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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,763
13,789
Humansville Missouri
I’ve been working on an old Mastercraft Billiard. Finally got it cleaned. Took SO MUCH PGA to get clean. I even have another pipe I completely reset and it still has that smell. I believe it’s in the shank.

There are others on this forum that use hot water to accomplish what I use 190 proof Everclear, which is to completely clean away the rancid, stinking tars and oils that permeate the briar of some old estate pipes. The shank is the most difficult part to clean, and likely was not kept as clean as the bowl.

My argument for using straight Everclear is that it reliably works. Just keep after it, and eventually most old stinkers can be restored to smoking condition.

The argument against Everclear is that it costs $17.50 per fifth, where water is free.

What I will not use, is rubbing (methanol) alcohol. While it works to clean the briar, wood alcohol is a deadly poison.
 

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,580
40,853
Iowa
I’ve been working on an old Mastercraft Billiard. Finally got it cleaned. Took SO MUCH PGA to get clean. I even have another pipe I completely reset and it still has that smell. I believe it’s in the shank.
Do some searching! There were a couple of really good threads recently that included discussion of that issue as part of overall cleaning. I finally tried the activated charcoal on one after trying cotton balls, then salt, lol. It seemed to get the pipe over the hump. A little Meer I had someone else deep clean when I had the stem repaired and had a new one made for it as well. The Meer still had a bit of a ghost (after 124 years of love) but it was a sweet smell!
 

Dec 3, 2021
4,792
40,300
Pennsylvania & New York
I’ve found that a small pipe knife blade that isn’t overly sharp, or a poker tool with a flat edge is a huge timesaver when it comes to cleaning out the mortise of estate pipes. Pipe cleaners with Everclear just dissolve the top layer of the cylinder of dried gunk caking the mortise—that approach will take forever and use many, many pipe cleaners. You’d be amazed how much built up gunk you can scrape out with a blade or tool. The more you can scrape away, the less the Everclear and pipe cleaners are responsible for cleaning up.
 

verporchting

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
Shank brush and Everclear. The mortise is where the hubastank lives but the shank brush - and if necessary a dental pick - is the best I’ve found to clear it.

If that fails I’d just send it for professional cleaning that would probably include an alcohol retort and possibly ozone treatment. I haven’t needed to go that extreme because the shank brush does a fantastic job.
 

OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
5,757
30,563
71
Sydney, Australia
What do you recommend for soap?
If the pipe tastes skanky, it is almost always a dirty shank or mortise, occasionally the stem.

A shank brush, tools such as small jewellers screwdrivers or dental picks will save you a lot of time, pipe cleaners and alcohol - if the shank or mortise is heavily gunked up.

I use a liquid soap, but dishwashing liquid will do very well.
I water flush, but also alcohol soaked cleaners afterwards.

You can never get your pipes too clean
 

Zeno Marx

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 10, 2022
238
1,264
What do you recommend for soap?
A friend gave me some Bacti-Stat, and I found that works really well. I have to say that I wouldn't hesitate to use Dawn, or whatever you have handy. Palmolive is a little more gentle, but it would also work well. I will say that you will have to re-apply wax to the pipe for obvious reasons. The soap removes the gunk, but it also removes some of the good stuff too. But alcohol presents the same issues. I actually found I can be less cautious with running water and soap. They may remove the wax, but they barely touch the dye. I've spotted a pipe with alcohol getting on the outside. That hasn't happened with running water. As a precaution, I do put a little packing tape over the stamping, and I don't use super hot water. Just warm water will work fine. I haven't had a problem with losing stamping, but I've read that hot water can raise the stamping a little. Again, I haven't experienced this, but a little tape as a precaution is worth it for peace of mind.
 
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OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
5,757
30,563
71
Sydney, Australia
Got an estate Pete in last week

Did the usual hot water flush, liquid soap and shank brush followed up by alcohol soak in the bowl and shank

The stem wouldn’t fit in snugly afterwards

A bright torch revealed the inspissated tars and crud in the mortise that hot water and alcohol didn’t shifts

Needed a few minutes of judicious reaming with a small screwdriver to get the shank and mortise clean

Hot water and alcohol MAY NOT be sufficient
 

Zeno Marx

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 10, 2022
238
1,264
Got an estate Pete in last week

Did the usual hot water flush, liquid soap and shank brush followed up by alcohol soak in the bowl and shank

The stem wouldn’t fit in snugly afterwards

A bright torch revealed the inspissated tars and crud in the mortise that hot water and alcohol didn’t shifts

Needed a few minutes of judicious reaming with a small screwdriver to get the shank and mortise clean

Hot water and alcohol MAY NOT be sufficient
I do the water, soap, brush, flush the very last. The metal tools are to get 95% of the stuff out. The alcohol soak is to loosen the remaining gunk and pull the small percentage out of the wood itself. The scrub is to (hopefully) clean it to bare wood and take that final percentage or two out.

The order of things is important. I used to sell and rent backpacks. There are generally 5 adjustments on a backpack, and they have a specific order to tighten. For instance, if you tighten #4 before #1, it makes #1 50% effective.