Had no idea, but makes sense to put on a metal cover to repair a cracked shank
Mortise Muck
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at least that's the story/myth(?) that I heard. Makes sense and no harm if it's not true. I really like military mount and when I smoke my one pipe with one it's not hard to imagine the shank was once a bullet casing.
I have a few 50-100yo estate pipes. Believe me some have taken me several hours to clear the mortise and airways of accumulated mortise muck.
Obviously well-loved and smoked to death, but they were so dirty and clogged up that I can't believe their previous owners got any enjoyment from those pipes. They must have been smoking for the nicotine alone, as the flavour would have been putrid
Glad I dug and found this thread! The stem of my Savinelli Mattone 601 bent billiard has been getting more difficult to remove from the shank. It's a young pipe (less than two years old, and no more than 50 bowls smoked in all), but it is my dedicated aromatic pipe after all, so I suppose I should've expected mortise muck to be culpable here. It didn't look like much at first glance, but I can see by how common a problem this is that I should get some Everclear and go for a deep clean.
Question: how long should I let it dry out for?
Question: how long should I let it dry out for?
no real dry time. Not if you q-tip it out. More of a how many q-tips will you need then drying time.
Yep, that makes sense. Just re-watched Muttnchop Piper's three part tutorial, to refresh my mind. Will undoubtedly be going through several Q-tips and pipe cleaners. Damn goopy aros.
better then years and years of not even thinking about that part of the pipe when cleaning. Trust me on that. And wondering why that pipe just doesn't seem to deliver flavor anymore.
Thanks for bringing back this thread.
Mortise muck is something that so many are not aware of or overlook. Just bought an estate pipe from a well-respected dealer south of L.A. and they didn't give the mortise the love I would have hoped. A few hours of netflix, 100ml of everclear, and about 100 q-tips later and it's almost ready to go.
EDIT: To be clear, I love the pipe, it was almost ready, but that last step needed to be done. Not blaming the shop as most I have bought from don't know.
Mortise muck is something that so many are not aware of or overlook. Just bought an estate pipe from a well-respected dealer south of L.A. and they didn't give the mortise the love I would have hoped. A few hours of netflix, 100ml of everclear, and about 100 q-tips later and it's almost ready to go.
EDIT: To be clear, I love the pipe, it was almost ready, but that last step needed to be done. Not blaming the shop as most I have bought from don't know.
Shine a bright light down the mortise/shank. You'll be surprised how much tar/muck can still be present, even when cleaners come out looking "clean".
I'm constantly surprised how much tars and muck can get ingrained after years and decades of smoking.
Of course, if it's a pipe that you have been smoking a few years only, that may not be the case.
The clean smoking experience after all that work is really worthwhile.
I'm constantly surprised how much tars and muck can get ingrained after years and decades of smoking.
Of course, if it's a pipe that you have been smoking a few years only, that may not be the case.
The clean smoking experience after all that work is really worthwhile.
Thanks for that point. Merely looking at the mortise area superficially was not giving me the info that I needed! Two years of exclusively aromatics...once I took a moment to think logically about it, it made sense immediately. This was my first "real" pipe, so I'm certainly inclined to take the best care of it I can. It's all a learning journey for me!
Stem is still pretty tight, even after the Everclear treatment to the shank. Hmmm...
Tight is not a bad thing. Unless you think the shank is likely to crack or you think you’re likely to snap off the tenon trying to break it down or something. All of my Savinellis have a pretty snug mortise/tenon fit. Tighter than any of my other pipes. I kind of like that because if the fit changes, it’s usually only to get looser. I know I’ve seen you mention having a Sav Miele before. How does the fit compare to that one?
You can try a little graphite from a pencil on the tenon. That's worked for me.
The Miele's fit is much looser than the Mattone's, but not loose the the point of concern. The noticeable difference between the two is why I'm a bit perplexed.
Many years ago when I first started buying & restoring estate pipes I used an inspection beam flashlight to check out any residual junk in the mortise/shank. I quickly learned that I needed more than Q-tips & Everclear to efficiently remove the buildup. I then bought a dental scraper similar to this to help clean the mortise/shank:
Joy Pet 6-1/2-Inch Double Headed Tarter Remover/Scraper, Stainless
It's astonishing how much gunk builds up in the mortise/shank!
And I've also been amazed by what I see when I use the inspection beam flashlight to look down the shank of a brand-new unsmoked cob!
Joy Pet 6-1/2-Inch Double Headed Tarter Remover/Scraper, Stainless
It's astonishing how much gunk builds up in the mortise/shank!
And I've also been amazed by what I see when I use the inspection beam flashlight to look down the shank of a brand-new unsmoked cob!
A very hot water flush will obviate the excessive use of alcohol, pipe cleaners, Q-tips and paper towels.
If done regularly, very deep cleaning of the mortise can be put off a long time. Pipe is fresher overall, too.
If done regularly, very deep cleaning of the mortise can be put off a long time. Pipe is fresher overall, too.
I think a clean shank is preferable to a mucky mortise. Clean mortise is wonderful and not to be underrated.
I dunno.. I kinda like my mortise muck. Except I call it mortise "season".
Do you go back to bed and roll around after taking a shower? Is that how much you like a well seasoned mortise?
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