Bowl coating, wet tobacco

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Hi, this may be a complete noob question so please forgive me.

Ive recently applied a bowl coating to my pipe, (pop, salt, activated charcoal blend) and now Im finding the pipe and tobacco to be very very wet at the bottom of the pipe and the smoke seems to be harsher.
Should I be allowing the tobacco to air/dry for longer, already seems pretty dry or is it something else?

Pipe is GBD New Era and tobacco is Chacom No3.

Thanks for any help/advice.

 

[Briarcutter]

How long did you let the coating dry? Did you write pop? Soda pop???

 

[verporchting]

If the pipe smokes worse than it did before the bowl coating I’d say the problem is the coating. Sand it out with some fine grit sandpaper and just smoke the pipe. Cake happens in time without any encouragement from you. The only time I’d recommend adding a coating is when there’s a problem you’re trying to correct (like charring or loss of material) and I’m guessing that isn’t the case here?

 

[Ads]

Thanks for the replies.

Pop - plaster of paris

I added the coating as I was under the impression it was better for the pipe. I opened the tin on Friday of last week, it already feels pretty dry to the touch. Before adding the coating id let it sit out around 15mins before packing the pipe.

 

[Briarcutter]

Did you write pop? Soda pop???

Pop - plaster of paris

Thank goodness, thought you were mixing Dr. Pepper or something

 

[sablebrush52]

I'm assuming that the thickness of the coating was as thin as possible, barely a veil. If it's thick you may need to sand it down.

How much time did you give the POP to set up and dry before you smoked the pipe?

Try drying out the tobacco even more. 15 minutes is nothing. Give it an hour, pack it lightly, and try again.

 

[tartanphantom]

Not telling anybody else their business, but here is what works for me—

If the bowl is pre-carbonized, I go straight to the gradual fill/gradual smoke method over the course of the first 4-5 bowls (1/3-1/2-2/3-Full).
Most factory carbons are not much more than water glass and carbon anyway, and tend to attract additional carbon rather quickly.

If a bowl is pure naked briar and has not been dip-finished, I still use the old-timer honey-coat method in conjunction with the gradual fill. This method is sometimes a point of argument among some pipe smokers, and I won’t tell folks who don’t do it that they are completely wrong- it’s just an old method, and it’s always worked for me. The key is to NOT goop it up— an ultra-thin sheen layer is all it takes.

In the event I‘m dealing with something like a dip-stained Peterson, it gets a little trickier, as I need to get as much stain out of the bowl before I start the break-in process. In this case, I’ll remove the bowl stain by swabbing the inside of the bowl with several rounds of high-proof Un-cut moonshine or store-bought pure-grain alcohol, taking care to not get it on the rim or outer finish.

Of course, everyone has different experiences and comfort levels with this sort of thing, so what works for me may be a complete no-go for someone else.

(…donning asbestos suit…) let the flaming begin.

 

[HeadMisfit]

The only bowl coating that WORKS is what peterson uses.

gum arabic powder mixed 50/50 with activated carbon/charcoal.
The only caveat is that the stuff petersons uses is not exactly on the open market anymore. SO its hard to get a good solution. And normally you need a different recipe DIY for the heel of the pipe. The 50/50 mix ALWAYS turned to mud and mixed with the tobacco ash every time. So after a few attempts, the heels were bare wood after the second smoke.

 

[Ads]

So are you saying the gum arabic power/ activated charcoal works or doesn't work?

The only bowl coating that WORKS is what peterson uses.

gum arabic powder mixed 50/50 with activated carbon/charcoal.
The only caveat is that the stuff petersons uses is not exactly on the open market anymore. SO its hard to get a good solution. And normally you need a different recipe DIY for the heel of the pipe. The 50/50 mix ALWAYS turned to mud and mixed with the tobacco ash every time. So after a few attempts, the heels were bare wood after the second smoke.

 

[HeadMisfit]

So are you saying the gum arabic power/ activated charcoal works or doesn't work?

fine on the SIDES of the chamber, sucks in the heel portion of your chamber. For some reason the proportion needs to be changed to a ratio of gum arabic to charcoal i havent figured out yet.

use the 50/50 just fine for sides, but use it in the heel and it just turns to mud and dissapears the first or second time you dump ash out of the pipe. SOaks up the water..