Cure Your Wet Smoking Pipe
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It shouldn't make much of a difference- I filled a pipe bowl with water for 24 hours and weighed it afterwards- it gained 1 gram from the water soaking in and within 24 hours was back to normal.
I use 5/32" - or 4mm. That seems to work pretty well. You can control the resistance of draw by packing tighter...Also, resistance is controlled by the smallest diameter in the shank/stem- you can have 5mm on the shank and 4mm on the stem, and that 4mm is going to control the resistance and airflow. That's why it's important to get a nice funnel shape on the end of the stem.
That kind of leads into the reverse calabash conversation- the open chamber tends to allow damp smoke to condense in the chamber as it passes through...(and acts as a nice moisture trap to prevent it from getting to the stem....)
Zack, please make sure you make the shank of that Meer you are making for me has a 4.3579 mm opening. Anything other than that and I am not paying you.
Shank opening draft hole opening and how stem inside airway is finished play a big deal on how dry or wet pipe will smoke.
Aromatics excepted, (and because I have not enough experience with them), all good tobaccos I smoke will go to the bottom when they are properly dried
Not talking bad tasting smokes, nor was I addressing gurgling per se. I should have said "wet or funky". The idea behind this was to further cure the briar by the introduction of high heat where it'll do the most good in driving out moisture: the bottom half of the chamber.
Is anyone going to try this? Cost: diligence in smoking to the bottom fairly dry tobacco for a month or so. Payoff: Possibly turning a poor smoker into a good one.
"Almost any pipe will benefit from having the airway and stem opened- it doesn't change the amount of moisture in the smoke, it's just not condensing on the walls of the pipe."
Blasting out stummels and stems is a great form of entertainment for me. 5/32" is my sweet spot as well.
Blasting out stummels and stems is a great form of entertainment for me. 5/32" is my sweet spot as well.
Got you. As always, a thread goes in many different directions.
Noted. It's actually a good concrete advice. I don't feel experienced enough to try it. Obviously will have to master proper drying first to be able to get all the way down the bowl. When I don't smoke OTC crap ofcourse. :D
Hah! You certainly sound like one who's open to trying "new" things, so I look forward to your posts on this eventually.
Haha, I'm defenitely open to anything, as long as it is enjoyable. I'm learning from the most experienced pipe smokers on the world, it's an honour. :D
The thing is it's hard to say what went wrong when a smoke is "wet and funky". My main problem is I'm a wet smoker (drooling excesively during smoking, a dentist confirmed it's different from person to person and there's hardly any solution). Tobacco is sometimes too wet. If it's too dry its flavour is reduced and therefore less enjoyable. Other time I'm sipping too fast or there's just any other unknown reason that will make smoking wet.
I've just smoked a bowl of Nightcap, which is definitely one of the best. There was still some dottle at the end, close to none but can't deny it. But hey, it tasted good, much better to dump a minimal dottle then to overdry it and burn it to the very last bit.
You probably know better how to define a wet smoking pipe and to be sure it's just a pipe's "fault".
Like Zack mentioned, I prefer an open airway as I think they smoke much better that way. I have drilled out over two dozen pipes to Rick Newcombe’s specifications and I must say that I’m totally sold! Give it a try! Not only will it fix most gurgling problems but the pipe basically smokes itself.
I can use a smoking machine with some totally dried out tobacco that I absolutely do not care to taste:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoBGau9623I
Or, pay the boys next door to smoke that for me, just to make sure that they don't smoke too fast to burn the pipe. :nana:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoBGau9623I
Or, pay the boys next door to smoke that for me, just to make sure that they don't smoke too fast to burn the pipe. :nana:
Just saw the video! A more useless but clever works I've seldom seen.
Hiring out to break in pipes was done in the 19th C in Paris, for sure, and probably London.
Hiring out to break in pipes was done in the 19th C in Paris, for sure, and probably London.
Jpmcwjr...
Let them enjoy their soggy pipes. :nana:
I smoke Carter Hall, and the last pouch I smoked lasted me a long time. The pouch dried out and was bone dry for at least 15 bowls. Granted, I'm smoking a cob, but I could tell the difference in moisture.
It doesn't even take that many bowls to make a difference. What I do, is take a dry dry bowls worth, pack it, and leave it in the bowl for a while. It soaks up the moisture.
Let them enjoy their soggy pipes. :nana:
I smoke Carter Hall, and the last pouch I smoked lasted me a long time. The pouch dried out and was bone dry for at least 15 bowls. Granted, I'm smoking a cob, but I could tell the difference in moisture.
It doesn't even take that many bowls to make a difference. What I do, is take a dry dry bowls worth, pack it, and leave it in the bowl for a while. It soaks up the moisture.
OK, OK..... Is there not one experimental and brave soul who is trying this (the OP, not the crap about enlarging airways)?
I might. I have had a few bland smokes lately, and I am inclined to blame it on steam. So I just might do this. Especially with my bent Stanwell dublin shape. I am not a heavy smoker, so I'll let y'all know in a couple of years...
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