Pipes Magazine » Pipe Talk

1. 

   baronsamedi
   

   Preferred Member
   Joined: May 2011
   Posts: 2,739

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   I just smoked my Kaywoodie today. I had to spend some time cleaning it and letting it rest before smoking, which I was able to do successfully thanks to reading this forum and the tutorial vids (THANKS!). It had an excellent smoke, but the stinger makes cleaning a bit of a pain and you can't run a cleaner down into the bowl if you get a gurgle.

   I think it was unclearthur who said he removes his stingers. What would be the best way to do that? I'm thinking a cutoff on my dremel would work, but I don't want to screw up an awesome pipe.

   BTW, I'm not a badass, I'm just socially awkward. – BillyZoom

   Posted 12 months ago #
2. 

   bytor
   

   Senior Member
   Joined: Jan 2010
   Posts: 369

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   Take a look at this thread:
   http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/kaywoodie-drinkless-pipes

   I posted sorta decent picture of a couple Kaywoodie stems that I removed the stinger using a dremel. No real difficulty in removing the stinger...just be sure you don't remove the threads.

   Posted 12 months ago #
3. 

   Bubba
   

   Preferred Member
   Joined: Jul 2010
   Posts: 3,282

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   It should just pull out! It might take a little work but I don't think it is a permanant stinger!

   Mason jars and bale top jars, mason jars and bale top jars.... that is all!
   
   "There’s truth in the statement that pipe tobacco will never be any less expensive than it is today, so think of your cellar as a cost averaged investment" - G.L. Pease

   Posted 12 months ago #
4. 

   bytor
   

   Senior Member
   Joined: Jan 2010
   Posts: 369

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   If it is a Kaywoodie with a thread-in stem, don't try to pull it out.

   The threads are the only way to attach the stem to the shank. Pulling out the stinger would be equivalent to cutting the tenon off a push-in stem.

   Posted 12 months ago #
5. 

   portascat
   

   Preferred Member
   Joined: Jan 2011
   Posts: 911

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   I have two "stinger pipes". A Kaywoodie and a Sir Hubert. And I have a couple Grabow and a cob. These are my regular smokers (I don't have a huge or high end collection, as you see).

   I actually rehabbed the Kaywoodie into a decent smoker, fixing the stinger position and the carburetor.

   In any case, the stinger pipes do smoke a bit different, and cleaning them is a bit more labor intensive, but not hugely so. The biggest difference, to me, is making sure you use the very thin diameter cleaners and pushing slowly with the cleaner so that it can "make the bend" in the stinger. Once a bit pokes out, you can pull it through.

   It is possible that the thin tube on the stinger makes cleaning a bit easier, as it comes out very clean after two pulls, like someone noted.

   To me, and just me, I wouldn't circumcise the thing. It smokes a little different, but it is just part of the personality of the pipe. Maybe it will suit a particular blend, or a smoking style, that other pipes won't, or won't as well.

   "To seek freedom is the only driving force I know. Freedom to fly off into that infinity out there."

   Posted 12 months ago #
6. 

   Bob
   

   Would Smoke Rabbits if He Could Keep them Lit
   Joined: Apr 2009
   Posts: 2,274

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   Kaywoodie stingers are permanently fixed into the stem. To remove the stinger part, it must be cut off while leaving the threaded part of the metal so that it will still screw into the shank.

   It will drop the value of the pipe by doing so. The older Kaywoodie pipes are much more collectable than the newer ones. If it is a very old pipe, you may not want to do it.

   "When the Government Fears the People, There is Liberty;
   When the People Fear the Government, There is Tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson

   Posted 12 months ago #
7. 

   romeowood
   

   Preferred Member
   Joined: Jan 2011
   Posts: 1,731

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   I'll side with keeping it as well, mainly for the collectibility and aesthetic integrity of the pipe, but also for the exercise of learning how to adjust your smoking. I have a few stinger pipes, Kaywoodies amongst them, and although they're far from my favorites, I find that in those times that the mood to smoke one *extra* slowly, with a very dry blend or just for the challenge of keeping a bowl dry, that it's well worth the effort. Unfortunately I have yet to meet a stinger that does what it was intended to do.

   Posted 12 months ago #
8. 

   unclearthur
   

   Preferred Member
   Joined: Mar 2010
   Posts: 7,639

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   I buy mine to smoke and resale is of no interest to me so I hack those beasts off .

   If at first you don't succeed you are running about average.

   Posted 12 months ago #
9. 

   papipeguy
   

   Preferred Member
   Joined: Jul 2010
   Posts: 2,637

   offline

   Login to Send PM

   I'm with Arthur on this one. Same with filtered pipes. I get rid of the filters and attachments. When I smoke I want the Full Monty.

   Posted 12 months ago #
10. 

    jwp159
    

    Member
    Joined: Jan 2010
    Posts: 188

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I to remove stingers when a pipe goes into my collection. If I get the pipe for resale, which I have to do some to finance my PAD and TAD. I leave them on because it does affect the value on the collector market but I can't stand them for my personal use.

    Posted 12 months ago #
11. 

    Bubba
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: Jul 2010
    Posts: 3,282

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Alright so all Kaywoodies have permanent stingers? I only have had one Kaywoodie and the stinger pulled right out!?! I had a dud haha

    Posted 12 months ago #
12. 

    Bob
    

    Would Smoke Rabbits if He Could Keep them Lit
    Joined: Apr 2009
    Posts: 2,274

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Bubba, that's strange. I have never seen a Kaywoodie with a removable stinger. What model pipe was it?

