Because of the unusual shape of the Dublin, I can really make use of my Senior reamer. How are Dublins reamed?
Cleaning Dublins
- Thread starter sparrowhawk
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Some Dublins have standard sized chambers; most don't. I use the curved blade on my three bladed Case pocketknife to ream my pipes. I don't know if it's totally true, but my granddad told me that this was the reason this blade is shaped that way. You just want to use a gentle touch. And, not everyone feels confident with tools. So, if you are in this camp, you might want to send it to someone with experience, like your B&M tobacconist.
You could use a British Buttner or also, maybe the smallest Castleford reamer would word better for your small pipe bowls.
I use my grandfather's old Cook's reamer. It looks like this:
I use my grandfather's old Cook's reamer. It looks like this:
If it's not ready to ream, just keep the bowl wiped out with a paper towel after each smoke. That will slow the cake down. No sense reaming a pipe if you can avoid it. It's a messy, smelly, dirty process.
I'm in the no reaming school. Wipe the bowl out after each smoke. Scour might be too strong a term, but
that's the idea. This keeps the cake quite thin, but doesn't diminish the smoking characteristics at all, in
my opinion. I have pipes that are pushing forty years old that have done fine on this basis. I had a great
old pipe smoking friend who gave his pipes (quite a few) to a friend who offered to ream them, and ruined
them all. Amateurs can be overzealous and ruin a pipe in one bad reaming job. Once you get it burning
unevenly, that can be the beginning of the end. So I'd say, if you can avoid reaming, and you can, that's
the way to go. I have almost sixty pipes, some of then 30/40 years old, and I don't own a reamer.
that's the idea. This keeps the cake quite thin, but doesn't diminish the smoking characteristics at all, in
my opinion. I have pipes that are pushing forty years old that have done fine on this basis. I had a great
old pipe smoking friend who gave his pipes (quite a few) to a friend who offered to ream them, and ruined
them all. Amateurs can be overzealous and ruin a pipe in one bad reaming job. Once you get it burning
unevenly, that can be the beginning of the end. So I'd say, if you can avoid reaming, and you can, that's
the way to go. I have almost sixty pipes, some of then 30/40 years old, and I don't own a reamer.
I ream kind of often but very gently. I also scrub the inside of the bowl with a folded over pipe cleaner after every smoke. Like cosmicfolklore said, that will slow the growth.
I use a small, straight bladed knife for this. It has a blunt end so I don't poke the bottom of the chamber. It works equally well on tapered and straight bowls.
I dislike a big cake, though, so keep that in mind before you listen to me.
I use a small, straight bladed knife for this. It has a blunt end so I don't poke the bottom of the chamber. It works equally well on tapered and straight bowls.
I dislike a big cake, though, so keep that in mind before you listen to me.
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