Pipes With a Restrictive Draw

[xrundog]

My experience with British pipes, old and new, is good. I don’t think I’ve ever messed with the airway on one. Old American factory pipes are generally good, but I have had some with oddly narrow shank airways that I eventually widened. American stems are pretty standard. But those old bone coarse threaded tenons come in a variety of airway sizes. Some of them are ridiculously small. I often find them on lightly smoked pipes and I think that’s why. Italian pipes are generally good but the occasional acrylic stem pops up with an oddly tight airway. Sometimes an airway gets flattened when it’s bent.
So if you deal in a wide variety of estate pipes, you might sometimes come across a restricted airway. It isn’t usual or endemic to a particular brand I’m aware of. It just happens. Somebody made a mistake. A bad one went through. I get the feeling that people would smoke a pipe a few times and if it didn’t smoke the way they liked, it ended up in a drawer.
I have never altered an artisan pipe. The attention to the airway is one element that makes those desirable.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

What kind of asshole would use one of these things?

https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/filters-and-adaptors/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=114618

 

[xrundog]

What kind of asshole would use one of these things?

https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/filters-and-adaptors/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=114618

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Someone with a tight budget who buys a filter pipe and decides it isn’t the way to go. Some filter pipes smoke okay without a filter. Others smoke swampy. Maybe that thing works, I dunno.

 

[captainsousie]

What kind of asshole would use one of these things?

https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/filters-and-adaptors/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=114618

View attachment 328847

(Raises hand) I mostly use it with my Porsche pipe.

 

[brian64]

What kind of asshole would use one of these things?

https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/filters-and-adaptors/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=114618

View attachment 328847

The kind that's comfortable with a restricted orifice (I think the Brits are generally known for that).

I tried 'em on my 9mm meers but didn't like 'em. I prefer the draw wide open.

 

[Searock Fan]

I've had the problem a few times. All I did was use a drill bit 1/16" larger than the existing draft hold and drill it out a little larger. Problem solved.

 

[Briarcutter]

I really hate to pass off pipes that I feel like provide a bad smoke.

I felt like this at one time. Then I sold a pipe that i thought was not a good smoke. Later the new owner came to me and told me what a good smoke it was, it has happened several times. I learned that just because I thought it may not be a good smoke doesn't mean it won't turn out to be someone's favorite.

 

[xrundog]

I felt like this at one time. Then I sold a pipe that i thought was not a good smoke. Later the new owner came to me and told me what a good smoke it was, it has happened several times. I learned that just because I thought it may not be a good smoke doesn't mean it won't turn out to be someone's favorite.

Different smokes for different folks!

 

[Sigmund]

What kind of asshole would use one of these things?

https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/filters-and-adaptors/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=114618

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Sometimes a pipe you love only comes drilled for a filter. I like filters but some folks dont. Some folks find a 9mm sans filter to just be too open. Its still quite open with one of these. The picture above is from the cheapest and somewhat pitiful example of a 9mm converter. They are cheap anyway but the ones that cost a few cents (literally) more are better. One thing these offer is the ability to drill it out a little more if you want extra volume without making any alterations to the pipe.

Funny thing is that before I knew anything about using filters I had one of these in a Radice estate pipe for years. When I decided I liked filters I was happy to find I could pull it out and have a 9mm pipe. The longer versions of these help prevent gunk buildup. The cheapo ones are fidly. They dont fit well (they fall out) and are a nuisance.

 

[Zeno Marx]

The more I think about that quote, the more I wonder if he just didn't like to have to fiddle with pipe cleaners. To want a pipe cleaner to go through with almost no resistance is sort of a head scratcher in a way. It IS the downside of the narrower airways, but the brightside to that is that you know your pipe cleaner is actually cleaning the airway. If it effortlessly pushed through, it would indicate it is barely brushing the wall. And then you're in a situation to fiddle with a pipe cleaner anyway, but just in a different way. Again, grasping at straws to try to understand. Pun intended.

 

[Searock Fan]

Sometimes a pipe you love only comes drilled for a filter. I like filters but some folks dont. Some folks find a 9mm sans filter to just be too open. Its still quite open with one of these. The picture above is from the cheapest and somewhat pitiful example of a 9mm converter. They are cheap anyway but the ones that cost a few cents (literally) more are better. One thing these offer is the ability to drill it out a little more if you want extra volume without making any alterations to the pipe.

