Last night whilst enjoying a bowl of Germain's Rich Dark Flake I had a eureka moment. The particular pipe I was using is one that consistently gives me a good smoke, one which most reveals what flavours a particular blend has to offer. This pipe also has a unique feature the like of which I have never seen before in a pipe and that is that it has not one but two draught holes! Both of these draught holes are aluminium sleeved too. I have only ever seen that once afore in a Hardcastle Bruyere bent billiard. The pipe with two draught holes by the way is a Swiss made 'Bernina' 659 bent billiard with horn stem, truly a fantastic smoker.
I realized it was such a good smoker due to the combined draught hole diameters being more than the usual 3.5mm that most of my pipes tend to have. I have read here & elsewhere of folks increasing the diameter by a very small amount and stating that the pipe was transformed from a mediocre smoker to a stunning smoker so thought I would give it a go.
I selected a rather nice Peterson blasted bent pot as my guinea pig. This pipe smokes ok but only ok, it is nothing special in that regard. I got out my Bosch cordless drill and set of bits and went to work. It is very important to first get an idea of the draught hole diameter as it is before you do any drilling. I did this by sliding in (by hand) various sized bits until I felt resistance, then make a mental note of that drill size. In this particular instance just under 4mm was my size. I then selected the next size up which was 4.5mm (4.78mm according to my digital calipers).
For the next part it must be stressed, unless you are confident and familiar with power tools, do not use a power drill, use a T handle to hold the bit or use a vice. I selected the screwdriver function on the Bosch as opposed to the drilling function. The reasons are twofold, one the drill moves much more slowly and two you have much more torque, both make the task that much more controllable. Also important to remember particularly on a bent pipe is to work out the angle of the draught hole in relation to the bowl. A straight pipe would be much easier to work on.
I set the drill going at a slow speed and with the stummel firmly gripped I started to drill into the shank being careful to get the tip of the bit right on the existing hole. I drilled SLOWLY and withdrew the bit often to clear the flutes and check accuracy. So far so good. After a few moments shavings started to appear in the bowl so I slowed down even more until the tip of the bit finally popped through which is where I stopped and withdrew the bit. I tapped out the shavings and refitted the stem.
For a trial tobacco I selected Rattray's Old Gowrie, a relative newcomer to my baccy box and one which I was struggling to define properly. Well what a surprise, once lit that blend just burst open in the bowl with flavours that had eluded me in other pipes, the Peterson included! Also noted as the bowl progressed was no relights were required once the burn was established and it seemed to smoke drier so a win win for such little effort.
This morning I did the same to a Comoy's Everyman curved Dublin and am now smoking a bowl of Elizabethan Mixture in it and again, the flavours are pouring out!
I am so pleased I tried this and would recommend folks give it a go if they have a restricted draught hole but it has to be stressed, patience and a careful hand are imperative for this task. Remember, one can (easily) remove briar but one cannot replace it.
I now have a whole load of work to do to open up the draw on all of my pipes...ho hum :
:
Regards,
Jay.
I realized it was such a good smoker due to the combined draught hole diameters being more than the usual 3.5mm that most of my pipes tend to have. I have read here & elsewhere of folks increasing the diameter by a very small amount and stating that the pipe was transformed from a mediocre smoker to a stunning smoker so thought I would give it a go.
I selected a rather nice Peterson blasted bent pot as my guinea pig. This pipe smokes ok but only ok, it is nothing special in that regard. I got out my Bosch cordless drill and set of bits and went to work. It is very important to first get an idea of the draught hole diameter as it is before you do any drilling. I did this by sliding in (by hand) various sized bits until I felt resistance, then make a mental note of that drill size. In this particular instance just under 4mm was my size. I then selected the next size up which was 4.5mm (4.78mm according to my digital calipers).
For the next part it must be stressed, unless you are confident and familiar with power tools, do not use a power drill, use a T handle to hold the bit or use a vice. I selected the screwdriver function on the Bosch as opposed to the drilling function. The reasons are twofold, one the drill moves much more slowly and two you have much more torque, both make the task that much more controllable. Also important to remember particularly on a bent pipe is to work out the angle of the draught hole in relation to the bowl. A straight pipe would be much easier to work on.
I set the drill going at a slow speed and with the stummel firmly gripped I started to drill into the shank being careful to get the tip of the bit right on the existing hole. I drilled SLOWLY and withdrew the bit often to clear the flutes and check accuracy. So far so good. After a few moments shavings started to appear in the bowl so I slowed down even more until the tip of the bit finally popped through which is where I stopped and withdrew the bit. I tapped out the shavings and refitted the stem.
For a trial tobacco I selected Rattray's Old Gowrie, a relative newcomer to my baccy box and one which I was struggling to define properly. Well what a surprise, once lit that blend just burst open in the bowl with flavours that had eluded me in other pipes, the Peterson included! Also noted as the bowl progressed was no relights were required once the burn was established and it seemed to smoke drier so a win win for such little effort.
This morning I did the same to a Comoy's Everyman curved Dublin and am now smoking a bowl of Elizabethan Mixture in it and again, the flavours are pouring out!
I am so pleased I tried this and would recommend folks give it a go if they have a restricted draught hole but it has to be stressed, patience and a careful hand are imperative for this task. Remember, one can (easily) remove briar but one cannot replace it.
I now have a whole load of work to do to open up the draw on all of my pipes...ho hum :
:Regards,
Jay.
