Kaywoodie Stinger

If it has a 3 hole stinger cut away if it is a 4 hole leave it. The not so open draw i found good when I was starting it kept me from over puffing.

+1 Snag..........Good advice.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a stinger help to make it a cool, dry smoke?

If you are intending to own the pipe for the rest of your life, and never re-sell it, then go on ahead and cut that stinger. It pains me to say this, because I won't buy a pipe with a cut stinger. I recently passed on a beautiful 7713b in wonderful condition because the stinger had been cut away.
I'm assuming that the reason Andrew recommends not cutting the stinger of the 4 hole Kaywoodie pipes is because these pipes are more collectible and sought after, and cutting the stinger significantly reduces value... and because the fourth hole helps with the draw. Stang, did I make the right assumption?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a stinger help to make it a cool, dry smoke?

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Manufacturers of pipes with stingers, or filters, have always made this claim. Ask ten pipe smokers their opinions about stingers and filters and you're likely to get nearly as many perspectives. I think that one of the reasons why stingers, when successful, reduce bite and make for a cooler smoke is because they retard the rate at which the smoker can puff on their pipe... literally, the stinger reduces airflow. This forces the smoker to smoke more slowly, forcing a sip.
I find the Kaywoodie four hole stinger an easy stinger to navigate and have no problem with draw. So I leave them.
$0.05 in the bucket.
-- Pat

I'm leaving the (four hole) stinger in my Kaywoodie Ruff-Tone author. It smokes well, even though it has to be unscrewed and wiped down every time. I did have to follow the sage advice of a Forums member and heat up the shank with a hair dryer to make the stem screw in perpendicular to the bowl. Kaywoodie still makes a good pipe, when you can find them and make the adjustments that should have been made at the factory. I think a restricted draw works well with some blends, but that's a personal call.

I'm with them. Cut 3 holes, leave 4 holes.

I've got three with stingers. A Drinkless, a Prime Grain and a RedRoot. I opened the holes in the ball ends of the first two with very small drill bit and hand twisted to improve the draw....I haven't done that with the Red, and am sorely tempted to just cut that one.

I have had non Kaywoodie estates arrive having been cut that smoke fine. One of em is one I consider one of my best.

I didn't pay much for any of them and if I wanted to resell, I'm sure I'd recoup even if I modified, maybe not as much though as one in 'original' form.

The RedRoot is my most consistent gurgler, so I use it sparingly.

The holes drilled in the balls on the Kaywoodie stinger have no affect on the draw of the pipe. They are not connected to the airway through the tenon at all. They really serve no purpose except maybe a little added cooling affect. The only hole that does have an effect on the draw is the one drilled just above the threaded part of the stinger. I can't see that cutting the stinger will have much benefit because the airway through the rest of the stinger and the stem is not much bigger--if any-- than that hole that sets just above the threads. To see much improvement you would need to drill that tenon (stinger) and the stem out to a larger size. IMO.

The holes drilled in the balls on the Kaywoodie stinger have no affect on the draw of the pipe.

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You are much more experienced and knowledgeable than me. :worship:

I think that opening or eliminating the ball end helps because it does collect moisture, so by increasing the size of the holes or cutting them off...that collection and subsequent gurgle tendency seems reduced.

Some Kaywoodie stingers do have tight draft holes. Those things were made in batches and some are better than others. If you have a 4-hole stinger, the best way to improve to preserve originality is to remove the stinger from the stem and drill it out to the next size from the threaded end that screws into the stem. The problem with this is, removing the stinger might break the stem threads. Maybe you will have enough to get it back in, maybe not. Or drilling it out too much can collapse the fine threads. Go easy, be careful.

If you don't care about the originality of the stinger, cut it off just behind the draft hole forward of the coarse threads. Then you can drill it out from that end. The threads will still screw into the shank and it will function the same as a push tenon. File, sand and polish the cut end and make it pretty.

The condenser works fine with a good draft. But a pipe with a restricted draft smokes pretty lousy. I would usually sell them off and find another in that shape. I've had far more good ones than bad ones, but bad ones pop up now and then. The older 4 digit pipes are almost always good ones. The old big ball stinger pipes have good airways.

I like the stingers on my kaywoodies. I have grown to like the restricted draw. When it starts to gurgle, just unscrew it and with a flick of the wrist all moisture is gone and you have a dry smoke again. I did open up the draft on a "500" kaywoodie by using a drill bit by hand. It's pretty soft metal. It's one of my favorites now. If you don't like the stinger please don't butcher it. Just get a pipe that doesn't have one. My .02 cents.

I think Kaywoodie has discontinued the Drinkless line and gone all to push bits, and I am amazed the series lasted as long as it did. I own only one, with the stinger still in place, and it smokes well, but it just seems like an unnecessary fandango.

Kaywoodie still makes the Drinkless line, but it's now Push Stem with no stinger. All of their lines are now push stem with no stinger. Good Riddance I say. The one Kaywoodie I have gurgled so much with the stinger it was unsmokable; with the stinger chopped it still gurgles often enough during a bowl as to be super annoying.
Take a look at the new stinger less Drinkless pipes here:
Kaywoodie Drinkless minus stinger

Well I now have 9 kaywoodies, all with stingers, some 4 hole and some 3 hole - and 1 where some jackwagon cut the stinger off.
For me, the stinger was a crucial part of my learning how to smoke a pipe. My first pipes would gurggle like crazy and bite like a ghost pepper. I was of course smoking too fast and trying to get too much smoke. Once I figured out how to keep the stinger dry I realized that I was enjoying the pipe much more and the smoke was dry cool and satisfying.