Funny thing is that before I knew anything about using filters I had one of these in a Radice estate pipe for years. When I decided I liked filters I was happy to find I could pull it out and have a 9mm pipe. The longer versions of these help prevent gunk buildup. The cheapo ones are fidly. They dont fit well (they fall out) and are a nuisance.

In case you missed it this is from a previous post.

I have several Savinelli filter pipes I use to smoke an occasional aromatic. Here's how to save money on the filters. Instead of buying the actual filters. I go on ebay and buy a pack of balsa wood rods in the right size (3/16x1/8") and cut them to length and that's it. Cost is about 10% the cost of filters and they work just as well. A tip: if you cut the ends on a slight angle the pipe draws better.

 

[Sigmund]

True. Im a activated charcoal filter user but the price of balsa filter is really silly. Id make my own too.

 

[Roach1]

I guess I am one of the body parts. Some stems will not take anything else. I have broken several stems. It's my pipe, my money and if I use one that is on me and others should not care or use derogatory names. That seems to be the problem these days. A little advise your opinions are just that and not facts. I have toned down my original thoughts.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I guess I am one of the body parts. Some stems will not take anything else. I have broken several stems. It's my pipe, my money and if I use one that is on me and others should not care or use derogatory names. That seems to be the problem these days. A little advise your opinions are just that and not facts. I have toned down my original thoughts.

The fact is that some people can't identify a joke. Quite a problem these days, in my opinion.

Like someone gives a damn if you like a restricted orifice or not... You didn't join a club when you bought those silly things. It's just a dumb piece of plastic.

Opinions are part of life, other people have them just like you. If you read something you dont like, by all means, skip over it.

I too have toned down my original thoughts on this.

 

[Rossi320]

I have a rossi 320 that I love the looks of but it does not smoke well..
Don't know if is the packing or the pipe .I just love the pipe but it does not preform well.

 

[Uguccione]

Let me quote what Rick Newcombe says about a pipe’s restricted draw..

Holy Words

 

[buroak]

Some are way more attuned to the pipes natural draw than others. I am pretty agnostic when it comes to airways; loading and tamping being my adjustors.

I guess, based on the above implied definitions, I prefer the restrictive to normal draw on a pipe. I do have pipes with a wider draw which I can now enjoy now that I have learned proper packing and sipping and slow smoking. Specifically, a Comoy London Pride 215 bent billiard 20mmx50mm chamber; I have read that Comoy's traditionally had a 'restricted' draw and some shied away from the brand. I could never smoke mine because the draw was as open as a cob sans filter. Then I read @Chasing Embers suggest to someone else packing differently. Now I can enjoy it but only for slow sipping. All that being said I like all of my pipes because they smoke differently ... but I too have favorites.

Same here. Keeping a pipe nail and a Roger’s tamper tool is essential to my strategy. The pipe nail suffices most of the time, but sometimes I want the Rogers, especially if tobacco has fallen too far into the “hole” of a Falcon bowl. The pick can help with that or a too-tight packed bowl of tobacco.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

What kind of asshole would use one of these things?

Counting all the assholes in the forum - I am not alone!

This argument has been stated many times before. Anyone familiar with laminar flow will know why this is used if you are not using a filter. I have put forth the scientific equations and principles in a cogent treatise previously although I forget the thread. A short straight large bore shank and stem matched perfectly lead to the best draw with least turbulence, at least within this universe.

Now whether the theoretical turbulence leads to moisture build up, or vice versa whether having the decreased resistance for a short portion of the stem leads to better draw, actually applies to reality while smoking is up for debate. And debate we shall! The only thing I will argue for is that the concept is scientifically valid and has more validity than half the crap some of the assholes argue on this forum. I own one, but don't use it because it is an extra step and I am rather lazy when it comes to pipe smoking.

Using a filter pipe without a filter or the insert is a poor man's System pipe or 'Calabash', which supposedly work by increasing turbulence and inducing moisture to drop out of the smoke and collect within the chamber. Whether that actually works, I will refer you to Peterson Pipes. The insert is designed to mitigate that effect if you do not wish to have moisture collect within the pipe.

Perhaps the assholes have a point?!!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Some pipes, I like a wide open draw; some seem to work great with a tighter draw. I love that all of my pipes have their own little quirks that make them each unique in how they smoke.

 

[Hillcrest]

What kind of asshole would use one of these things?

https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/filters-and-adaptors/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=114618

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Someone who finds a bung plug helpful. (?) Savinelli used to provide one free with each filtered pipe so one could have options.