Opening the Draw on a Pipe

northernneil · Feb 21, 2014

The other night I read the chapert called 'Your Pipes Should Have an Open Draw," by Rick Newcombe, from his book Searching for Pipe Dreams. In this chapter he discusses the value of an open draw when it comes to the quality of smoke a pipe delivers. Basically he states that all of his pipes get drilled to have an open draw, 4.3 - 4.7mm. He accents this point by openly admiting even his thousand dollar high end Danish pipes smoked better after such a drilling.
What are people's experiences here with such acts? Do you do this? If so, do you do it yourself, or do you send it away to a pro?

natibo · Feb 21, 2014

I'm getting ready to do it with a Dunhill I have that seems to have a narrow draw. I'm curious what others have experienced.

ejames · Feb 22, 2014

It can help a lot of pipes,provided the stem is not severely constricted.

zack24 · Feb 22, 2014

A suggestion on the drilling- use a drill bit holder and twist it in by hand. Electric drills work quickly, but you an destroy your pipe in two seconds unless you've done it a few times...Practice on a beater pipe- don't start with the Dunhill,,,

tuold · Feb 22, 2014

The senior reamer comes with a tool perfect for this use. It's worked very well for me when clearing out and opening up estate pipe airways.

tbradsim1 · Feb 22, 2014

#1 on Zachs comment, do it by hand if you have a pair of vice grips grip down on drill bit and make sure you start it level and straight and go SLOWWW!

ssjones · Feb 22, 2014

I've done it on a few pipes and like the 5/32" size. (definitely do this by hand)

winton · Feb 22, 2014

Here is the perfect tool for this job. It is called an gimlet. Getting the exact size might be a challenge. I found a set of 5 common sizes at Harbor Freight for a couple dollars.

ssjones · Feb 22, 2014

Interesting Winton - are they marked with sizes? (did you find this at a store or online?)

bluesmk · Feb 22, 2014

I have the top pin vise for using drill bits by hand. In dispensible tool for steady hand drilling:

http://www.micromark.com/heavy-duty-pin-vise,6731.html

Dan

Gabrieli Pipes : puffy

:

winton · Feb 22, 2014

I drive past a Harbor Freight almost every day, so I bought the gimlets there. It only has the most common sizes. But I bet you could find other sizes with google. Or use a hand held device to hold any drill bit.

northernneil · Feb 22, 2014

Great responses guys. Have any of you messed with the airhole in the stem? If you open up the draw in the bowl, but the stem it still restricted, it kind of defeats the purpose, does it not. Do you need to heat the stem before working on it? How would you do that?

jthomas04 · Feb 22, 2014

Is there any way to open the draw on the stem of the pipe?
I have a bulldog by Mark Tinsky and the air way on the stem is really tight. I can barely squeeze a regular pipe cleaner down it, tapered cleanes get stuck, fluffys not a chance. The air way in the shank is a good size, it's the stem that constricts the air flow.
There is a bit of a bend to the stem, so I don't think I would be able to do it, but can it be done?
Here's a photo of the pipe.

ssjones · Feb 22, 2014

I'll check my Sears for a micro vise, that looks handy in general.
I've NEVER TRIED this, but on that Tinsky, you could try straightening the bend in the stem, opening up with a 5/32" or similar bit, then rebending. That is odd, my Tinskys are drilled larger than 5/32"

ejames · Feb 22, 2014

I have the top pin vise for using drill bits by hand. In dispensible tool for steady hand drilling:

http://www.micromark.com/heavy-duty-pin-vise,6731.html

Dan

Gabrieli Pipes [::]

I have the same tool Dan and it is very handy. After buying that one I found a keyless 1/4" Jacobs chuck and made my own handle.

Great responses guys. Have any of you messed with the airhole in the stem? If you open up the draw in the bowl, but the stem it still restricted, it kind of defeats the purpose, does it not. Do you need to heat the stem before working on it? How would you do that?

Gotta be careful doing that. Bent stem must of course be straightened. You don't want to drill all the way to the button,you may end up cutting through the top and or bottom of the lip area. I use a 6" long tapered 5/32" drill bit to drill stems and stop when I get just past where the funnel starts.You can use needle files to widen the funnel if needed. Be careful there also as it doesn't take much downward pressure to crack the button.

zack24 · Feb 22, 2014

Opening a stem can be done even if bent. Heat the stem with a heat gun. Straighten it. Cool it. As far as opening the stem, most stems are drilled ok from the tenon end- the constriction is usually in the last 1" because many were drilled originally with a 1/16" in the final 1" - Take a 5/64" bit and run that in from the end you clench- . After that the safest way is to start working into it with needle files until it's nice and open. (If you can find one of the wire saw tools used by potters, those work great). The not so safe way is to drill it and while the drill is still in tilt it up and then tilt it down to create a "v" shape(I use a Foredom flex shaft for this). Continue working that with files until nice and open (I destroyed a bunch of stems mastering that one...)

peter70 · Feb 22, 2014

I wouldn't open the draw beyond 4mm. I know Newcombe's recommendation, but 4.7mm is so wide, you will suck tons of small tobacco parts and in the end of the pipe hot ash. If a pipe has airflow problems in the stem, which you cannot solve, pack it with the airpocket method.
You can also gain a lot of good draw by polishing the airway. Put polishing compound on a sturdy pipe cleaner, chuck it into a drill and let it rotate with medium speed. Check, that the stem does not get too hot. This also works with slightly bent stems.

bluesmk · Feb 22, 2014

After buying that one I found a keyless 1/4" Jacobs chuck and made my own handle.

Been thinking of doing this myself :wink:

Dan

Gabrieli Pipes ::

onepyrotec · Feb 22, 2014

I use one of these for opening up the slots.

escioe · Feb 22, 2014

Newcombe cracks me up. He gets an airway at 3.9mm and absolutely must have it opened a little bit. And then when he talks about pipes with tighter draws, he does it all condescending-style: 'oh, this is just how I like it, but others seem to prefer to have to relight all the time and run half a dozen pipe cleaners every smoke. Well, different strokes!'
It's as if he's never considered that perhaps some pipes smoke fine, regardless of airway size. I'm with Greg Pease on this one. Apparently no one told my old Comoys that they needed to fit a semi in the airway.

Opening the Draw on a Pipe

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