PSA: Be Careful Cleaning Your Cobs

[Snook]

I smoked my cob this morning and was cleaning it out this afternoon. I noticed it had a bunch of leaf squished up in the bottom below where the shank connects. There's a piece that juts out from the shank into the bowl area, which makes it had to use the flat blade on my pipe knife. So I switch to the pick and start scraping and jabbing and then I notice it feels a little squishy.

Well, me being the curious idiot that I am, I poke it a little more. Next thing I know, there's a hole the bottom of the cob.

Just wanted to warn others to be careful when cleaning their cobs. Don't be an idiot like me. Don't poke the bottom with a pick. It's a piece of corn and of course you can make a hole in it.

Oh well, at least they're cheap!

 

[blackpowderpiper]

Yep, gotta be a little careful. Slap some mud in the bottom and you'll be off to the races again.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Which one? Many of them have a hardwood plug in the bottom.

 

[Snook]

Yep, gotta be a little careful. Slap some mud in the bottom and you'll be off to the races again.

Mud... I'll give it a try!

Which one? Many of them have a hardwood plug in the bottom.

Just a Missouri Pride. Nothing fancy.

 

[Zapasta]

Cleaning a cob? I would never!

 

[Snook]

Cleaning a cob? I would never!

I should have never!

 

[stewartu]

Haha! Yeah, those cobs aren't as durable as a briar pipe, that's for sure. But the good thing is that it's easily and inexpensively replaced. Get you another as a new year's gift to yourself. Happy puffing.

 

[Snook]

Haha! Yeah, those cobs aren't as durable as a briar pipe, that's for sure. But the good thing is that it's easily and inexpensively replaced. Get you another as a new year's gift to yourself. Happy puffing.

I've already been perusing the MM site. Just trying to narrow down which one I want! Haha.

 

[JoburgB2]

I did essentially the same thing. But I wasn’t trying to “clean” the cob, just attempting to use the pick spike to remove some unburnt tobacco beneath the level of the stem insert. Accidentally made a puncture through the bottom, which was not a hardwood insert. So I just sat the bowl bottom flat and hard against the table top and used the flat-bottomed tamper to pack hard and mash in some pipe tobacco to plug it. Worked fine. It was just intended to be temporary. That was 15 or more years ago. I can’t imagine it would work for someone else but worked for me.

 

[philobeddoe]

Snook, mud = pipe mud. Pipe mud is ash and water mixed up, usually cigar ash, as it tends to be a finer ash.

 

[Snook]

I did essentially the same thing. But I wasn’t trying to “clean” the cob, just attempting to use the pick spike to remove some unburnt tobacco beneath the level of the stem insert. Accidentally made a puncture through the bottom, which was not a hardwood insert. So I just sat the bowl bottom flat and hard against the table top and used the flat-bottomed tamper to pack hard and mash in some pipe tobacco to plug it. Worked fine. It was just intended to be temporary. That was 15 or more years ago. I can’t imagine it would work for someone else but worked for me.

Snook, mud = pipe mud. Pipe mud is ash and water mixed up, usually cigar ash, as it tends to be a finer ash.

I will combine both of these ideas to form some kind of mega-fix!