Cracks Inside The Bowl

[kyletheaviator]

So I've been searching the forums and found this question asked a few times in threads that contained multiple questions and this one repeatedly got ignored.

I just got an estate pipe on Ebay, (Listed as a Parker Second) with the only stamping being "Made in London England." The pipe is beautiful and there isn't much wear on it at all, BUT there are some cracks on the inside of the bowl. It doesn't appear to be cracks in the cake as the cake is minimal at best, and I've seen this once before. So my question...questions are: Is this repairable or almost a guaranteed burn out? If I take care breaking it in and forming a thick cake at the bottom, where the cracks are, will this help or should i just send it back and eat the shipping fees?

Any help or feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

[irishsmoker]

Post some pics fair warning!

 

[pstlpkr]

I'd use "pipe mud" to fill the cracks, then build the cake.

That would be my suggestion.

 

[cajunguy]

In all the pipes I've worked on, I've come to understand that the cracks aren't all that uncommon. Essentially, they are a result of cake expanding differently than the surrounding stummel. Given that the "danger" zone for cake lay between the thickness of a dime and a nickel, I don't let cake develop over a microscopically thin layer. I don't smoke my pipes hot, so the lack of cake isn't much of an issue.
Lawrence speaks truth, though. Pipe mud will fill them up and protect the chamber. Mix some pipe ash with a miniscule amount of water/spit and rub it into the cracks. Let it set for a day or two and voila.

 

[bigvan]

If the bowl is, indeed, cracked you should send it back. You can get a brand new Parker for around $50 and pipe mud is not a permanent solution.

 

[topd]

If you plan to keep it, I'd just smoke it. If it forms a good cake... Great! If it burns through

just toss it!
TopD

 

[mp31guitar]

I have a GBD that did this also. I'm still smoking it with no problems.

 

[kyletheaviator]

Since posts around these parts aren't any good without some photos!

I'm no photographer, but I tried. It took me a good minute to figure out how to do all this stuff.
EDIT: I'm attempting to resize the photos, but photobucket keeps crashing!

 

[spartan]

Pipe looks fine to me. I don't see any cracks.
The minimal LINE I do see looks like it was made with a pipe tool?
But since you're no photographer maybe I just can't see the cracks. What I do see looks good.
Light her up!

 

[jchaplick]

That looks to be in good to great used condition. I see no cracks at all! Smoke it I say ! :puffpipe:

 

[cortezattic]

The cracks I've experienced are very fine meandering lines of limited scope that seemed to be in the cake, not necessarily in the wood. I think topd and especially cajunguy have this one right. Ignore what you see and just smoke the pipe.
Under normal circumstances (i.e. not a windy day) burn out occurs when a burr, knot or other defect in the wood just below the surface fails to resist the heat of the ember. When these defects are visible the stummel is usually discarded; but if they exist just below the surface nobody will ever see them. So the owner of even the finest pipe can fall victim to burn out in the early days of its use -- but it's rare.

 

[kyletheaviator]

Th picture does make it look better thank the naked eye, but I'll take your advice. I wasn't TOO concerned, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, ya know?
I let you guys know how it smokes after work ::

 

[zanthal]

looks smokable to me, but I would have a backup pipe ::

 

[bailey331]

I fixed a cracked bowl with "pipe cement" and it smokes like a dream. Cheapest peterson I ever bought and coolest to smoke. Search pipe cement on this sight for an forum post on how to make.

 

[beastkhk]

If going the pipe mud/cement route; would you want to open up the cracks a little with a dremel to ensure getting a good amount into the crack? Or leave the crack as is and hope it works itself in?

 

[kf4bsb]

I will throw my $0.02 in as well and say I see no cracks in the bowl based on the pic you shared. I do see cracks in the carbon and/or cake layer, but those do not extend to the wood. I see no problems there.
Wes

rebuiltbriars.com

 

[peteguy]

What you usually see happen on a pipe that has been a bit abused are what they call "fissures". The picture above is not fissuring. The picture below is. When fissuring occurs people will often save the pipe and prevent any further damage with pipe mud. I think that the advice above to use pipe mud was assuming this bowl had fissuring.

 

[beastkhk]

That was more what I had in mind when I was asking do you try to open those really small ones up a little to really get the mud in there. Or slather it on and hope for the best?
I think of a dentist addressing a cavity, some drilling is to remove any remaining nastiness, but I imagine the other part is to have enough surface area for the filling to hold onto.

 

[ericusrex]

Is the crack the fine white horizontal line right in the middle of the pic?

 

[beastkhk]

To clarify, I wasn't suggesting that the OP use pipe mud as I don't see a crack in the first photo. I don't think it would hurt if he did though.
My comment was to question in general, if someone is using pipe mud to fill fissures or cracks should they clean out those cracks or open them up so the mud can grab on/penetrate.
I would think for Peteguy's photo that wouldn't be needed as the fissures are large enough that the mud would work its own way in. I was thinking for smaller ones as a preventive step.