Effects and Properties of Pipe Bowl Shape

[Effortlessdepths]

I just got this Stanwell Brushed Black Rustico with a pot shaped bowl. I was hoping it would have a bowl diameter of .08 inches like it said, but it is definitely just shy of 3/4", but oh well. It's not very deep, and it has a lot of character. I'm breaking it in with Orlik GS and Sutliff Virginia Slices. My question is, does it's distinctive shape and thick walls lend itself any advantages? Disadvantages? Any specific (even if subtle) effects on how it smokes? With specific tobacco types? Just curious if anyone had any insight into this.

 

[FurCoat]

I am no expert and I'm sure more knowledgeable members will chime in soon. Me personally would lend this bowl shape to VAPERs, burley blends or Oriental forward blends. I perfer narrow deep bowls for straight Virgina and wide shallow bowls for English. Sometimes you just have to try blends in them until something stands out, that's the fun part. Nice pipe, I hope you get years of enjoyment from it.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I feel like bowl shape is mostly overhyped, other than the caveat of the mechanics of keeping wide bowls lit without getting them too hot, which could adversely affect some blends more than others. But I don’t know everything, so I’m willing to stand corrected. ?‍

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Narrower bowls are best for flake IMHO. Larger diameter bowls work better for English. You're going to get opinions all over the map. Best is totally subjective with this.

Narrower bowls tend to focus and amplify flavors. Larger diameter bowls allow all the flavors in a more complex blend to come out. A bowl of flake in a huge bowl may take three hours to smoke. I find conical bowls are great for red Virginias, the sugars seem to gather near the narrow bottom. But conical bowls also tend to gather moisture more in the bottom of the bowl.

You need to try different bowl types and see what you prefer.

 

[ChuckMijo]

Personally I never found a difference one way or the other.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Bowl shape affects nothing. Some claim the chamber shape affects flavor profiles though I've never personally experienced it. To me, one blend tastes the same in any non dedicated pipe I put it in.

 

[Briar Baron]

Off topic Chasingembers but why have you written in Japanese what you usually have there in English? (do you have many Japanese followers?) I lived in Japan for 11 years, graduated from Japanese University etc etc etc)

 

[Chasing Embers]

Off topic Chasingembers but why have you written in Japanese what you usually have there in English? (do you have many Japanese followers?) I lived in Japan for 11 years, graduated from Japanese University etc etc etc)

Nope. I keep getting them and just assumed they couldn't read English so I tried a different approach.

 

[sablebrush52]

I've smoked just about every kind of blend in every kind of pipe and have found no particular advantage to any chamber/blends type combo. Makes for interesting debates that go nowhere.
There was a site a few years ago, A Passion For Pipes, that had a couple of articles on the effects of chamber geometry that were an interesting read. I found it more useful in relationship to packing and cadence than chamber/blend type.
My experience is that moisture levels have a more profound effect than anything else.

 

[rajangan]

I've noticed carbon doesn't build up on clay pipes. Is this related to diameter at all, or is it just a part of the nature of clay pipes?

 

[olkofri]

Nope. I keep getting them and just assumed they couldn't read English so I tried a different approach.

Try futhark next. ?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Try futhark next. ?

I actually read runes.

 

[Capt Morgan]

Nice pipe, I just got the same style with in a bent billiard. Mine is a deep bowl and I am impressed with the heat dispersion. It's a good smoke.

 

[mso489]

I have one of those Stanwell pot shapes. Did you know the design is by the much renowned pipe carver Sixten Iverson? The only effect of chamber shape that I have experienced is that I feel broader bowls do better by blends with many components, like five or six tobaccos, by spreading them more and getting more flavors in the ember at once. I have not noticed any difference between conical and cylindrical bowls, for example, but others may have. I think Virginia leaf smokers have preferences, but I'll let them speak for themselves.

 

[cigrmaster]

I could care less about bowl shape. If I pack my pipe right then it it is going to smoke great. Whenever I pick a blend to smoke and then pick the pipe, I never put bowl shape into the equation, We all have our idiosyncrasies, some are freakier than others. Mine are all quite normal. Just ask my shrink, he'll tell you I am not that crazy.

 

[americaman]

Bowl shape affects nothing. Some claim the chamber shape affects flavor profiles though I've never personally experienced it. To me, one blend tastes the same in any non dedicated pipe I put it in.

After chasing pipes with a chamber diameter of 0.75 and under for Virginias, and bowls 0.80 and up for English blends, I have found that it doesn’t matter, at least for Virginias. I have a large Barling EXEXEL and a Joura with a chamber diameter of nearly an inch wide, and both of those are my best pipes for Virginia blends. I have become a fan of large pipes.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I have become a fan of large pipes.

Amazing arent they??

 

[Perique]

I’ve read many articles and opinions on this and I think I’m in the camp of “it doesn’t matter” or, if it does, it’s barely perceptible.

Much more impactful, IMO, is dedicating certain pipes to certain genres/styles of blends to maximize the flavor profiles of each without ghosting / cross-contamination of incompatible (or, at least, non-optimally compatible) flavors.

 

[edger]

Both my Savinelli's have a modified cone shaped chambers. Best of both worlds in my opinion.

 

[Effortlessdepths]

I've smoked just about every kind of blend in every kind of pipe and have found no particular advantage to any chamber/blends type combo. Makes for interesting debates that go nowhere.
There was a site a few years ago, A Passion For Pipes, that had a couple of articles on the effects of chamber geometry that were an interesting read. I found it more useful in relationship to packing and cadence than chamber/blend type.
My experience is that moisture levels have a more profound effect than anything else.

Make no mistake folks, I don't think there is a huge effect, but there has to be an effect when if it's subtle, since the shape is a variable. Sable, when you mentioned the shape's effect on packing and cadence, my logic/intuition said that that is probably the only realm where the chamber/pipe/bowl shape actually does have an effect, though probably a subtle one. Could we shift the discussion that way? Can anyone elaborate on that?