Weak airflow / scratch in mortise

tmgaus51 · Nov 30, 2015

Hi All,
I'm having a bit of trouble getting this poker's airflow going--eg. when I use the Frank method to pack it, I can't pull the flame into the pipe (as if I've packed it too tightly), but I've been successful with the Frank method on other pipes. Also, when I blow into the stem, I can barely feel the air coming out of the pipe's bowl. Strangely, if I take the stem off and blow directly through the mortise, the airflow is pretty strong.
I'm wondering if the weak airflow has to do with how the stem is connected to the rest of the pipe. I had to sand the tenon down a tiny bit to make twisting easy, but it still isn't a smooth process when putting on/taking off the stem. Also, there are tiny scratches inside the mortise (see pic below), but these don't seem large enough to have a major impact.

Sometimes I make a cup with my fingers around the meeting point of the stem and the rest of the pipe to make sure no air is escaping when I exhale, but this seems to make no difference.
Any ideas??
Thanks!

Dave

jpmcwjr · Nov 30, 2015

I'd guess the bit is obstructed, or maybe drilled wrong. Can you run a wire through it?

tmgaus51 · Nov 30, 2015

Yeah, no troubles running a pipe cleaner through it.

jpmcwjr · Nov 30, 2015

Not a pipe cleaner, unless a very thick one!
When assembled and empty, does the draw seem crimped? (drawing through the bowl to the mouth, not the reverse)

tmgaus51 · Nov 30, 2015

It certainly feels like it could be stronger/less restricted, but nothing I would have noticed unless paying attention to it specifically.

northernneil · Nov 30, 2015

If you cover the bowl with your hand (tightly), and blow through the mouth piece, does air escape?
If so, then you have a leak somewhere. Keep blowing through the stem, with the bowl covered and pipe fully assembled, until you find the leak.
Once you know where the leak is, it will be much easier to determine how to fix it.

tmgaus51 · Nov 30, 2015

Nope, no air is escaping.

northernneil · Nov 30, 2015

Well, you can get a pipe cleaner through it, and there are no air leaks. I'm thinking it is the packing technique and not the pipe. Unless there is something I am missing.

tmgaus51 · Nov 30, 2015

Yeah, that was my first thought initially as well. I'm not saying the pipe is unsmokable--I actually have decent results with the tobacco right in front of the draught hole, but the tobacco above or below it is tough to get at. I've packed this one very carefully and have yet to have a full good smoke, but have had good results with other pipes. Go figure.

georged · Nov 30, 2015

It's rare, but I've seen a few cases of "unidentified obstruction" in bent stem airways after straightening them. Looked like the wall ballooned outward for some reason, reducing the cross sectional area of the airway by about half. But a cleaner would pass, which confused the hell out of the owners who could tell something was wrong.
No idea what the obstructions actually were, or what caused them---the only way to do that would be by slicing the stem apart---but all were cleared by reaming the airway with a tapered drill bit, then re-bending.
If the pipe in question here is straight and the airway looks clear, then never mind. It's operator error of some kind.

tmgaus51 · Nov 30, 2015

Ha, the stem is straight, and as far as I can tell always has been! The only thing I can think of after the kind suggestions is that when I push the pipe cleaner through, sometimes I need to jiggle it a bit to get it to get from the stem into the shank. Maybe the holes are slightly off, but I've experienced this with other pipes also. Now I'm at a complete loss! Maybe when I have the funds, I'll send it off to an expert.

earthbound · Dec 1, 2015

Can you look down the stem and see if the holes are dramatically off? I've worked on pipes that were horridly off center to the point where more than half of the draft hole was covered. I took a countersink bit to both the tenon and the floor of the mortise and made a conical flare on each. The larger surface areas of those flares overlapped a little better. It seemed to help the draw a lot.

frozenchurchwarden · Dec 1, 2015

Compare draw through the stem alone with the stems of other pipes.
It's common for pipes to have a very small draft hole in the stem but a large draft hole in the shank.

pitchfork · Dec 1, 2015

Sounds like the airway in the stem is too small.

mawnansmiff · Apr 19, 2016

You could always try another stem from a different pipe assuming you have another pipe with the same size stem tenon. That would give you a difinitive answer.
Regards,
Jay.

cigrmaster · Apr 19, 2016

Drill the stem and open up the airway. Your stem was made wrong.

Weak airflow / scratch in mortise

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