can't get a flippin pipe cleaner through it! About halfway down it almost always stops, I take it out and do it from the other end and about the same place it stops. I can see through it fine, it looks big enough, apparently not. I've been tempted to take a small drill bit to open it up. I'm not interested in spending a bunch of money sending it away to get fixed, theres gotta be a decent way to do this.
Any suggestions?

 

pitchfork

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
A round needle file is the way to go -- stem or shank.
It's hard to know why the pipe cleaner gets stuck both ways if you can't see any obstruction -- maybe it's just too narrow at a certain point?

 

Wellington

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 31, 2012
531
578
Thanks a lot guys, i'll give it a try. Heres a photo of when i got it, sorry for the poor quality photo, I don't have a digital camera other than my computer webcam at this point still.

Photoon2013-01-12at0924_zps8a620421.jpg

Its not the shank or part of the briar, its the vulcanite stem btw.

 

lifeon2

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 19, 2012
625
12
denver co
Yep drill bits and go slow if you dont have a pin vise I cant recommend them highly enough.

 

tbradsim1

Lifer
Jan 14, 2012
9,093
11,012
Southwest Louisiana
That Stem looks thin, drilling would IMHO make it weak, boiling that stem and shoveing the right diameter tool to swell up the air hole would be the way to go, no loss of material and swelling up the air hole. The old cajun

 

drwatson

Lifer
Aug 3, 2010
1,721
5
toledo
Until I seen the pic I was thinking drill away. But I think it looks to thin to drill anyway. those saddle bits can be tricky. I always try to get mine open to 5/32 if I can. always could give it a try and if you break it, you can just replace. good luck

 

tokerpipes

Lifer
Jan 16, 2012
2,042
690
45
Eatonville, WA
If you can get a pipe cleaner in a out half way from either end it may have a slight bend. Boiling water or hair dryer and a coat hanger cut to length or a drill bit. Heat the stem in the water and slowly twist and push the drill bit or coat hanger in. It should straiten the stem or at least open the hole a bit.

 

Wellington

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 31, 2012
531
578
Yesterday I brought it to work, stuck the stem in a vice with (with vice guards) and drilled into it with the smallest bit we had. I've drilled thousands of holes with a drill, so I'm a bit experienced with doing it so I wasn't too scared. I think it was a 5/32, not even quite sure, but it worked, I can get a pipe cleaner through it now, its a little stiff but works and is much better than it was. Thanks all.

 

Wellington

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 31, 2012
531
578
The draw seems fine to me still, like I said its still tight but at least I can get a cleaner all the way through it now.

 

phred

Lifer
Dec 11, 2012
1,754
4
Thanks for the advice - just opened up the draft hole on my Viking Classic sitter. Sure enough, it's canted, which explains a lot. We'll see if the extra space helps next time I have a smoke break...

 

phred

Lifer
Dec 11, 2012
1,754
4
Confirmed!
During a break in the weather this afternoon, I took the Bjarne sitter out with a bowl full of 1Q/Victorian Standard that I'd been storing in a pouch - so it was nice and dry, and not packed too tight. Did a charring light, and that was all it took - the pipe almost smoked itself all the way to the end, with a few tamps here and there and no noticeable tongue burn. Guess all that practicing with the cobs has paid off... :D Just a hint of gurgle about 2/3 of the way in (mind you, it had started to snow again right about that time, so I'm guessing condensation...), but not nearly what I'd been getting before I opened up the draft hole.

 

ffmurray

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 14, 2013
107
0
Glad you can get a cleanser through it, if the draw is still to tight then go with what the old Cajun said. I did it with one of my pipes that had a saddle bit and it worked great, draws much better now.

 
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