Before Using Your Pipes as Flower Pots or Throwing Them in a Landfill, do this...

[georged]

Because geometry tolerates no argument, sometimes the bottom-dead-center of a pipe's tobacco chamber and the bullseye-dead-center of its mortise floor cannot be connected with a straight line.

It isn't a brand-dependent thing, or even (necessarily) a "quality thing". It's simply three dimensional reality.

It was the case with this early production "Ashton 120". Nice looker, wonderful smoker.

The airway entered the mortise "high", however, which made running a pipecleaner through the pipe without taking it apart impossible.

Easy-peasy solution:

The yellow line is the border of a ramp that was cut into the bottom of the mortise with the tool shown. A standard-issue conical Dremel burr cutter that had its sharp outer edge ground smooth on a belt sander while spinning.

NOT removing the side edge pretty much guarantees you'll have an ugly time of it, gouging the mortise walls while trying to control the cutter (which will keep grabbing the walls in a feedback loop of briar mayhem).

NO side edge will make it stupid easy. No grabbing, just insert, push downward a bit, blip the throttle, check the cut, repeat as needed until the ramp is what that particular pipe's geometry calls for.

I've done it to hundreds of pipes for many years and never had a problem of any kind.

Should the factories do this? Of course. Do they? No. Why? Who knows... (Most of the better artisan makers DO cut a cleaner ramp when necessary, though)

Anyway, it only---literally---takes two or three minutes, and is something anyone can do who has normal coordination & eyesight.

The world's flowerpot manufacturers and landfill operators might hate you, but the PipeGods will smile.

 

[admin]

Interesting. Thanks Goerge.

The title made me think that Rich Esserman's pipes could be used for flower pots.

 

[Papamique]

Because geometry tolerates no argument, sometimes the bottom-dead-center of a pipe's tobacco chamber and the bullseye-dead-center of its mortise floor cannot be connected with a straight line.

It isn't a brand-dependent thing, or even (necessarily) a "quality thing". It's simply three dimensional reality.

It was the case with this early production "Ashton 120". Nice looker, wonderful smoker.

The airway entered the mortise "high", however, which made running a pipecleaner through the pipe without taking it apart impossible.

Easy-peasy solution:

The yellow line is the border of a ramp that was cut into the bottom of the mortise with the tool shown. A standard-issue conical Dremel burr cutter that had its sharp outer edge ground smooth on a belt sander while spinning.

NOT removing the side edge pretty much guarantees you'll have an ugly time of it, gouging the mortise walls while trying to control the cutter (which will keep grabbing the walls in a feedback loop of briar mayhem).

NO side edge will make it stupid easy. No grabbing, just insert, push downward a bit, blip the throttle, check the cut, repeat as needed until the ramp is what that particular pipe's geometry calls for.

I've done it to hundreds of pipes for many years and never had a problem of any kind.

Should the factories do this? Of course. Do they? No. Why? Who knows... (Most of the better artisan makers DO cut a cleaner ramp when necessary, though)

Anyway, it only---literally---takes two or three minutes, and is something anyone can do who has normal coordination & eyesight.

The world's flowerpot manufacturers and landfill operators might hate you, but the PipeGods will smile.



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Thank you for sharing! May the pipe gods send you some virgin briar.

 

[AJL67]

I have sex with them after promising them money, then toss them them in the Hudson River when I’m done with them.

 

[Civil War]

Thanks George.

 

[georged]

Interesting. Thanks Goerge.

The title made me think that Rich Esserman's pipes could be used for flower pots.

There's a PM'er who has posted a photo repeatedly over the years of a Dunhill that was filled with dirt and has a plant growing out of it, and said that others he's owned ended up in a landfill because of things like "horrible drilling".

Seems a bit of a stretch---why not just flip them?---but apparently the guy wanted the pipes to feel his wrath. Or something.

Anyway, I figured since the fix for ANY pipe that "won't pass a cleaner" (except for Oom Pauls & etc, of course) is the little cone-cutter trick, that letting people know might save some pipes that would otherwise get tossed. New guys join here all the time and literally don't know what to believe.


PS -- Sorry that the "looking into the mortise" pic isn't better. The only way to shoot angles like that is with some sort of LED light attached to the front of the camera, or as a ring around the lens. Also, speaking of Rich, I asked him recently what the upper limit of chamber size was for a pipe. Meaning one that could actually be smoked. He said that the depth wasn't as critical as the diameter, but anything over 3.5 inches got hard to deal with for mechanical reasons. The diameter, though, did have a hard upper limit. Anything wider than 1.25" simply doesn't work, nor can be made to (he's tried). It boils down to above that size drawn-in air can always find a way around burning coals of tobacco rather than through them, so they keep going out.

 

[kcghost]

Good job, George!!!

 

[anotherbob]

I still don't the passing a pipe cleaner thing. Do people really need to run one mid smoke enough for it to be a big deal? I just find it so perplexing.

 

[georged]

I still don't the passing a pipe cleaner thing. Do people really need to run one mid smoke enough for it to be a big deal? I just find it so perplexing.

It's some sort of blend + puffing rate combinatorial thing.

