Interesting, what sort of coating does the Castello have? Did you buy it from a Castello dealer? You can never say never with Castello but Castello doesn’t coat their bowls other than possibly a clear, thin coating of orange shellac.
Bowl Coatings….Why!?
- Thread starter VDL_Piper
- Start date
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Pipe in question, this was its very first smoke and I can assure the chamber was as black as midnight and coated with something.
Is it the stain or paint they used to give the pipe a charred look? Sometimes the stain gets into the chamber.
I hate bowl coatings, especially the Peterson ones: goopy crap that imparted a plastic taste to the smoke. Maybe was all in my head but I felt much better once I sanded it off.
Also like MSO said, I am a big boy, know how to smoke and season a pipe already
Also like MSO said, I am a big boy, know how to smoke and season a pipe already
Castello, as far as I am aware, never coats the inside of their bowls. One of the best flavorss is a new Castello pipe.
Looks like stain in there to me, same with the unsmoked Autographs with "uncoated" bowls posted for sale on the web. Looks like stain or maybe wax in there, but not bare briar.
I really don’t know but it’s not bare briar. I have another Castello coming, fume too so I’ll be able to compare.
I have emailed Castello direct so we shall get some clear guidance on all things “bowl coating“ from them in due course.
Prove it! Nah, I don't really care. Looking at a bunch of Autographs on the net right now, & most of them either have coatings, or are obviously stained to match the exterior. I did see one that was bare briar, & one that had stain about a quarter way down the side of the chamber.
I've never seen stain go more than a fraction of a millimeter deep on the surface. Briar isn't very absorbent and for something like that to happen, there may be a micro fracture or hole.
Happens pretty commonly, here’s a quick shot of one right now. I have others but already coated over them. Can be from any part of the bowl depending on the grain, thickness, and external texture of the briar upon application. It happens most with the first darker applications in early sanding stages or after rustication and the pores are really open.
make it to the bowl in a spotty fashion.
What would staining the chamber accomplish? I'm guessing that it's an attempt to make the pipe look more attractive to certain buyers. It looks like they sand the chamber to a smooth surface & then stain the whole pipe including the chamber. Then it looks like they wax the pipe but not the chamber. I searched for less than five minutes to see a number of examples already. Not sure what to make of the one that I saw with the naked bowl but with the stain reaching from the rim to halfway down into the chamber . Sloppy work on a factory 'artisan' pipe, maybe. Just calling it like I see it.
I have really come to enjoy and appreciate Castello pipes. I used to only want pipes with vulcanite stems. That kept me from trying Castellos. Then I fell in love with a Castello for it’s shape and grain and just had to have it. It smoked so well from the first bowl and has broken in better than any pipe I have had. Having a bare chamber let’s you see how it is breaking in and developing the foundations for a cake. I have had some pipes with bowl coats that seemed neutral and some that tasted horrible to me. I don’t think I would buy a pipe that had a coating now. Let me earn that cake and break in and I know exactly how it was created. Tastes change though and certainly to each their own.
Off topic: Go Green!
On topic: Paul's Pipe Shop in Flint has Cayuga pipes that are oil cured and have a "miracle cake" that eases the break in process.
I enjoyed mine out of the gate and haven't heard a bad thing about them.
The have an ancient website and take orders by phone. I reccomend their house blend, Arrowhead.
It's a kitchen sink aromatic with vanilla, carmel, Green River black Cavendish, pinch of Latakia, perique, Virginia, and burley. I've read even non-aromatic fans enjoy it.