How I Break In A New Pipe

[bent1]

Here’s how I break in a new pipe. First my methodology. If the pipe has a lacquered chamber or is stained, I’ll take 220 -320 grit sand paper & scuff it out, then follow with a QTip moistened with alcohol & wipe til clead. Then set it aside for 12 hrs to dry. If chamber is charcoal coated or bare, I skip this step.

I’ll start with 2-3 bowls of a mild blend such as Prince aAlbert or Carter Hall. Then I’ll try out a straight Virginia, 2-3 bowls. If the Virginias do well, I’ll dedicate it to those blends.

I’ll progress to a VAPER & note it’s performance. Then proceed to a Burley blend & note performance. From there I’ll either go with a light Aromatic or a Oriental / Latakia blend based on which I prefer in the pipe.

NOTES: I prefer this blend regimen as each tobacco type will tend to ghost the pipe in intensity in this progression. In other words, once it has a number of Oriental runs through the pipe, Virginias tend to loose nuance. I’ll stop with the blend type that smokes the best. Sometimes I’ll dedicate to a particular blend. After each bowl, I’ll clean out the stem with pipe cleaners & the bowl with qtips.

Will be interesting to see how other pipers approach this issue.

 

[BROBS]

Here’s how I break in a new pipe. First my methodology. If the pipe has a lacquered chamber or is stained, I’ll take 220 -320 grit sand paper & scuff it out, then follow with a QTip moistened with alcohol & wipe til clead. Then set it aside for 12 hrs to dry. If chamber is charcoal coated or bare, I skip this step.

I’ll start with 2-3 bowls of a mild blend such as Prince aAlbert or Carter Hall. Then I’ll try out a straight Virginia, 2-3 bowls. If the Virginias do well, I’ll dedicate it to those blends.

I’ll progress to a VAPER & note it’s performance. Then proceed to a Burley blend & note performance. From there I’ll either go with a light Aromatic or a Oriental / Latakia blend based on which I prefer in the pipe.

NOTES: I prefer this blend regimen as each tobacco type will tend to ghost the pipe in intensity in this progression. In other words, once it has a number of Oriental runs through the pipe, Virginias tend to loose nuance. I’ll stop with the blend type that smokes the best. Sometimes I’ll dedicate to a particular blend. After each bowl, I’ll clean out the stem with pipe cleaners & the bowl with qtips.

Will be interesting to see how other pipers approach this issue.

how does your inner rim look after you scuff the edge of your finish?
They put that stuff in the chamber for a reason IMO. How can you tell if it's lacquer coated or stained underneath?
I don't feel that it's worth it to mess with.. also you are putting alcohol in a brand new pipe and damaging the wood's characteristics.

 

[bent1]

how does your inner rim look after you scuff the edge of your finish?
They put that stuff in the chamber for a reason IMO. How can you tell if it's lacquer coated or stained underneath?
I don't feel that it's worth it to mess with.. also you are putting alcohol in a brand new pipe and damaging the wood's characteristics.

I wont touch a charcoal coated chamber. But the stain or glossy chamber I’ll scuff away, lightly. Moreso the glossy chamber. I’m careful to not scuff the edge of the rim (pinky finger wrapped with sand paper), and go slow. The process just makes for a quicker / easier breakin (no burning lacquer or stain). Re the alcohol, it doesn’t affect the briar (unless there is a filled pit, which there should not be).

A number of carvers supply their pipes with an unfinished chamber. Key to a good break in with a naked chamber is smoke it slow. If pipe outsides gets hot, let it cool down.

 

[BROBS]

I wont touch a charcoal coated chamber. But the stain or glossy chamber I’ll scuff away, lightly. Moreso the glossy chamber. I’m careful to not scuff the edge of the rim (pinky finger wrapped with sand paper), and go slow. The process just makes for a quicker / easier breakin (no burning lacquer or stain). Re the alcohol, it doesn’t affect the briar (unless there is a filled pit, which there should not be).

A number of carvers supply their pipes with an unfinished chamber. Key to a good break in with a naked chamber is smoke it slow. If pipe outsides gets hot, let it cool down.

usually the glossy coating is actually a type of bowl coating, not lacquer just FYI.

