So I got a decent deal on an estate pipe but it has what appears to be a Lane 1Q ghost. I specifically got this pipe to smoke ennerdale in, do y'all that enjoy ennderdale think it's worth my time to try to exercise this ghost or should I just smoke ennerdale out of it as is?
Estate pipe ghost
- Thread starter Ope!
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Ennerdale will out-gun any blend ever invented. You're armed with heavy artillery. Just keep smoking, you'll see.
It's new, I just started smoking pipes in September and recently bought my first tin of Ennerdale then after I tried it stocked up on as much as I could in my budget.
Were it from a couple of years ago it would've completely overpowered any ghosting. The newer stuff isn't as potent so you may wish to leave some wet coffee grounds in the pipe's chamber for a few days to neutralize the residual caramel/vanilla before smoking the Ennerdale.
I agree that Ennerdale will out ghost 1Q, but what if you want to get rid of the Ennerdale ghost? Learning how to get rid of, or minimize ghosts is a useful skill.
Basically you need to clean the hell out of the pipe, scrubbing out the airway until there's no staining on your pipe cleaner when it's left to dry out in the airway. That can take a LOT of pipe cleaners, but it can be done. Once you have cleaned the airway, removed the old existing cake, performed a couple of S?A treatments, and possibly used a boiling alcohol retort treatment, you've made a good start at getting rid of particularly stubborn ghosts.
Let the pipe thoroughly dry out, and lightly moisten a fluffy with alcohol, insert into the airway and hang the pipe, stem side down, for a day, until the fluffie has completely dried out. Then repeat again and again, as with each repeat more oil deposits are being leached out of the wood. After a week or two of this, following all of the other stuff, your pipe will be reasonably neutral.
There are other, less laborious methods, but I don't remember them off the top of my head. Doing some research will turn them up.
If you don't want to do that, just pack the fucking Ennerdale and enjoy!
I find that with estate pipes the airways often present more of a problem than the chambers
Check out the mortise and shank with a really strong light.
If there is crud in there, and it is very likely there will be, you can use alcohol soaked cleaners and q-tips.
But you will likely need lots. And patience.
I've found that using small drill bits or jeweller's screwdrivers or dental picks to ream out the crud will save a lot of time and effort. Not to mention alcohol and cleaners
I follow that with shank brushes and liquid soap.
Then alcohol soaked cleaners.
And dry really well before filling and lighting up.,
Check out the mortise and shank with a really strong light.
If there is crud in there, and it is very likely there will be, you can use alcohol soaked cleaners and q-tips.
But you will likely need lots. And patience.
I've found that using small drill bits or jeweller's screwdrivers or dental picks to ream out the crud will save a lot of time and effort. Not to mention alcohol and cleaners
I follow that with shank brushes and liquid soap.
Then alcohol soaked cleaners.
And dry really well before filling and lighting up.,
This works. I have a small diameter bristle brush (bought at Boswells Pipe Shop in PA). I dip it in alcohol, scrub the airway, drip, clean on a paper towel, dip, scrub again. I do this until the paper towel wipe is clean. It beats using 50 bristle pipe cleaners, by my experience. (my restoration log just hit 406 pipes, so I do this a lot!)
Ive used Mikes method and had success with it. But don't get any on the finish. Someone told me coffee can stain the finish.