Peterson’s Chamber Coating - What A Mess!

[PipeIT]

In regards to my new Peterson I posted here;

My New Peterson ?? :: Pipe Talk

Just bought a Bay Denmark I posted, I received last week, opened today, and I wasn’t expecting also my Pete today, when it rains it pours, oh I feel like a kid in a candy store. LOL ? ? ? The SPC Newsletter that came last week, showing the new Newgrange Spigots that came in stock, when I saw...

pipesmagazine.com

The chamber coating for me turned out to be a mess the first time I smoked it. It greatly effected/altered the profile of C&D Carolina Red Flake as my first bowl, turned it more into a regular Virginia VaPer, that was extremely spicy, not at all like Red Flake tastes, also with odd background notes, which came from the chamber coating, like some floral charcoal.

I should of never tried smoking with this coating, because if the taste wasn’t bad enough, it turned everything, ash and some un burned leaf attached to the chamber like a glue, and it couldn’t simply be wiped out with a paper towel.

Not even the pick of my Czech tool could dig this mess out.

So after smoking, which ended up at 12am, I wasn’t about to leave this cement in my chamber any longer then I had to.

So I went at it for about 30 minutes with q-tips, paper towels with some 80 proof vodka.

I also let some vodka sit in the chamber for a few minutes, but when I tried to carefully dump it out a little got on the top of the finish, and the exterior of the bowl. So as a brave lad, remembering the words of @jpmcwjr talking the other day about water flushing, I dove right in cranked up the faucet pretty warm and started rinsing the outside and flushing the chamber.

Well it ends up, SPC tells me they’ve heard a lot of issues with these coatings, that Peterson is looking into doing something different.

Here’s my cleaned out chamber now, back to the drawing board, or is that the smoking board! LOL ?

I hope none of you find yourself in pipe madness in the wee hours of the morning.

 

[Talon]

Dang, that sounds like no fun at all but at least you fixed it all up ! I'm not so sure I would have had the energy at that hour.

 

[Etipton]

Was it this years redflake? The reason I ask is that this years is suppose to have genuine st James perique which is going to be more spicy than the last two year additions, I am with you I wish all pipe would come with a bare wood chamber

 

[PipeIT]

@Etipton no this was straight Red Flake, I recently bought 2 tins from SPC for the Red Flake Perique.

I seriously had to go back to my mason jars, and do a double take, making sure I didn’t accidentally load the Red Flake Perique, but I didn’t.

I highly recommend to anyone buying your first Peterson to just clean this out before smoking. I guess if you smoked your first few bowls quickly, then you might be able to easily wipe out the chamber after smoking. But I smoke slowly, this bowl lasted all day, and that was the problem, ash and some un burnt leaf sitting for a long period of time, turning this into cement in the chamber.

 

[Etipton]

Shame to ruin a quality smoke like that, better luck on the next bowl.

 

[PipeIT]

Shame to ruin a quality smoke like that, better luck on the next bowl.

I’m more concerned about wrecking a nice pipe.

Also the experience of having to deal with something like this, cheapens the experience, it puts a black eye on it, questioning everything, especially the quality.

With a company like Peterson, I just don’t get why they created this inferior coating, and with no disrespect to them, or anyone, it just comes across like some cheap no name pipe bought at a Drug Store.

And then, at one time you could get some nice cheap pipes at Drug Stores, maybe some places you still can, and that makes this situation look even worse, selling a pipe with shoddy workmanship no better than a cheap Drug Store pipe that actually smokes better...

 

[FurCoat]

Love my Pete's but like you I hate their bowl coatings. I have expressed this fact on other threads. I sanded mine out with 200 grit sandpaper and now they smoke as they should.

 

[PipeIT]

Love my Pete's but like you I hate their bowl coatings. I have expressed this fact on other threads. I sanded mine out with 200 grit sandpaper and now they smoke as they should.

As you can see, there are still little black specs in the chamber, also a few bigger blotches you can’t see in the pic that didn’t come out. I just assume it’s ok because the chamber feels smooth, and I figure once I start burning tabac, it will char and blacken anyways, so no need to sand perfectly clean.

I would sand it if the chamber was lumpy in any spots, but it’s not.

