Military Mounts and Tenon-Mortise Gap

[pitchfork]

Quick question. Do all or most pipes with a military mount have a sizable tenon-mortise gap, and thus a tendency to produce turbulence and condensation?
I only have the one (an Ashton), and it tends to smoke wet. Rarely does the moisture cause a gurgle, but the smoke stream is noticeably damp and the mortise area is ALWAYS wet when I'm done.
What's the deal?

 

[pitchfork]

Roth, mine has a vulcanite stem that sticks into the briar mortise. There is a silver cap on the end of the shank, but it doesn't extend into the mortise/shank opening in any way.
This isn't mine (a prince/apple), but it looks like this at the shank:

 

[kashmir]

Yeah, I've got Petes with both types. Metal on metal spigot and acrylic on briar with a metal mortise cap. Both smoke wetter than my regulars. May be the turbulence of this second chamber. No gurgle, but a swamp to clean out afterwards.

 

[pitchfork]

Thanks, Kashmir. That suggests there's nothing "wrong" with my pipe.
BTW, what the heck happened over at smokersforums.uk? And why are they so serious about not mentioning it -- EVER (for the good of the hive, of course)?

 

[kashmir]

Pitchfork, that's one hell of a nice Ashton. I'm green with envy. And that Cumberland swirl improv is outta sight. Wow! Regarding SFUK my lips are sealed under penalty of death. Suffice it to say I had to walk the plank to prevent cardiac arrest of a pair of senior members. I tend not to mince words, and do not suffer fool's lightly. That about sums it up.

 

[pitchfork]

Kashmir, that's funny about SFUK -- don't blame you for being candid, whatever it was about. Strange place.
Anyhow, sorry to make you "green" with envy. That Ashton isn't mine. Mine has an ordinary black stem:

 

[kashmir]

Well, your blast makes up for the stem. LOL. These pipes always trap moisture in the mortise for me. Like I said before no gurgle but a mess to clean up. On the upside you can readily break the pipe mid smoke with no worries.

 

[tbradsim1]

Pitch take a picture of the hole in the tendon, I"m wondering about a fix. The old cajun

 

[pitchfork]

OK, I'll take a picture in the morning sometime.

 

[pitchfork]

Here 'tis, Bradley.

 

[tbradsim1]

Thank you pitch, I was thinking that the tendon hole was small allowing the flow to restrict and thereby condensing creating your moisture problem but it looks like that is not the problem, sometimes the tendons are the problem, plenty big Sorry. The old cajun

 

[pitchfork]

No problem at all. The hole was too small when I got it. I funneled it myself and it made a big improvement. Great minds think alike, apparently. The Young Tar Heel.

 

[tbradsim1]

Pitch I have a Dunhill Black Briar that has a draw hole you could load a 38 caliber bullet in it, what I did was cut a small pipe cleaner , made a small circle and shoved it in the tendon hole up to the hole,made it smoke a little better, I"m wondering if something like that would absorb the moisture and help your smoke out, just brainstorming without a brain. LOL. The old cajun

 

[kashmir]

Pitch, I did that with my military mount Peterson's. I funneled it the way you did. Helped out a lot!

 

[ssjones]

I only have one, a Silver spigot Ferndown with metal to metal. Perhaps I'm lucky, but even with a full bent, it smokes dry, similar to my other Ferndown. I was worried the metal-to-metal contact would make the stem loose in cooler weather but found when smoked the fitment is quite snug. (my workshop is usually in the high 50's during the coldest days of winter)

 

[zonomo]

What do you mean by military mount? Versus a regular mortise and tendon?

 

[nsfisher]

I have a Sav with a Cumberland stem. I also cut about 1" piece of pipe cleaner and insert it in the tenon and shank just before lighting. It has a tendancy to smoke wet and this cures it.

 

[cigrmaster]

I only have one military mount pipe with a Cumberland stem which is also a Sav. It smokes dry but it is a bitch to clean. It is the reason I will never buy another military mount pipe. Here is a pic of it.