Cracking Cob

[sjfine]

I bought this Country Gent in a local store. What could be causing this? I am not smoking it hot. When I smoke it, I smoke it all day long, but slowly. There is no cake in the bowl. I don't throw it around or otherwise abuse it.
Is it possible that it is a "second?"
Does this happen relatively often on cobs?
Edit: Duh!

 

[gwynclan]

Picks of whats happening, and were its cracking.

Please

Cheers

 

[thesmokindragon]

I placed a call into MM about this in the past and they told

me "it happens sometimes" , could be health of the cob

bowl they started with, heat, etc...

 

[clyde]

Seems it just happened early as that bowl split isn't uncommon with cobs.

 

[gwynclan]

Does it go all the way through. :?:

 

[sjfine]

It does not go all the way through. It still smokes fine, but it seems to be deteriorating. Not a big deal, of course, just wondering if I am doing something wrong.
SD says that MM blames this sort of thing on latent defects in some of their cobs. Considering what seems to me to be the inherent delicate nature of a pipe carved from an eaten ear of corn, I cannot say that I am upset by the prospect that this may happen to others.
Maybe I'll plug the holes with tiny pieces of beach glass.
Edit: Or better yet - wrap the bowl with exhaust wrap!

 

[taerin]

This type of thing does occur with cobs frequently, I have splitting/cracking/gaps going on with most of my cobs on the outer portion, especially around the shank. None are as pronounced as that, but yeah it is due to the nature of the cob, one reason they are so cheap. Not all cobs go completely bad as some have had the same cob for 20-30 years.

 

[lonestar]

Well, you've found the answer....Its made out of a corncob ! Its really not an ideal material for burning tobacco. Really I think its a wonder that most of them will smoke for years and years without splitting. FWIW I have seen many old cob pipes that have split just like this but obviously were smoked for a long long time in that condition. If it doesnt open up into the bowl too bad, just keep puffing, you might find out it doesnt get worse and smokes for years.

 

[sparroa]

I've got over a dozen Country Gentlemen and none of them have cracked like that.
Then again, they get relatively light use and are well cared for, but I agree that it depends on luck of the draw.
Some cobs are terrible, others will last for ages.
I'd just suggest you buy a few more and keep a rotation of them.

 

[will]

My rotation of pipes has a few cobs and in my short few months of smoking them have yet to see any cracks.

I think this would happen way more often in cobs than briar but considering the cost it probably is no big deal.

Since they are cobs I do subject them to way more abuse than the briars and they seem tough to me and most importantly smoke wonderfully.

 

[sparroa]

I've got a few with exterior imperfections but nothing too serious.
sjfine, as long as it still smokes good then I say you have no worries. If it burns out, it burns out. You could attempt to patch it but I don't know what'd be good for that purpose.
My biggest problem with cobs is the drilling, from time to time, but even that can be fixed with pipe mud or hardwood plugs. I tend to skirt around the problem by roughly rubbing out a bit of tobacco to jam in the bottom and then start packing the tobacco in line with the drafthole...
I've only broken/worn out 3 cobs and they were all out of gross neglect when I was brand new to the hobby.

 

[reichenbach]

Elmer's wood glue is cheap and cures just about anything that ails your cob bowl.

 

[gecko13]

I've had this happen on a few cobs. As already stated white glue seems to work great. I used a furniture grade white wood glue, but I expect Elmer's should work fine too. I had one crack about a year ago and I wiped a layer of white glue on it, working it into the cracks with my finger. I put on two thin layers, spreading it with my finger, working it into the cracks. A year later, its working fine and I smoke that cob daily. I also used some epoxy on one that had this problem, and it also worked out fine. The cracks just seem to occur in the areas where the "kernels" were cut away. If the crack goes all the way into the bowl/chamber, I don't think this will work as well, but doing this will save the bowl from cracking all the way through.

 

[fshu2]

i do not know the cause it has happened to me a few times but woodglue will fix it.

 

[topd]

I'd mix up some plaster-of-paris, fill the crack and keep smoking.

 

[gecko13]

I haven't tried Plaster of Paris, but that was something I planned to try next time. I'm betting this would work pretty well too.

 

[joshwolftree]

see the redneck west virginian in me is now hoping I get a cracked cob just to have another use for duct tape :lol:

 

[tiltjlp]

sjfine, all according to how many bowls you smoke in a day, your cob could be absorbing too much moisture. Elmers Glue or pipe mud might help if it's just surface cracking, which isn't unusual. If it's unsmokable, give Marilyn at MM a call at 800-888-2109, since they do replace defective pipes.

 

[johnsteam86]

I used titebond wood glue on mine and it appears to be doing well. This is the first one that I have had that did that so we will see how it turns out after a year or so. If it doesn't work ah well

 

[jeffro]

I found this video from Aristo cob about repairing one of his cob's that cracked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49LEnppD_fE