I have been lurking around this forum for a little while. Started smoking a pipe last year for a few months, but really got back into, and started consistently smoking, a few months ago.
I recently bought a couple of Boswell Pokers (found out about them originally from a friend that grew up not too far from their shop), which are my 2nd and 3rd pipes (I am outdoors a lot and love the shape because it reminds me of the outdoors in its ruggedness). The other pipe I have is a straight billiard house pipe from my local pipe shop. When inspecting the pipes after receiving them I noticed a few things about the pipes.
The first is that I had a little bit of a difficult time passing a cleaner through them. I was able to get a cleaner through rather easily after bending the tip slightly, however. After getting them to pass a cleaner I took the stems off and checked the draft holes. I noticed that they were both drilled pretty much centered left to right, but were drilled at the bottom of the shank, which would explain the difficulty of passing a pipe cleaner without and fidgeting. I ask this because my other straight pipe (a lot less expensive) passes a cleaner no problem and is drilled centered, so this took me slightly by surprise as it is the only other experience I have. Other than that the pipes are constructed very well. They seem sturdy, feel nice in the hand, and are drilled to the bottom and center of the chamber. Does anyone that have had, or currently has, any of Boswell's straight pipes (or other pipes for that matter I would assume) have any experience with this as to if it would cause problems or not?
The second thing is the conical shape of the chamber. Out of all of the reviews and videos I read/watched talking about their pipes I did. It hear any talk about this. My only other pipe has what I would consider the "normal" rounded shape at the bottom of the bowl. I attempted to do a little research on this, but did not come up with much. Does anyone have any experience with the conical chamber shape?
I recently bought a couple of Boswell Pokers (found out about them originally from a friend that grew up not too far from their shop), which are my 2nd and 3rd pipes (I am outdoors a lot and love the shape because it reminds me of the outdoors in its ruggedness). The other pipe I have is a straight billiard house pipe from my local pipe shop. When inspecting the pipes after receiving them I noticed a few things about the pipes.
The first is that I had a little bit of a difficult time passing a cleaner through them. I was able to get a cleaner through rather easily after bending the tip slightly, however. After getting them to pass a cleaner I took the stems off and checked the draft holes. I noticed that they were both drilled pretty much centered left to right, but were drilled at the bottom of the shank, which would explain the difficulty of passing a pipe cleaner without and fidgeting. I ask this because my other straight pipe (a lot less expensive) passes a cleaner no problem and is drilled centered, so this took me slightly by surprise as it is the only other experience I have. Other than that the pipes are constructed very well. They seem sturdy, feel nice in the hand, and are drilled to the bottom and center of the chamber. Does anyone that have had, or currently has, any of Boswell's straight pipes (or other pipes for that matter I would assume) have any experience with this as to if it would cause problems or not?
The second thing is the conical shape of the chamber. Out of all of the reviews and videos I read/watched talking about their pipes I did. It hear any talk about this. My only other pipe has what I would consider the "normal" rounded shape at the bottom of the bowl. I attempted to do a little research on this, but did not come up with much. Does anyone have any experience with the conical chamber shape?
