Hard to Draw

jmsutton · Feb 10, 2015

I got a Mr. Brog Amigo a few months ago. I love the way the pipe looked, but right out of the box it was hard to draw. I bought it from some random store on ebay for a really good price, but I need some help. I have contacted Mr. Brog customer service, but they have not responded and this is my second issue reporting to them to no avail.

After some investigation, I realized that the drilling in the shank was pretty poorly done. If I run a pipe cleaner through it a few times, the draw will bet better but only for a few puffs. I think that there is some loose wood inside of the shank because when i run a cleaner through a few times some saw dust will fall out. I was wondering what I should do to fix it. I thought maybe some wire bristle pipe cleaners would do it. What do you guys think? Should I try to find a drill that fits it and drill myself?

billypm · Feb 10, 2015

I would find a drill bit only SLIGHTLY bigger than the airway and hand-turn it through the passage. Very little risk-- high chance of success. Good luck!

eightywon · Feb 10, 2015

5/32 drill bit should open it up nicely. Hand-turned like billy said.

literaryworkshop · Feb 10, 2015

It's possible that there's some dust or a splinter wedged in the hole. I'd try to clear it out with a drill bit that's smaller than the draft hole first. There might be a chip stuck in there or something. If that doesn't work, you can open up the draft hole with a slightly bigger drill bit, as said above. If you have some sort of clamp or vise, or even vise grips, it might be easier to put the drill bit in the vise and turn the pipe around, rather than trying to spin a drill bit with your fingers.

eightywon · Feb 11, 2015

Clamp/vise would definitely work better than your fingers, was actually thinking pin vise when suggesting hand turning though.

smeigs · Feb 11, 2015

I recently had the same issue with one of my Karl Erik pipes. It was a very tight draw and I had the same result with the pipe cleaners. I took it in to my local B&M where desert pipe quickly had a solution. He used a drill bit by hand (no power tools) and reamed it out a bit. He also stated that if it was still hard to smoke through, to take a little bit larger drill bit and wrap it with tape (so it won't hurt the pipe) and do the same thing. Im no pro when it comes to this subject, but this seemed to help my issue. Perhaps desert pipe will chime in on this thread and give his professional opinion!

blueeyedogre · Feb 11, 2015

I have an Orlik Bond Street Canadian that came with a very hard draw. Using a 1/8th 12" long drill bit I got at Rona and a T-handle that you'd use for a tap and die set I was able to open the draw nicely. I would advise against using power tools as things can go wrong really fast with those speeds.

jmsutton · Feb 17, 2015

I ended up getting some bristled cleaners. I ran one through and rotated it until it became easier. Then I took a drill bit like you guys suggested and it started drawing great! Thanks for the tips.

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