Kaywoodie Stinger Question...

[Keitha]

I have an old Kaywoodie that I really enjoy. It has the stinger as shown. My question is: What is the purpose of the round ball on the end? It has 4 holes in it (you can only see two in the picture, but two more are on the underside). The ball is hollow and the 4 holes all interconnect. What they Do Not do is add anything to the draw. The only hole that draws at all is the larger hole that my pen points to. The narrow tapered part of the stringer appears to be solid.

 

[bullet08]

That's old English ear cleaner. In case your ear itches while smoking.

In honest truth, I think that's condenser to condense moisture at that point to be dropped into mortise without causing gurgle.

 

[sablebrush52]

Kaywoodie claimed, as did other makers from the Age of Stingers, that the condenser cooled the smoke before it reached the smoker's mouth.

 

[ashdigger]

All the hole draw. Remember it’s in a shank.

Kaywoodie four hole stingers are great. Their other versions are trash. There are some seriously jacked up stingers out there.

 

[Keitha]

All the hole draw. Remember it’s in a shank.

Kaywoodie four hole stingers are great. Their other versions are trash. There are some seriously jacked up stingers out there.

I was about to disagree, but I think I get what you are saying. The ball "seals up" at the end of the shank and the draw if from the hole by the pen, then is pulled through the holes on the ball end.

You have enlightened me!

 

[craig61a]

The object is to disrupt the air flow. The stream of moisture laden smoke passing across the sharp edges of the holes causes the moisture to condense. the widening and restriction of the inner draw also has an effect on condensing moisture (Venturi/Bernoulli effect), as does the metal to some degree.

Now I suppose there can be some debate as to how effective this is as far as cooling/drying the smoke. Indeed, there have been other contraptions over the decades, as someone has tried to develop a better mousetrap.

One of my particular favorites is the Byford Condenser...



I do flush my Byford pipes with water after smoking them in order to get all the tar out.