Hot Heel Smoke & Cracked Bowl!

txsasquatch · Feb 8, 2014

I've been having a problem with very hot smoke when I get to the heel of the bowl. Even if it is a cold pipe and I give the remaining heel tobacco a brief light from a match, the smoke is very hot. I've stopped smoking before I've reached this point, but from the remains it looks like I'm discarding more than just a little dottle. I can't seem to avoid a very hot smoke in towards the bottom 1/3 of the bowl. I've been trying to smoke to the bottom to develop heel cake, so this has been a problem for me.
Also, I'm pretty sure I caused a brand new pipe to crack on my first smoke because of this. There is a massive crack right above the draft hole and some smaller cracks on the side of the bowl towards the heel too. This is after one smoke, so they aren't cracks in cake. They are cracks in the briar

petes03 · Feb 8, 2014

That is the beginning of a MAJOR burn out! All indications point towards smoking too fast. Slow down and sip lightly, and remember that relights are not necessarily a bad thing! If I were you, I'd do a pipe mud treatment on that pipe immediately.

billypm · Feb 8, 2014

Is this happening with all your pipes or just the one in the pic? If the former, your technique needs work-- but if the latter, you just might have gotten a bad piece of briar.

txsasquatch · Feb 8, 2014

This is only my second briar. I did not have this problem with the first briar, but it came precarbonized. This one was bare briar in the chamber. I've also been smoking MM cobs and have not had this problem, but that isn't a useful comparison.
Given the huge crack over the draft hole, I suspect that I'm smoking too hot. How do you all maintain a cool smoke when the ember is down in the heel close to the draft hole?

billypm · Feb 8, 2014

The secret is not to puff, but to just allow the smoke to trickle into your mouth. Smoking slowly doesn't mean how often you puff (IMHO), but how slowly the smoke moves through the airway. Gentle tamping toward the bottom of the bowl can also keep the embers in contact with unburned tobacco, helping the pipe stay lit without having to drawing too hard.

txsasquatch · Feb 8, 2014

Thanks very much for the advice. I will keep that in mind and see how it affects the smoke.

bigvan · Feb 8, 2014

Precarb won't add much insulation, but it adds a rougher surface for the cake to cling onto and build faster. Or at least that's always been my take.
You're definitely smoking too fast. A bowl of average size (group 4 or 5) should last at least 45 minutes to an hour.
Who made this pipe anyway?

txsasquatch · Feb 8, 2014

It is the cheapest of all Savinelli (Florence). I know that Savinelli is extremely high regarded; however, I wonder if cheaping out on the Florence was a bad idea. Probably just bad technique though.

bigvan · Feb 8, 2014

A cheap pipe and bad technique is never a good combination.

spartan · Feb 8, 2014

I'd keep smoking the cracked pipe while trying to improve your smoking technique so you don't hurt any other pipes.
I'm fortunate that my first pipe put up with my crappy smoking.

txsasquatch · Feb 8, 2014

Great idea. I'm not going to worry about saving this pipe, but I'll use it for good practice.

onepyrotec · Feb 8, 2014

I was given a pipe from my favorite U.K. tobacconist about 10 years ago that was much worse looking, and smoking it slowly it has caked over and never burned through. Start practicing for the slow smoking pipe championships and you will be find :puffpipe:
If you read the reborn pipes blog, there was a great article a couple days ago on a burnout repair.

mso489 · Feb 8, 2014

My suspicion is that it is the pipe, although you may well be smoking too fast and too hard, like

someone trying to return to the cigarette experience with a pipe. However, many pipes will take

hard smoking and still not burn out at the bottom of the bowl like that. This is rare, especially with

a Sav. I don't necessarily think the price level is the determinant here, though with their more expensive

pipes perhaps the briars are more meticulously inspected. I think this is an irregularity in the briar at the

base of the bowl. The problem would have surfaced more slowly with slower smoking, but it still would

have happened (I think). Pipes have remarkably long lives. I just packed a pipe I bought about 35 years

ago, which is an unstamped Savenelli smooth billiard I bought as an unfinished basket pipe. It has some

conspicuous fills and some charring on the brim, but after 35 years it smokes really nicely, and it is a pipe

with a slender shank. It's held up well, no problems, as most pipes do.

