Pipe Reaming. How to.

[dunendain]

I have been smoking a pipe since 2004. I still don't seem to have a clue about when, or how much I should ream my pipes. I usually take a very small knife and make a mess of it. I seem to cut too much of the cake in certain places, and the pipe starts heating up, until the cake rebuilds. Anyone that can help, do tell.

 

[hauntedmyst]

You'll find a different answer from just about every pipe smoker. Some people use a pocket knife, other people use sandpaper. The one solid rule is to not let your cake get thicker than a nickel since it can crack the bowl. I use 2 different reamers since they are both quick and easy and I've never had any damage in 30 years of smoking.
This one most of the time

This one for anything that one won't clean.

 

[python]

I mainly use a Senior Reamer which is the second photo that Haunted posted. It works great.
Always start off with it adjusted all the way close and slowly adjust it open remove the cake a little bit at a time. Keep doing that until your cake is between the thickness of a dime and a nickle. I prefer to keep my cake around the thickness of a dime.
You do not want to remove your cake in chunks, you want to shave it off so that it is like a dust. That is why you want to go slowly and increase the diameter of the reamer by small increments. Also, you want to turn the reamer in one direction only. Don't go back and forth with it.

 

[alleycat]

If you do get a Senior Reamer (as suggested by Haunted and Bob) there are some videos on YouTube for using it. I've never really watched them, but if you're new to doing this they might be helpful.
Also, there is some guy on eBay that sells the basic reamer (new) for a good price (and no, it's not me).

 

[igloo]

I use my trusty knife , but Iam a country boy .

 

[cortezattic]

I have best luck with the pocket knife and sandpaper that Haunted mentions.

The tobaccos that I favor develop a hard charcoal-like cake, but I've heard

that some smokers develop a soft, tarry cake that can be peeled out of the bowl.
I think somewhere in the past someone stated the differences are due to packing technique

-- or the lack thereof. Do you recall anything like that, Bob?

 

[python]

I kind of recall hearing something about that. I think that they were saying that packing it loose makes for a soft cake. I have also heard that Aromatics give a soft cake as well.
I pack my pipes on the loose side and I also smoke aromatics and I have never really had a problem with a soft cake. The only time that I have had a problem with a softer than normal cake is when I smoked only Carter Hall in a new pipe. The cake was on the soft side and took awhile longer than normal to dry out and harden up.

 

[cortezattic]

I have both of the reamers pictured above, but for me the best is a cheap hardware store "basket knife". Using a grinder, I rounded-off the tip of the blade, and dulled the cutting edge so that it can't even slice butter. So basically, I have a blade-shaped piece of dull metal with folding-knife convenience.

 

[dunendain]

Thanks guys. I make try a basket knife for now. A pipe reamer is nit in the budget. My mistake was buying pipes with bowl that were too small to begin with. When any cake builds, my pipe just doesn't hold much baccy. Maybe Santa will go to Cup O Joes for me.

 

[pstlpkr]

Years ago I bought a manicure set. In the set was a little knife that has a straight blade rounded on the end. The end is not a cutting edge. It works very well. I have tried reamers in the past and never achieved the results that this cheap little knife has provided. I have never used the other blades for anything... it's a pipe knife.

 

[cortezattic]

To me, the best ever pipe tool is the good old pipe nail tamper. I use the spade end of the nail to scrape the bowl after every smoke. I have never had a problem with excessive cake, but every couple of years the cake gets thick enough to scrape down a bit with the modified knife.

 

[python]

Cortezattic Said:

I have never had a problem with excessive cake...

I don't have a problem with cake build up either. That is the reason that I have not done a video tutorial on reaming yet. I have never had to ream a pipe that I bought new and built the cake myself.
I have had to ream a few estate pipes during restoration.
I guess my pre-smoke and post smoking procedures keeps the cake down to the proper thickness.

 

[unclearthur]

I have restored a number of estate pipes that had cake so thick that I have no idea what they could have been tamped with other than a pencil. The Senior reamer in it's old configuration (Kleen Reem ) is my tool of choice.

 

[cortezattic]

Bob, you may have to get Kevin to pop for several e-Bay clunkers so you have some material to use in a video on the subject. (Use the old "No pipe magazine is complete without a reaming tutorial" ploy. Tell him it's a tax deduction.)
ps. Have him buy you some old Dunnies and Charatan's -- they'd be just as deductible as Grabows.)

 

[dunendain]

I remember my grandfather using his pocket knife. He did have 40 years experience though..

 

[python]

Cortezattic Said:

Bob, you may have to get Kevin to pop for several e-Bay clunkers so you have some material to use in a video on the subject. (Use the old "No pipe magazine is complete without a reaming tutorial" ploy. Tell him it's a tax deduction.)
ps. Have him buy you some old Dunnies and Charatan's -- they'd be just as deductible as Grabows.)

LOL. We have already talked about doing something like that. We will probably pick up a few pipes from the next pipe show that we go to (probably Richmond).
There are always people at the shows with tons of old beat up pipes that can be had on the cheap. We'll probably pick up a few there so that I can make a video on reaming.

 

[dunendain]

I will be looking for that, Bob. Thanks.

 

[cortezattic]

Bob, just offering some ideas FWIW...

The reaming videos could go further than just a "how to" approach. You could make some evaluations like comparing the different tools; and discuss alternative tools like knifes, sandpaper, homemade devices, custom shaped tools, and "things" adapted for reaming. Like I said, FWIW. After all, we're not talking brain surgery here, so I don't know how far you want to take it.