Clay Pipe from antique shop

[bilbo_baggins]

Hi All,

I'm new here and pretty new to pipes, so I thought I'd ask a question. I went to an antique shop yesterday and bought 2 small clay pipes (pictured below with a 20p coin for scale):


I would like to know:

a) The best way to give them a thorough clean (especially disinfecting the mouthpiece) and what household products I can use that won't have a bad reaction to the clay.

b) How I can determine whether it is earthen clay, as I don't want to be smoking polymer clay.

I would be very grateful for any extra information.

Many thanks

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

The best way to clean a clay is toss it in a fire. Campfire, BBQ grill, or even an oven will work. It will burn off all the nastyness and leave you with a nice white clay pipe. We had a thread on this not more than a few days ago.

Clay Care :: Pipe Smoking Basics & Beginner Questions

So, I finally got my first clay pipe. This may be a ridiculous question: do you clean your clays with pipe cleaners after every smoke, like briars and cobs?

pipesmagazine.com

 

[bilbo_baggins]

The best way to clean a clay is toss it in a fire. Campfire, BBQ grill, or even an oven will work. It will burn off all the nastyness and leave you with a nice white clay pipe. We had a thread on this not more than a few days ago.

Clay Care :: Pipe Smoking Basics & Beginner Questions

So, I finally got my first clay pipe. This may be a ridiculous question: do you clean your clays with pipe cleaners after every smoke, like briars and cobs?

pipesmagazine.com

Thanks for the info! How long is too long for it to be in the fire? I'll check that thread out

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Thanks for the info! How long is too long for it to be in the fire? I'll check that thread out

Pipes are fired at around 1000C and the typical campfire tops out at around 300C, so you really can't leave it in too long. But as a general rule of thumb. Bury it in a nice low coal bed and leave it until the fire has died out and then pull it out. If you use an oven and your missus doesn't freak out, just put the oven on self clean and toss the pipe in for the duration of the cleaning heat cycle and let it cool with the oven.

 

[bilbo_baggins]

Pipes are fired at around 1000C and the typical campfire tops out at around 300C, so you really can't leave it in too long. But as a general rule of thumb. Bury it in a nice low coal bed and leave it until the fire has died out and then pull it out. If you use an oven and your missus doesn't freak out, just put the oven on self clean and toss the pipe in for the duration of the cleaning heat cycle and let it cool with the oven.

Thanks mate! Sounds like I have a good excuse to light up the fire pit haha. Do you have any tips on determining whether the pipe is made of earthen clay and nothing toxic?

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Thanks mate! Sounds like I have a good excuse to light up the fire pit haha. Do you have any tips on determining whether the pipe is made of earthen clay and nothing toxic?

I've never encountered any polymer clay (tobacco) pipes. As far as I know the recipe for pipe clay hasn't changed in 500 years. They look like pipe clay to me, at least from the pictures. But someone else may have some more info on this, perhaps @halfdan knows.

 

[condorlover1]

Those look like clay pipes, probably of German manufacture. If you have a coal fire just put them in the embers before going to bed and it will burn off all the yuck. One of them looks like it has been used and one looks pretty new.

 

[The Clay King]

Enjoy your clays!

 

[bilbo_baggins]

Thank you @RustiePyles CPG, @condorlover1, and @halfdan. I am currently sanding down the mould lines down the middle of the pipes and will put them in the fire pit when I next light it with the boys. Looking forward to enjoying my clay pipes

 

[jaingorenard]

Worth putting something on the end or the clay will stick to and tear your lip (like a rollie does if you leave it in your mouth). I think there's some evidence that this can increase the risk of mouth cancer.

I use plumber's tape on the end of my clays, I know some use nail varnish.

 

[pappymac]

I hate to think about what you paid for the clay pipes in an antique shop.
I see them occasionally when I take the wife browsing around antique shops and malls and they are usually priced over $40 each. I asked one shop why they were priced so old and was told, "They are antiques because they are made from clay and no one has made clay pipes since after the Civil War."

 

[The Clay King]

Thank you @RustiePyles CPG, @condorlover1, and @halfdan. I am currently sanding down the mould lines down the middle of the pipes and will put them in the fire pit when I next light it with the boys. Looking forward to enjoying my clay pipes

@bilbo_baggins I'm going to see the Redcoats & Revolutionaries at Cromford Mill this weekend; going to get some fresh pipe baccy and have my clay pipe ready for the blacksmith to light it with an ember from his forge!

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[The Clay King]

I hate to think about what you paid for the clay pipes in an antique shop.
I see them occasionally when I take the wife browsing around antique shops and malls and they are usually priced over $40 each. I asked one shop why they were priced so old and was told, "They are antiques because they are made from clay and no one has made clay pipes since after the Civil War."

@pappymac I take it they mean the American Civil War; the English Civil War was in the 1640s and there have been clay pipes for decades / centuries after that!

 

[bilbo_baggins]

Worth putting something on the end or the clay will stick to and tear your lip (like a rollie does if you leave it in your mouth). I think there's some evidence that this can increase the risk of mouth cancer.

I use plumber's tape on the end of my clays, I know some use nail varnish.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll find something nice to cover the mouthpiece

 

[bilbo_baggins]

I hate to think about what you paid for the clay pipes in an antique shop.
I see them occasionally when I take the wife browsing around antique shops and malls and they are usually priced over $40 each. I asked one shop why they were priced so old and was told, "They are antiques because they are made from clay and no one has made clay pipes since after the Civil War."

I bought them for just £5 each. I felt like I was stealing! hahaha

 

[bilbo_baggins]

@bilbo_baggins I'm going to see the Redcoats & Revolutionaries at Cromford Mill this weekend; going to get some fresh pipe baccy and have my clay pipe ready for the blacksmith to light it with an ember from his forge!

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Pwoarrrrr now that sounds like one hell of a weekend! What pipe baccy are you gonna go for? I hope you enjoy it!

 

[The Clay King]

Pwoarrrrr now that sounds like one hell of a weekend! What pipe baccy are you gonna go for? I hope you enjoy it!

@bilbo_baggins Probably GH Mahogany or Black Pigtail twist. Maybe Erinmore Flake, Special Virginia or St Bruno. I've not decided yet but I've narrowed it down to a few. They should all taste & smell good in a clay pipe lit from the blacksmith's forge! Jason the blacksmith used to smoke Black Pigtail in his clay before he quit after breaking his pipes!

 

[bilbo_baggins]

@bilbo_baggins Probably GH Mahogany or Black Pigtail twist. Maybe Erinmore Flake, Special Virginia or St Bruno. I've not decided yet but I've narrowed it down to a few. They should all taste & smell good in a clay pipe lit from the blacksmith's forge! Jason the blacksmith used to smoke Black Pigtail in his clay before he quit after breaking his pipes!

I'm very new to pipe smoking, so I'll take those as recommendations! I made my own pipe earlier in the year (carved the bowl from a fallen ash tree and used a branch of buddliea for the stem as it is naturally hollow), but it was a bit too big hahaha. This will be my first experience with clay pipes so I will take great care of them due to their fragility.

 

[The Clay King]

I'm very new to pipe smoking, so I'll take those as recommendations! I made my own pipe earlier in the year (carved the bowl from a fallen ash tree and used a branch of buddliea for the stem as it is naturally hollow), but it was a bit too big hahaha. This will be my first experience with clay pipes so I will take great care of them due to their fragility.

@bilbo_baggins Be careful not to break your clays; I've lost count of how many I've broken...

 

[bilbo_baggins]

@bilbo_baggins Be careful not to break your clays; I've lost count of how many I've broken...

I'll treat em like fine glass