Personally, I've never had a pipe "gurgle", and only ever used a pipecleaner WHILE smoking to clear the airway of a sucked-up tobacco bit. Reason unknown.

There's zero doubt that some guys never stop "mopping" the entire time their pipe is lit, though. Indeed, entire designs---like Peterson's System---were developed FOR such smokers.

In any event, the "will it pass a cleaner?" thing has become one of the benchmarks of build quality, deservedly or not.

So, for those who care, I thought I'd give 'em the Cheap & Easy solution.

 

[anotherbob]

It's some sort of blend + puffing rate combinatorial thing.

Personally, I've never had a pipe "gurgle", and only ever used a pipecleaner WHILE smoking to clear the airway of a sucked-up tobacco bit. Reason unknown.

There's zero doubt that some guys never stop "mopping" the entire time their pipe is lit, though. Indeed, entire designs---like Peterson's System---were developed FOR such smokers.

In any event, the "will it pass a cleaner?" thing has become one of the benchmarks of build quality, deservedly or not.

So, for those who care, I thought I'd give 'em the Cheap & Easy solution.

As a matter of personal taste or smoking style it makes sense. As a measure of proper quality is what I really don't get. Then again I've never had a pipe that won't pass a cleaner so maybe someday I'll be a convert.

 

[georged]

I thought I'd add a bit of info to the "down the mortise" pic since it's so badly lit.

The red circle it the "floor" of the mortise, and the white dot is the center of the floor.

You can see that the airway is quite a bit above center. It even notches the mortise wall.

But the ramp cut with the little polish-sided cone burr makes that much offset a non-issue.

 

[jpberg]

Haters gonna hate.

 

[georged]

Looks like the update sqoinked some pics, so here's a re-do:

 

[georged]

Haters gonna hate.

Indeed.

But it's so dreary, innit?

 

[jpberg]

Indeed.

But it's so dreary, innit?

The first thirty times were wicked intriguing though.

 

[Chasing Embers]

-why not just flip them?

Because I will not pass on what I considered an inferior pipe to another smoker.

So to summarize, you're saying that a pipe renowned for quality like Dunhill should need repair and that it's normal for an unfiltered straight pipe to not pass a pipe cleaner?

 

[georged]

Because I will not pass on what I considered an inferior pipe to another smoker.

So to summarize, you're saying that a pipe renowned for quality like Dunhill should need repair and that it's normal for an unfiltered straight pipe to not pass a pipe cleaner?

So... to "save smokers from making the same mistake you did", you throw perfectly good pipes into a dumpster.

Even though the "flaw" which triggered that noble act was something that 1) is a matter of geometry, not quality (indeed, it can be found on many four-figure Scandinavian pipes); and 2) is easily eliminated by any smoker who thinks it's a problem in a couple minutes with rudimentary tools.

Which begs the question, how, or rather WHY did you continue to buy pipes with an offset drafthole at the bottom of the mortise if owning and smoking them was such a problem for you? Or, not perform the two minute modification?

Offsets are easily detected by eye and can't be mistaken for anything else.

 

[Honkytonk Man]

Because geometry tolerates no argument, sometimes the bottom-dead-center of a pipe's tobacco chamber and the bullseye-dead-center of its mortise floor cannot be connected with a straight line.

It isn't a brand-dependent thing, or even (necessarily) a "quality thing". It's simply three dimensional reality.

It was the case with this early production "Ashton 120". Nice looker, wonderful smoker.

The airway entered the mortise "high", however, which made running a pipecleaner through the pipe without taking it apart impossible.

Easy-peasy solution:

The yellow line is the border of a ramp that was cut into the bottom of the mortise with the tool shown. A standard-issue conical Dremel burr cutter that had its sharp outer edge ground smooth on a belt sander while spinning.

NOT removing the side edge pretty much guarantees you'll have an ugly time of it, gouging the mortise walls while trying to control the cutter (which will keep grabbing the walls in a feedback loop of briar mayhem).

NO side edge will make it stupid easy. No grabbing, just insert, push downward a bit, blip the throttle, check the cut, repeat as needed until the ramp is what that particular pipe's geometry calls for.

I've done it to hundreds of pipes for many years and never had a problem of any kind.

Should the factories do this? Of course. Do they? No. Why? Who knows... (Most of the better artisan makers DO cut a cleaner ramp when necessary, though)

Anyway, it only---literally---takes two or three minutes, and is something anyone can do who has normal coordination & eyesight.

The world's flowerpot manufacturers and landfill operators might hate you, but the PipeGods will smile.



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Thank you George.
I have a couple that need this operation doing to them.
And, despite of what others say, the misalignment does not cause a poor smoking experience.
But it darn well irritates the crap out of me!

 

[ssjones]

I've used this technique and tool on a few of my mid 1990's bent shank Ashtons (post lunch pipes?) and it definitely improved their smoking experience.

 

[telescopes]

Lately, I thought a great side business would be to restore and refit older pipes so that their draw, bit, and chamber would be more ultimately aligned to create a better and more perfect smoke. It would not change the pipe from the outside, but would improve the overall performance. Think of it as a tune up. The pipe mechanic could then add their own mark to the stem certifying the pipes new high performance status. This would provide overall value to the pipe and increase resale potential.