Cracks in Chamber - What to Do?

[trubka2]

I received a couple estate pipes today that have a lot of cracks in the chamber (they're sort of visible in the photos). I'd guess they haven't been smoked in a few decades, and it looks like they dried out or something. Any tips for what I could/should do with them? They're pretty nice looking pipes, both International Selections (Charatan's seconds), but I paid next to nothing for them, so no biggie if I have to just chuck them. My first thought is to fill in the cracks with a little pipe mud and try to build some cake over that. They're too deep to sand out, and I don't want to put any kind of impermeable coating in the chamber.

 

[BROBS]

I think they are heat fissures and will fill in with cake.. I'd just smoke it really daintily at first. Did you just ream it out or did they come like that?

 

[trubka2]

Did you just ream it out or did they come like that?

No, I didn't ream them - they were probably last reamed during the Nixon administration.

 

[BROBS]

interesting.. I mean you could coat the bottom with pipe mud but I am not a big pipe mud fan... a lot is too impermeable IMO.
you can also take some water or honey mixed with activated carbon and coat the bottom... that would probably fill in the cracks and help you start a cake without burning the heel.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

This comes up at least once per month it seems. That appears to be where the cake has broken out unevenly when it was reamed. I do not believe that is a crack in the actual briar and do not believe it is anything to be concerned about. Load the pipe and smoke 10 to 20 bowls through it and then look at it. When I infrequently ream my own pipes, I get the same thing. The cake doesn't form perfectly or in a linear fashion. It is very brittle. So when you ream it, it can flake off in some areas.

 

[trubka2]

I do not believe that is a crack in the actual briar

Both chambers are reamed down to bare wood at the bottom - those are cracks in the briar you're seeing in the photos.

 

[BROBS]

I’m just not sure if it’s from heat or from drying out. Did they come from an arid area?

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Both chambers are reamed down to bare wood at the bottom - those are cracks in the briar you're seeing in the photos.

If you are so certain, why are you asking here then? And what do you propose to do about it? It's pretty obvious that pipe hasn't seen much TLC during it's lifetime. All I can do is tell you what I'd do if it were mine. I'd load the bowl up and start smoking. Rinse and repeat. If it burns through to the outside, I toss it in the garbage. If it doesn't, I keep smoking. Coating with honey will not work in my opinion. The sugar in the honey burns off to leave a very brittle and thin layer of carbon that won't stay intact.

To be brutally honest, the pipe doesn't look like it is worth expending an incredible amount of energy into. Whoever reamed it screwed up by reaming it too much. That's mostly irrelevant now. Smoke the thing and hope for the best.

I had a brand new unsmoked pipe from a high profile pipemaker about 6 months ago. It was a rather large Rhodesian. Second smoke, a very deep sand pit appeared in the bottom side. Probably 1/4" wide by almost a 1/4" deep. Thankfully, the walls were rather thick right there. I spoke to the carver, he wanted to replace it. The pipe looked great and smoked great. I suggested that I just smoke it with the expectation it would either burn all the way through or the sandpit would fill in with cake and be fine. 30 to 40 bowls later, the latter is what happened. I see nothing to indicate this pipe won't last me the rest of my life.

 

[trubka2]

Did they come from an arid area?

Maybe. They came from a reseller in Illinois - no telling where he got them from.

 

[BROBS]

Right. I mean I would probably just smoke it and let them fill in if it were me

 

[trubka2]

To be brutally honest, the pipe doesn't look like it is worth expending an incredible amount of energy into. Whoever reamed it screwed up by reaming it too much. That's mostly irrelevant now. Smoke the thing and hope for the best.

Just the kind of advice I was hoping for - thanks, gents! Just smoking it is my favorite pipe repair technique.

 

[didimauw]

Activated charcoal and sour cream mixture. Drys hard, and doesn't smell after it dries. Or, if that's too much work for a pipe you don't seem worthy of it, smoke it. When you are done, shake the ash in the bowl to fill the cracks. Then lightly dump it And smoke again. Or drip a couple drops of water to mix the fine Ash in after shaking and dumping.

 

[snagstangl]

Im with the just smoke it and let it fill in. It looks like there is plenty of briar , especially if it is similar to other charatan made stuff.

 

[trubka2]

Well, I started cleaning up the better of the two pipes while thinking over what to do about the cracks, and it turned out that it just needed a nice bath. I ran a bunch of water through it (always my first step), and when it dried out, the fissures had closed. The chamber walls are all gouged to hell and ribbed from reaming, and you can see the little drill nub that Charatan left in the middle of the chamber, but the cracks are gone (this is the pipe in the second photo above).



The pipe has birdseye on the top and bottom, with mostly straight grain on the bowl. So the floor of the chamber must be perpendicular to the grain, and I guess some fissures opened up because it hadn't been smoked for so long, and it just dried out. (I aim to fix that presently.) I must say it's cleaning up pretty nice, and it's a big hunk of wood, but very light. I've only found one fill so far. Might have to go all in on a full restore for this one. I guess I'll see how it smokes first. Moral of the story: Just put water on it.

 

[lightmybriar]

Yikes what a pretty pipe!

 

[trubka2]

Yikes what a pretty pipe!

Thanks! It smokes great too.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Came late to this, but wow, what progress in just a day! Nice finds!

The second pipe looks like a madman went at it with a knife. And the first one looks like some of the fissures could have been caused by jamming a knife into the heel.

Congrats!

 

[trubka2]

Came late to this, but wow, what progress in just a day! Nice finds!

The second pipe looks like a madman went at it with a knife. And the first one looks like some of the fissures could have been caused by jamming a knife into the heel.

Congrats!

Thank you! God knows what caused them, but the fissures are gone now. Having my second smoke in it right now, and it's a keeper for sure.