Mortise Muck

[edger]

Just a post to thank youse guys for making me more aware of mortise muck. I have been less than fastidious about cleaning the mortise on my pipes, being satisfied with running a pipe cleaner after each smoke, but being reluctant to remove the stem.
Now I break the pipes down and use Everclear and a q-tip to clean the gap between the stem and the reduced drilling of the channel in the shank.
I’m not sure I notice the difference but there is no reason to leave a buildup of that schmut.
Thanks!!

 

[edger]

Just a post to thank youse guys for making me more aware of mortise muck. I have been less than fastidious about cleaning the mortise on my pipes, being satisfied with running a pipe cleaner after each smoke, but being reluctant to remove the stem.
Now I break the pipes down and use Everclear and a q-tip to clean the gap between the stem and the reduced drilling of the channel in the shank.
I’m not sure I notice the difference but there is no reason to leave a buildup of that schmut.
Thanks!!

That should read schmutz, but spellcheck is Palestinian.

 

[Brendan]

Great post, I'm in the same boat thinking running a pipe cleaner and wiping the bowl were enough, better buy some alcohol. (unless vodka would work also?)
Better to keep ahead of the gunk, then try to rectify it months down the line.
This forum is great ?

 

[Brendan]

I like the sound of mortise muck, sounds like either an insult, an alternative to swearing or Donald Duck's poor, unhygenic cousin.

 

[edger]

Great post, I'm in the same boat thinking running a pipe cleaner and wiping the bowl were enough, better buy some alcohol. (unless vodka would work also?)
Better to keep ahead of the gunk, then try to rectify it months down the line.
This forum is great ?

Ever clear is potent and evaporates quickly. I recommend it. You’ll be amazed at how much crap is removed. Don’t, however, get it on the outer stem or the stummel itself.
Somehow I thought breaking down the pipe too often was a bad idea, being a certified codger, but I’ve had some pipes for 50 years and it appears they’ll outlive me!
Thanks for responding.

 

[Brendan]

No worries, thanks for advice as I was cautious of wearing out the mortise over time, not sure why now as I'm always slow and steady when removing.
I like the idea of using my main pipe for for the rest of my life (mid 30's right now) and keeping it in tip top shape for the great grand kids to inherit one day, like we do now with 80-100 year old estates.
I think I'll go smoke a bowl now ?

 

[anotherbob]

I fold over a pipe cleaner to get that area swabed now and I can tell a difference. Everything tastes clearer and a boozed up q-tip every so often too. Pretty much swab it out after every smoke. Started with a filter pipe because it was just so obvious how much gunk was there. And now do it with all the pipes.

 

[mingc]

I clean the mortise every time I clean the shank. I've seen to many caked up mortises in estate pipes to want to my pipes to end up that way.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Everclear does work well. Flushing withy water after every smoke works better for me. I have many pipes with over 100 bowls smoked that have only been broken down once and smoke fresh.

 

[karam]

I always push a twisted paper towel through the shank until I can see it peaking from the draft hole, and continue twisting the paper, then repeat once, that's usually the dirtiest part of my pipes.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

I've been following the many excellent suggestions from memnbers on this forum. I do use a paper towel to clean the inside of the bowl.

I wait to disassemble after the pipe has cooled and learned that the military or soldier stem was invented so the pipe could be disassembled immediately after smoking.

While I am interested in the Peterson "sysyerm" pipe, it sounds like it could require more detailed cleaning.

 

[coming to_falling too]

I've been following the many excellent suggestions from memnbers on this forum. I do use a paper towel to clean the inside of the bowl.

I wait to disassemble after the pipe has cooled and learned that the military or soldier stem was invented so the pipe could be disassembled immediately after smoking.

While I am interested in the Peterson "sysyerm" pipe, it sounds like it could require more detailed cleaning.

I like my systems. After a smoke I just take a paper towel and twist it into the well and dry it up like that. Then just clean it like normal.

 

[kcghost]

I think I need to start doing this or something like it.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Oh, and I figured this out on my own, I insert the pipe cleaner ibefore using the paper town to prevent debris from getting into the shank/stem.

 

[Charlie718]

Great post, would you guys recommend the bristled mortise brushes? Even though I run a folded pipe cleaner through them after every smoke it doesn’t seem to remove everything but the wire bristles look like they will scratch the mortise making it easier for buildup to happen down the road.

 

[niblicck]

Great post, would you guys recommend the bristled mortise brushes? Even though I run a folded pipe cleaner through them after every smoke it doesn’t seem to remove everything but the wire bristles look like they will scratch the mortise making it easier for buildup to happen down the road.

I prefer a q-tip over a plastic bristled brush and would not use a wire bristled myself. Once I get and estate cleaned using everclear (190 proof grain alcohol) then I'll switch over to a 25% lemon juice mixed with 75% water for cleaning pipe internals and stem after each smoke. I made this switch because I could pick up the everclear taste when smoking using it as a regular cleaner.

 

[bullet08]

Usually clean that area two, three times during the smoke. I'm not anal about cleaning, but that's where the moisture gathers before going into the chamber. I like my smoke dry, and don't mind carefully taking stem off during smoke.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Kaywoodie 13b does gather moisture

 

[mingc]

Great post, would you guys recommend the bristled mortise brushes? Even though I run a folded pipe cleaner through them after every smoke it doesn’t seem to remove everything but the wire bristles look like they will scratch the mortise making it easier for buildup to happen down the road.

No wire anything near my pipes! For mortises, I use twisted paper towels, folded pipe cleaners and/or nylon brushes, and either water or isopropyl alcohol.

 

[anotherbob]

I've been following the many excellent suggestions from memnbers on this forum. I do use a paper towel to clean the inside of the bowl.

I wait to disassemble after the pipe has cooled and learned that the military or soldier stem was invented so the pipe could be disassembled immediately after smoking.

While I am interested in the Peterson "sysyerm" pipe, it sounds like it could require more detailed cleaning.

I say you can take the stem out when done. But if it is offering more resistance then normal then wait. If the resistance is not noticeably different then normal good to go. The military mount from my understanding was more a repair job using shells (not sea by the way) to fix broken shanks as on ole jury rigging. It just happened to have some great advantages.