Bent Pipe Stem Completely Blocked After Cleaning

[balkisobrains]

Here's a thread that I started concerning meer chips, although it's not titled very well.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/stocking-up
I still like them and use them for every smoke. You can still get a gurgle or moisture at the bottom, but the tobacco will be above all of it, in addition to some other benefits. If it gurgles, it will most likely happen early-on in the smoke on a humid day with tobacco that is not quite dry enough, and I'll just send down a cleaner and that will be the end of the gurgle. ::

 

[rcanderson]

That was an interesting thread, thanks for adding the descriptive photos of the process it made it easier to understand.
I may try some volcanic rock out first and see what that does since it is readily available here in Hawaii and if free. Will have to see if I can find the meer chips somewhere, I haven't seen them so far on any of the suppliers I have used.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Gents- No one needs to be a smoker of moisture laden tobacco, unless you just like it that way, of course. A benefit from smoking drier tobacco is it tastes better deeper into the bowl, and you end up with a dry pipe- less or no funk over many bowls.

 

[sablebrush52]

I smoke almost exclusively bent pipes and have never suffered from this issue 8O
I use tapered cleaners and always feed them in via the tenon. Once poking through the bit, I then pull them out slowly moving from left to right and back again to clear the 'vee' in the end of the bit.

EXACTLY how I do it.

That's one of the drawbacks to the bent pipes, I can't run a pipe cleaner through to the bowl while I am smoking,

I can run a pipe cleaner through the airway on my bents. Never been a problem, except for the occasional bump passing the cleaner through the open space in the mortise and on into the shank airway, but rotating the cleaner usually solves that issue for me.

I just heard about using chips of clay, volcanic rocks, and things in the bottom of the bowl today, I'm going to give it a try and see what happens.

Nording make tiny pebbles for the bottom of the chamber on a bent. Many makers place the airway slightly above the bottom of the bowl to help against gurgling, so the pebbles raise the bottom slightly, which keeps the tobacco from sitting in its juice. Smoking your tobacco nearly bone dry helps diminish this issue, while improving the flavor that you get from most blends.

 

[brass]

For partial blocks, I have had good luck using this procedure. If running a pipe cleaner or a pipe pick doesn't work, I clean the bowl, then take a lighter flame and draw the flame to the bottom of the bowl. The heat will often burn the foreign object and clear the pipe. However, there is a risk of inhaling a hot cinder, so be cautious and not overly aggressive.
Works for me, your mileage may vary.
Pax

 

[foggymountain]

I have the same problem with one pipe. Thanks for the paper clip tip.

 

[foggymountain]

It does not work. Will have to order a new stem.

 

[mso489]

I bought a beautiful flowing bent Dublin one time, a French pipe. I could not get that stem and shank clear of pipe cleaner fluff. I'd no sooner get it clear than it would stop up again. Eventually, I avoided smoking it, and then I traded it off. It was heart-break gorgeous, but too damn much trouble.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Foggy-
If you're on the verge of a new stem, perhaps try some other measures, such as soaking the stem for a day. Pushing a piece of wire through. Animal sacrifice. You could even straighten it for cleaning and then rebend it.

 

[rcanderson]

I have one bent estate pipe (Savinelli Punto Oro with a bone shank extension) that will not pass a pipe cleaner and is extremely hard to clean, so I don't smoke it, I bought that one merely for its aesthetic purposes.
Hardly any of my bent pipes will pass a cleaner without disassembling them though.

 

[oldmansmoking]

Try passing a pipe cleaner from both ends as far as it will go. It's the same as passing it from one end. I have the same problem with bent stems.

 

[rcanderson]

With this Punto Oro with the bone shank extension, if I take the stem off, I still can't get a pipe cleaner down the shank through the metal tube and into the bowl. Apparently, the tube makes too sharp of a turn as it enters the bowl. I tried for 6 hours straight with no luck, so I have relegated this one for display only.
I thought originally that the tube inside it was a repair mending a hidden crack or something, but it runs from the mouthpiece of the stem all the way to the bowl. I saw another pipe just like this one, and it has the same skinny tube in it as well. He doesn't smoke his either.

 

[jpmcwjr]

So, does it not draw at all??

 

[rcanderson]

No, Savinelli Punto Oro Oom Paul with the bone shank extension draws fine, just can't be cleaned so I don't take a chance smoking it.
The original blockage was on my Chacom Robusto 191. I was finally able to use a paper clip to get the blockage removed. I actually just finished smoking a bowl in that one earlier. That one has a pinch spot in the stem that if I use a cheap pipe cleaner, likes to clog up on me. I am finally used to it, so I know what to do to it the next time it happens.

 

[ashdigger]

RC, get some Falcon pipe cleaners. They are super thin and should do the trick. I use them all the time on bone tenon pipes.

 

[jpmcwjr]

And rinse thoroughly with hot water. Back to smoking that Hungarian!

 

[rcanderson]

Thanks, I just ordered 6 bags from Amazon.