That's an above average facial carving imo. A lot of them seem rather mundane, but that one is a bit more impressive in its features.
I usually just use a tamper with a flat, circular bottom and just scrape around in there till I get it to my liking. 
I do too with a pipe cleaner doubled over. If you smoke it enough, you will develop cake regardless of what you do in my experience.
I’d be astonished if you didn’t have to ream before you hit 500 bowls. That pipe pictured has had at least 500 bowls through it and I’ve cut the cake back multiple times. It’s hard to get a good pic of it though and the cake in person looks well trimmed. For some reason in the picture it looks super thick.
I thought maybe you accidentally posted the before picture, it sure looks thick in the picture.
I also cram a paper towel and twist after every bowl full. I have had to ream every now and then but I don't keep track of the amount of bowls I've smoked in it.
No apologies necessary as I didn’t read your post as argumentative. I would be very interested to see the results. I’ve also noticed that with my cake I can tend to get weird rings or ridges in there. It’s probably due to uneven pressure from the pipe cleaner? It would make sense that the pipe cleaner sheds more cotton fibers than a paper towel but I’m not sure. I’ve only been smoking a pipe for a few years so I’m no expert. 500 is just an estimate. I’ve had the pipe since Jan of 2022 so it’s really not many bowls. It’s about 1 bowl a day on average. This pipe has seen a lot of 3-4 bowl days and then 3-4 days of smoking other pipes. Just depends on what I’m in the mood for
I don’t exactly track the bowl count either it was just an estimate. Darn maybe paper towel is the way to go then. I seem to have more pipe cleaners on hand than paper towels as my wife goes through them quickly. I probably had to start cutting cake back at around 300 bowls or so even with the post smoke pipe cleaner wipe down. I remember Duane says he uses a moist baby wipe or wet paper towel but I have just been sticking with my tried and true. I’ve mostly smoked SWR regular in this pipe and I think most of the OTCs build cake like nobody’s business. That could be a factor as well.I also cram a paper towel and twist after every bowl full. I have had to ream every now and then but I don't keep track of the amount of bowls I've smoked in it.
No apologies necessary as I didn’t read your post as argumentative. I would be very interested to see the results. I’ve also noticed that with my cake I can tend to get weird rings or ridges in there. It’s probably due to uneven pressure from the pipe cleaner? It would make sense that the pipe cleaner sheds more cotton fibers than a paper towel but I’m not sure. I’ve only been smoking a pipe for a few years so I’m no expert. 500 is just an estimate. I’ve had the pipe since Jan of 2022 so it’s really not many bowls. It’s about 1 bowl a day on average. This pipe has seen a lot of 3-4 bowl days and then 3-4 days of smoking other pipes. Just depends on what I’m in the mood for
Haha for sure. This one really only sees swr or Pegasus with other burley blends sometimes as well. That’s what I’m smoking most of the time. I pretty much only smoke burleys out of my meers and briars and virginias/vapers out of my cobs. I have a Louis bent mm cob that smokes any va/vaper beautifully for whatever reason. Don’t question the pipe gods in their infinite wisdom.
My Grabow year, needed reaming every 30 bowls or so. Once you let it grow, it can really take off.