nsfisher · Feb 8, 2014

It seems as though you are concerned about the bit of baccy in the bottom of the bowl with each smoke mate. I only smoke 2/3rds of a bowl and then put it down because I find relights to be hotter. I get rid of the bottom 3rd. Many ppl find this a waste so if your concerned about that,scrape it out and mix it in with your next bowl full.

jthomas04 · Feb 8, 2014

If I'm reading this right, this happened on your first smoke in an untreated bowl? The picture clearly shows either a precarbonized bowl or a bowl that's seen more than one smoke for sure.
If it really occurred on the first smoke I would contact the seller and get a refund/replacement, if they refuse, I'd contact Savinelli. That shouldn't happen first smoke regardless of how fast you're smoking.

txsasquatch · Feb 8, 2014

I'm sorry to say jthomas, but that bowl only had one smoke when I took the pictures and definitely was not precarbonized. It was just a good full bowl of PS Luxury Bulls Eye Flake in a brand new pipe like this one:

Thanks for your input nsfisher, I'm not concerned about waste, but I am concerned about breaking in the pipe correctly. Most of what I've read has recommended to smoke new pipes to the bottom.
I'm going to make a couple of assumptions, and they might not be entirely correct; however, I think the conclusion is fairly sound.
1) A quality piece of briar would not show signs of stress like this after one hot and aggressive smoke.

2) A flawed piece of briar would not show signs of stress like this after one smoke with good technique.
Conclusion, this may be a combination of both issues. The one thing that is immediately in my control to address is my technique. I've officially begun practicing for the slow smoking pipe championships!

cosmicfolklore · Feb 8, 2014

I got a few antique briar pipes from my B&M as a gift for doing some work for them. They were from the 1920's French Briar and had never been smoked. But, one did this on the very first smoke. I could taste it as soon as it happened, and those that know me in person, know I am about the slowest smoker in the world, making a .6 x 1" bowl last almost an hour, never ever ever puffing. Sometimes it just happens. Mine, I just reloaded and kept in rotation, and it caked over the char. It is one of my favorites now. But, I try to stay alert to that smell and taste, now.
Call and try to get a fix on it if you want, but if that doesn't pan out, just go slow, slower, and even slower. Be patient, and it might just turn out to be a favorite. If it was a Savinelli, eh, unless it was an Autograph, I'll wager it was one of their production pipes that they make thousands of a year. Although, I love the way Savinellis smoke, they are just a notch above a bucket pipe in my opinion. I have about twelve, and I love them. But, they aren't worth fretting too much over.

txsasquatch · Feb 8, 2014

jthomas, a thought occurred to me and it might explain the appearance. After I finished the smoke, I loosened up the ash with a poker and capped the pipe with my thumb. Then I shook it all up before I dumped the ash. This was also something I read about doing when breaking in a new pipe.
Thanks for sharing your experience cfl. I'm not going to address this with the retailer because I'm of the opinion that I had something to do with the issue, so I'll just keep with it and maybe it will become a favorite of mine as yours has for you.

condorlover1 · Feb 8, 2014

I have just looked at the pictures and I have never seen anything like this in my life. If that is caused by smoking one bowl of tobacco I would hate to see what your tongue looked like afterwards. The charring at the bottom of the bowl shows signs of distinct carbonization so you would have be cooking that pipe at some pretty high temperatures. Was it glowing at the bottom when you knocked out your pipe? As nsfisher suggested you might want to just smoke 2/3rd's of the bowl and then knock the dottle out and save them up in the corner of the ashtray. I have used these for my first pipe full in the morning for thirty years and with a good cup of Turkish coffee you can take on the world.

txsasquatch · Feb 8, 2014

The pipe did get very hot when I was working on the heel, and I'm not sure if the interior was glowing or not because I stirred up and shook the ash around before dumping it out. Taking pictures wasn't exactly easy and I was focusing on the stress cracks, but in the very bottom I could still see though to raw wood in spots. I smoked a half bowl in it since taking the pictures and I tried to draw as slow as possible as recommended by billypm. I managed to smoke most of the heel and it didn't get even close to as hot as it did the first time. Maybe my technique is improving.
My palate is awful in general, and I'm a total rookie, so I may have smoked some briar and not known.
My tongue is just fine.
Edit: It doesn't really look like it on my monitor, but the two light spots in the heel of the bowl in the pictures is actually the raw untreated briar showing through the little bit of carbonization from the first smoke.

Hot Heel Smoke & Cracked Bowl!

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