Then again, I wonder if sanding will still help to make for a more uniform burn/char in the chamber, but as I mentioned, it’s not lumpy inside.

 

[mso489]

Luckily, I bought most of my Peterson pipes years ago when, apparently, the coating was innocuous. I don't avoid pipes with coatings because that limits the inventory too much, but I score high points for pipes that come without chamber coatings because it evinces trust in my experience as a pipe smoker not to burn down the briar. Maybe it's my slight Irish lineage, Scotch-Irish so barely a lineage at all, but I have had the luck of the Irish with my Petersons which have shown none of the quality control problems reported by others on Forums. They're charismatic shapes (for many of us anyway), and when they smoke well, they are sublime.

 

[Grangerous]

Water takes it away easily. It’s a resinous, black, icky mess. I smoked a bowl with it then rinsed it away. No harm done, but it did cover up some exterior stain inside the bowl. Mine is an Aran billiard. Not one of their better pipes. As I said, no harm. It’s a good smoker.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

With any new pipe I get, I always take it apart and thoroughly clean the stem, shank, and chamber, and then blow through hard a few times.
It's amazing how much gunk some manufacturers put in their pipes.

 

[PipeIT]

Luckily, I bought most of my Peterson pipes years ago when, apparently, the coating was innocuous.

This looks to be a great pipe, it’s just the cheesy coating.

 

[PipeIT]

Water takes it away easily. It’s a resinous, black, icky mess. I smoked a bowl with it then rinsed it away. No harm done, but it did cover up some exterior stain inside the bowl. Mine is an Aran billiard. Not one of their better pipes. As I said, no harm. It’s a good smoker.

I didn’t get around to cleaning out the chamber for over a day, because I didn’t finish smoking it. Half a bowl was left I smoked the following day, so I’m sure with this coating I let it sit to long, so it didn’t wipe completely clean.

Here’s a blotch, but I can’t feel it, the chamber feels smooth, so I won’t bother sanding, I don’t think it’s necessary.

 

[FurCoat]

As you can see, there are still little black specs in the chamber, also a few bigger blotches you can’t see in the pic that didn’t come out. I just assume it’s ok because the chamber feels smooth, and I figure once I start burning tabac, it will char and blacken anyways, so no need to sand perfectly clean.

I would sand it if the chamber was lumpy in any spots, but it’s not.

Then again, I wonder if sanding will still help to make for a more uniform burn/char in the chamber, but as I mentioned, it’s not lumpy inside.

I would get it out. Thought the same when removing the coating and tobacco would stick to it and made twisting a paper towel into the bowl a mess. I didn't try water as @Grangerous suggested, but worth a try.

 

[warren]

Cleaning the coating out has been recommended on this site by many members, many times, for many years. It's never been an issue for me but, some detest the coating.

 

[PipeIT]

I would get it out. Thought the same when removing the coating and tobacco would stick to it and made twisting a paper towel into the bowl a mess. I didn't try water as @Grangerous suggested, but worth a try.

I don’t think that blotch is coming out, it seems to be impregnated into the wood, it’s not like it’s on the surface, it’s in it, otherwise I’d mess further with it, if it was still a coating on top.

Cleaning the coating out has been recommended on this site by many members, many times, for many years. It's never been an issue for me but, some detest the coating.

I cleaned out one Peterson before, this time I thought to leave it, bad mistake... LOL

 

[PipeIT]

Forgot to mention, I cleaned it with 80 proof Vodka, maybe 150 proof Everclear will further remove this.

The chamber is it narrow to try and sand.

 

[FurCoat]

Forgot to mention, I cleaned it with 80 proof Vodka, maybe 150 proof Everclear will further remove this.

The chamber is it narrow to try and sand.

I tried Everclear. Didn touch it. That's when I went to sandpaper.

 

[PipeIT]

I tried Everclear. Didn touch it. That's when I went to sandpaper.

Well I was thinking to run down to Ace Hardware to get some 200 grit, it’s a mile down the road. But as I mentioned it’s in the wood, not a coating on top. The blotch as you can see is near the top, So I thought, once the flame is there, and tabac starts burning, it will just burn away.

 

[Grangerous]

I assume Peterson wants it to be a cake starter, or stain hider, however, anyone taking a paper towel to it, post smoke—if that’s their habit, will find a hot mess.