I've broken in plenty of unfinished chambers, I'm saying alcohol effects the silica content of the briar and it's never the same after that.

 

[anotherbob]

Honestly the best break in method from my experience is just to smoke the pipe daily.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Will be interesting to see how other pipers approach this issue.

Not a piper myself but as a pipe smoker I fill the pipe, light it, smoke it, and repeat to break it in.

 

[BROBS]

Honestly the best break in method from my experience is just to smoke the pipe daily.

same here..
I do nothing besides smoke them.. well, run a pipecleaner through first.

 

[olkofri]

Meh, I just smoke it. I leave the coatings alone, and, after my MacQueen pipe that was uncoated and still tastes like burnt wood after so many smokes, I actually prefer them. Any 'excess' coating gets rubbed off when I disinfect the pipe with gin prior to my first smoke anyway. After that it's just pack it and light it. I don't build cakes either.

 

[cigrmaster]

To break in a pipe all I do is fill it to the top then smoke to the bottom. I use flakes for this.

 

[bent1]

Agreed, what i do is time consuming, but I dedicate pipes to how each pipe performs within each of the 5 tobacco categories.

Meers & cobs are unique as they don’t ghost like a briar.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

How I break in a new pipe? Fill it up and smoke it. I've found no reason to do anything different than that.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I still don't understand this idea that a pipe has a range of "breaking in" and after that it is static. A pipe is always in flux. Sure, there is the inaugural smoke, but after that, it is just a pipe, getting closer to needing to be cleaned after each smoke.

I just load it and smoke it right out of the box. The first smoke is my favorite, because it sets that warmed briar taste into my DNA, and kicks in my bonding process.

 

[bent1]

I still don't understand this idea that a pipe has a range of "breaking in" and after that it is static. A pipe is always in flux. Sure, there is the inaugural smoke, but after that, it is just a pipe, getting closer to needing to be cleaned after each smoke.

I just load it and smoke it right out of the box. The first smoke is my favorite, because it sets that warmed briar taste into my DNA, and kicks in my bonding process.

Not a range, goal is to find what blends the pipe smokes best. I’ve found that most blends taste better from the first bowl than trying to overcome the ghost of a different type tobacco. To each their own.

 

[ray47]

I received a new pipe in the mail today. It has a bare bowl BTW. I just loaded the bowl to the top with some good old Prince Albert and lit up. Smoked it slow to the bottom. When done I ran a pipe cleaner thru the stem and shank, bent the p/c in half and swabbed the bowl. I'll let it sit until cool and load it with a different blend I feel like smoking. I like the expression, "Smoke It Like You Stole It".

 

[stevuke79]

I take the pipe and load it up with tobacco and get it good and lit. Then I put a wind cap on it and get into my car. I smoke it as I get on to the highway and I roll down the window... Then roll the pipe up into the window with the stem sticking inside the car and the bowl facing forward. I make sure the window is closed up on it good and tight and then I rev it up to at least 75.

Once I see the windcap start to glow red hot I know the pipe is adequately broken it.

A long time ago I read this response to the same question.. and it was hilarious.. this is not my own creativity..

 

[BROBS]

I still don't understand this idea that a pipe has a range of "breaking in" and after that it is static. A pipe is always in flux. Sure, there is the inaugural smoke, but after that, it is just a pipe, getting closer to needing to be cleaned after each smoke.

I just load it and smoke it right out of the box. The first smoke is my favorite, because it sets that warmed briar taste into my DNA, and kicks in my bonding process.

I personally do about 5 half bowls as I like to get the bottom of the chamber blackened. I have found (no idea why this is) that it does help you to smoke with less dottle later. It’s like it creates an insulating layer.

 

[whsergent]

I try not to buy a pipe with a coating but if it has one i remove it. Smoke a few half bowls of something like CH or PA then smoke 5-6 full bowls in it.

 

[magicpiper]

Fill, smoke, rinse , & repeat.

 

[bent1]

Greg Pease has a paragraph on the issue, question #11.

G. L. Pease - Some Frequently Asked Questions

 

[hauntedmyst]

I put an M80 in the middle of the bowl, sprinkle in tobacco all around till the bowl is filled, light it and step back. Boom. Instant break in, instant cake. Once you get the pipe off the roof, 9 times out of 10, a perfect smoker.