    Posted 12 months ago #
13. 

    Lawrence
    

    Mod
    Joined: Dec 2009
    Posts: 7,789

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Stingers? We doh-need no stinking stingers...

    

    
    My Pipe Slide Show
    

    Posted 12 months ago #
14. 

    Bubba
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: Jul 2010
    Posts: 3,282

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    It was a billiard pipe that smoked horridly! haha! I am not certain what it was though

    Posted 12 months ago #
15. 

    baronsamedi
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: May 2011
    Posts: 2,739

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Thanks everyone. I got it off Fleabay for $15 and I don't plan to sell it. Still, for now I think I'll snag some smaller diameter cleaners and keep it as is. It really smoked well. I don't plan to sell it, so if it becomes cumbersome, I'll go Uncle Arthur's way.

    Posted 12 months ago #
16. 

    baronsamedi
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: May 2011
    Posts: 2,739

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I got some narrower pipe cleaners and they seem to thread through the stinger pretty well. No need to remove it, as far as I can see. It's now my carryin' around pipe, since it has a small profile and a shallow bowl, I can smoke it on the go. I don't have an hour to kill on breaks at work, so I can pack the kaywoodie to about half and have a nice smoke on my last break. I keep it with a tamper (a nail with a large head), a lighter, a couple o cleaners and some Captain Black in the pouch when I'm out and about.

    Posted 11 months ago #
17. 

    Collin Dow
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: Jul 2010
    Posts: 775

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I wish I had noticed this thread before, I would have lobbied hard to keep the stinger. Of course, you're keeping it now, which pleases me. I feel it to be a crime to chop up a fine Kaywoodie, akin, in my mind, to castrating your son because you wanted a girl.
    I'm glad you like the Kaywoodie. They're awesome pipes, and I pretty much smoke only them.

    
    The best gift to give a woman is what she told you she wanted when she thought you weren't listening.

    Posted 11 months ago #
18. 

    marmal4de
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: Feb 2011
    Posts: 2,621

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I leave my stingers intact, I don't mind the gurgle, and I love that they're very forgiving.

    In a society that has destroyed all adventure, the only adventure left is to destroy that society.
    {o,o}
    |)__)

    Posted 11 months ago #
19. 

    jasongone
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: Mar 2011
    Posts: 604

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    i personally hate stingers and they get promptly removed. but then again an estate pipe in my possession isn't even guaranteed to keep it's skin.

    Posted 11 months ago #
20. 

    baronsamedi
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: May 2011
    Posts: 2,739

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I agree with you Collin. I felt that it had such a great smoke that screwing with the design was a bad idea. In the end I adapted and decided to work with it and not against it. Usually the best decision and another lesson learned on my journey. This thing lasted 55 years only to have me hacking away at it? Not this time around.

    Posted 11 months ago #
21. 

    Collin Dow
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: Jul 2010
    Posts: 775

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    That's part of my reasoning. And part of why people cutting them off irritates me, when they're older pipes.

    Rabble rabble.

    Posted 11 months ago #
22. 

    marmal4de
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: Feb 2011
    Posts: 2,621

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Rabble rabble.

    
    Peas and carrots.
    Watermelon seeds.

    Posted 11 months ago #
23. 

    baronsamedi
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: May 2011
    Posts: 2,739

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    I enjoyed a smoke from it at work late last night. Kaywoodie makes a fine pipe! The stinger is totally managable for me. I would like to ask some suggestions for a non-goopy aromatic to use in it though.

    Posted 11 months ago #
24. 

    docwatson
    

    Senior Member
    Joined: Jul 2009
    Posts: 368

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Some of the very early Kaywoodie fitments were made with just splines on the fitment inserted into the stem. Newer pieces are threaded. Either way, if you wish to remove them it's not hard to put the fitment onto a heated coil on your electric stove and unscrew it, or pull it out straight if it has a spline fitment. Just don't overheat the fitment or it will damage the stem. Personally I never remove them, being a collector of Kaywoodie pipes. If I want a push tenon stem with no fitment I buy and collect the new Kaywoodie Handmade Pipes, IMHO they are fabulous pipes and smoke like a dream. And a bargain to boot.
    Doc

    It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling---Mark Twain

    Posted 11 months ago #
25. 

    baronsamedi
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: May 2011
    Posts: 2,739

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Thanks, Doc. I love the way my Kaywoodie smokes. It's a little like my Triumph motorcycle. I'll look at it and say, "What the devil did they do that for?" then I'll ride it and say, "Oh yeah, that." I can see myself buying more vintage Kaywoodie pipes in the future.

    Posted 11 months ago #
26. 

    docwatson
    

    Senior Member
    Joined: Jul 2009
    Posts: 368

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Baron,
    As for non goopy aromatic blends, the choices are limitless. My personal recommendations would be Samuel Gawith or Gawith & Hoggarth flakes, or L.J. Peretti blends. I don't think you would be disappointed with any of them. But as anyone will tell you, everyone has their own personal likes and dislikes concerning flavorings. Best to sample several blends to really find what you enjoy most, but the ones I mentioned you will find to be goop free!!!!!
    Good luck in your search.
    Doc

    Posted 11 months ago #
27. 

    baronsamedi
    

    Preferred Member
    Joined: May 2011
    Posts: 2,739

    offline

    Login to Send PM

    Thanks. I'll put those on my wish list!

    Posted 11 months ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.

    Back To Top  | Back to Forum Home Page

   Members Online Now
   topd, coalsmoke, bubblehead33, porshcigar, chispa