Breaking In A New Pipe - With Water?

[mikethompson]

Honestly if you have a few extra moments in the morning and want something to flip through, the old copies of Pipe Lover's magazine are great.

I found this little tidbit in the letters section. It seems like the common practice was to keep water away from your pipe, but now it seems some were intentionally using water to cure a new pipe.

Given how guys who clean their pipes with two water get a raised eyebrow now, I can't imagine suggesting in 1948 that water would be beneficial to a new pipe!

 

[craiginthecorn]

If I am breaking in a new pipe which has no bowl coating, I will moisten the bowl before smoking it. Far from soaking, I just dip my finger in water and dab the bowl until I'm satisfied that it has absorbed enough water. This just helps protect the bowl when no cake has yet formed. It also tastes better than scorching wood. A friend who has an extensive collection of high end pipes mixes honey with some warm water and dabs that on. He believes that helps build cake faster. That's likely true. I just don't know if the cake that would form would be good hard carbon or that soft porous cake you get from smoking aromatics.

 

[saltedplug]

In fact savvy pipe smokers keep their pipes submerged always, only retrieving them from the underwater berths when smoked. They do this so that the water fungus that adds oodles of smoking satisfaction to pipe smoking can prosper into those quaint knobs that form on the inside and outside of the bowl.

They can only be seen in late 19th century photos or adorning the fabulously expensive and rare pieces of the cognoscenti flitting mysteriously in and out of the few remaining smoking rooms.

Who would have thought the counterintuitive practice of total immersion would have produced characteristics that even S. Bang cannot give to their pipes?

And in preparation for my big pipe sale mine have not taken the air for over two years. I will make a killing

 

[petes03]

If I am breaking in a new pipe which has no bowl coating, I will moisten the bowl before smoking it. Far from soaking, I just dip my finger in water and dab the bowl until I'm satisfied that it has absorbed enough water. This just helps protect the bowl when no cake has yet formed. It also tastes better than scorching wood. A friend who has an extensive collection of high end pipes mixes honey with some warm water and dabs that on. He believes that helps build cake faster. That's likely true. I just don't know if the cake that would form would be good hard carbon or that soft porous cake you get from smoking aromatics.

I used to coat the bowl of new pipes with honey, using a q-tip. I don’t bother with it anymore. I don’t think it makes that big of a difference.

 

[craiginthecorn]

I used to coat the bowl of new pipes with honey, using a q-tip. I don’t bother with it anymore. I don’t think it makes that big of a difference.

I've not tried honey myself. It was popular back in the pipe smoking heydays, so I won't dismiss the value. There was even a brand which proudly trumpeted being honey cured -- Yello Bole. Some of the early Yello Boles were superb smokers.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I've broken in well over 100 pipes in my time and found to do nothing special or different. I load them up from day one and smoke them like I would a pipe that has 200 bowls smoked in it. If there is a sand pit void just below the surface, I want to find out early vs late. If there isn't, I've never experienced a problem. I also rub out the bowl with fresh pipes and flush with water. This seems to build a really nice, hard, thin layer of cake.

 

[didimauw]

Interesting. I've never heard of this before. I suppose it's for the pipes without coatings?

This reminds me I need to flush my pipe soon.....

 

[olkofri]

I did the water cleaning method to my brand new Brigham! They did go a bit overboard with the staining, so, after several swabbings with gin-soaked cleaners I just ran warm water through it. Smokes fine. @jpmcwjr should be impressed, I guess.

 

[sasquatch]

I mean, you can swing a cat over your head at midnight too, if you think it helps, but the pipe doesn't care. Briar is tough stuff. Load the pipe, smoke the pipe. It really is that easy.

 

[JLD66]

I just load um and smoke um.

 

[mikethompson]

@jpmcwjr should be impressed, I guess.

Actually, that was the first thing I thought of when I read the letter.

 

[mso489]

Superstitions and tales seem to aggregate around pipe smoking, which makes it kind of fun but also a little bit crazy. Wood items like kitchen cutting boards and wood handled forks and such can all be washed, but just aren't soaked. I think the same applies to pipes. Once a pipe is wetted, I'd give it a good long drying time, so heat doesn't generate steam and bust something loose. But mostly, a wet pipe is not a concern, and can be a way to clean a pipe. Just don't soak it, in my opinion.

 

[anotherbob]

It's funny but it seems like even just a few decades ago I heard many more stories of peoples pipes breaking from bad technique and treatment. Often the bowl cracking from supposedly too much heat. I remember back then doing this fill the chamber half way on day one and then fill it a little higher each day. The thing is I was told that makes sure the cake forms evenly, funny thing is that I get more even cake with just smoking the darn pipe and not doing any special breaking in process.

 

[cigrmaster]

I break in every pipe the same way. I use a quality Va,Vaper or Vabur Flake .
I fill it to the top smoke it to the bottom and within 15 bowls I have a nice hard cake forming. Not much to it really.

 

[mingc]

In fact savvy pipe smokers keep their pipes submerged always, only retrieving them from the underwater berths when smoked. They do this so that the water fungus that adds oodles of smoking satisfaction to pipe smoking can prosper into those quaint knobs that form on the inside and outside of the bowl.

They can only be seen in late 19th century photos or adorning the fabulously expensive and rare pieces of the cognoscenti flitting mysteriously in and out of the few remaining smoking rooms.

Who would have thought the counterintuitive practice of total immersion would have produced characteristics that even S. Bang cannot give to their pipes?

And in preparation for my big pipe sale mine have not taken the air for over two years. I will make a killing

When not in use, I keep my pipes buried in large gallon jars of rock salt. Of course, it's crucial to tightened the lids lest moisture intrudes on the salt mixture. It does wonders keeping the pipes neutral tasting and vulcanite stems bright and shiny.

I'm also a committed advocate of rapping the pipe smartly on a hard surface, upside down, after smoking, to clear the bowl of any unsmoked dottle. Pipe cleaners are verboten; they ruin the wood and draft hole.

 

[instymp]

I used to coat the bowl of new pipes with honey, using a q-tip. I don’t bother with it anymore. I don’t think it makes that big of a difference.

In the old days people did it with honey or grape jelly.
I load & smoke.

 

[saltedplug]

Rock salt! that's the ticket! But I'm a water sign and very fond of it. Don't you think enough water to top off the salt would be the real answer? Of course if you don't think so, then just the salt. Let us know your results.

 

[jvnshr]

In fact savvy pipe smokers keep their pipes submerged always, only retrieving them from the underwater berths when smoked.

In fact savvy pipe smokers smoke under the water.

 

[saltedplug]

In fact savvy pipe smokers smoke under the water.

Haven't seen you around in the longest! Hope you are well. What's going on?

As far as the content, I couldn't agree more. I say let's hold the annual meeting under water in the Marshall Islands main lagoon, especially as the islands are going to disappear because we don't have a climate issue.

 

[mingc]

Don't you think enough water to top off the salt would be the real answer?

I say! That's an idea! Perhaps a drop of gentian violet or mercurochrome to kill the germs too!