Estate Dunhill Pipe Over-Reamed With Small Cracks In Briar Will It Burn Out?

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bluegrasspipe

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 13, 2017
621
192
I recently bought this pipe from smoking pipes estates, it's my birth year Dunhill, a 1975 PO blackbriar, (it isn't so black anymore which adds some character IMO).
If you look at the small crack on the left of the bowl you could probably put the tip of a pin in there. (I was unable get a better picture of it). The second picture you can see where they over-reamed into the wood. I am wondering if I should make some pipe mud to coat this bowl. (I have never tried that before).
I think it will be fine, but the little cracks in the wood where they reamed all of the cake off is a little discerning. I have smoked it already and plan to carefully build cake and I think it will do just fine, although I want to avoid a burnout. I thought I would see what some of you think. Thanks fellas. :sher:

858385848588
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Our pipe repair and restoration guys will know best. I'd only say that this illustrates the damage that can be done by amateur reaming. As most know, it is possible to maintain a thin carbon layer without building cake or needing to own a reamer. But if you do ream, do so in a measured way, carefully, as you learn what you are doing. Reaming is "fun," so invites overzealous effort.
 

lightmybriar

Lifer
Mar 11, 2014
1,315
1,838
I have a 1957 Shell Briar with worse than that inside and it’s been a fine and faithful smoker for five or so years now. With bowl issues like that, there is no certain way to tell.
 
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bluegrasspipe

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 13, 2017
621
192
Thanks for the information guys. Do you know if it’s normal for cracks to develop in an older briar under the cake?!
 

bluegrasspipe

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 13, 2017
621
192
l bet those marks are from the previous owner not smokingpipes.
@BROBS I definitely don’t think smoking pipes caused any of the over reaming or cracks. I do think they are heat fissures that were possibly formed under the cake. And I think I would rather carefully build cake rather than coat the bowl.
That being said @georged I really appreciated the video series, that is an awesome way to coat a bowl for protection.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
A loving going-over by a restoration pro might give the pipe another few generations of use. Someone who has looked at a thousand pipes would have a good idea of what it needs. I'd at least look into this. Might not be strictly necessary, but if the pipe has some "process" going, you'd be unhappy. Pipe people are unlikely to charge you for anything unnecessary.
 
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Oct 7, 2016
2,451
5,195
The @georged method is no doubt the gold standard of heat stress repair. That said, I have a couple of pipes that I got from SP that were described as having “mild carbonization.” On receipt, I could see what they were referring to, but I couldn’t feel any depression in the wood, so I just smoked them. No evidence of any issue now. Any grayish spider webbing needs to be watched carefully, of course.
 
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Oct 7, 2016
2,451
5,195
It’s called Spider webbing, go to the hardware store and buy a tube of Fireplace mortar repair, clean inside of bowl, mix a little repair stuff, and spread it around then take dry towel and gently run it around inside bowl leaving mix to fill minute cracks. Let dry and smoke your heart away.
I almost mentioned fireplace cement, but decided not to since the last tube I bought came with so many warnings I figured the mere mention of it would be controversial. Not sure about everything that flies under that label nowadays, but what I use is sodium silicate based. The bottle of sodium silicilate I got from Amazon a few years back has no warnings whatsoever, unlike the skull and crossbones on the bottle in the video.
 

craig61a

Lifer
Apr 29, 2017
5,765
47,543
Minnesota USA
I usually just spin a shotgun cleaning brush inside by hand to get rid of most the crud. You can get a better look at crack. Smear the inside with maple syrup and fill the bowl with powdered activated charcoal. Let it sit overnight. Dump it out. Let pipe rest for a few days and smoke it like you are breaking in a new pipe. Let it rest a day or two between smokes.

The cracks might still be visible, but the coating will fill in the bare briar providing protection and over time the chamber will even out.
 

dgetzin

Lurker
Jul 14, 2018
12
5
My reaction to this video:

YouTuber as Springfield High School's Mr. Dondelinger teaching Remedial Science 1A:
"Now I'm going to uh, burn this donut to show you how many calories it has."

Me as Homer:
"nnNOOOOO!"

Video as Dondelinger:
"The bright-blue flame indicates this was a particularly SWEET donut."

Me as Homer:
"This can't be happening… (gasping sobs) This CAN'T be HAPpening!"

Another option is shown in a video series by our member Georged. I'd say this is the way to go, if you want to be assured, that the the spot will not grow any burnout. Here is a link to part one.

 
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