Question About Cake Removal For The Restore Guys.

[BigR]

I purchased a pipe off the Bay, and it has a decent amount of cake as shown in pic. I have removed a minor amount of the cake, but I noticed that the cake hole is closer to the wall on one side than the other. What is the best way to get the thicker cake side removed without cutting into the wall of the bowl on the thinner side? Also, what's the best way to clean the top of the bowl? Saliva? Thanks for any help.

 

[Shore]

Hi, congratulations on the new score! Since the cake is already uneven, the best thing to do there is take a dull, pocket knife or similar (and preferably one with a single sided edge) and start to gently work on the larger area of cake. Work slow and try to stay flat and even with the blade. Sometimes, it can be helpful to work a little cake down, then dip the blade in iso alcohol and start on the cake with a drop of alcohol on the blade (or you can just use a q tip between working with the blad when you need to reposition). The key is like pipe smoking in general, go slower than you think you should... Good luck!

 

[instymp]

I would use careful knife work in the bowl. A bit at a time.
Scrape lightly what you can & use a wet paper towel on the rim.
Used to use spit but found out water & paper towel till its clean work better for ME.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Wet cake is softer, if that helps.

 

[Briarcutter]

Smoke it and ream it when it's warm, it'll flake right out. Of course empty it before you ream

 

[ssjones]

I use a worn piece of scotch brite, wet on bowl top build-up. Dulls it a bit, but doesn't cut into the stain.

 

[xrundog]

I use a dental pick to chip outbthe cake. Then I sand the chamber walls. To get rid of any old flavors, every bit of cake has to go. And the airway and mortise need to be as clean as possible.
For the rim, softening the soot is key. Lay a wet rag over it and let it soak. I use a pick to gently scrape it clean and finish with 000 steel wool.

 

[philobeddoe]

Slow, slow, slow…

 

[sablebrush52]

When cleaning old cake I'll use a couple of methods, but in the case of a noticeably uncentered cake I'll wrap glass paper around a piece of doweling, or a Pilot marker pen and work to carefully remove the cake until it's just a thin veil over the wood.

Hopefully the chamber walls will be solid, but don't be surprised if cracks show up. Those can be dealt with later. Just get the cake off and scrub out the airway with careful attention to the mortise. Dental picks can be useful for getting hardened crud out of the corners. Every bit of crud needs to go. A nylon shank brush will replace a number of pipe cleaners for the process of cleaning out the airway.

Give the pipe a S/A treatment to remove further sediment, tars, and oil.

If there's a lot of lava on the rim, softening it will definitely help with removal. To get rid of lighter amounts of lava, spit and a rag, or cold coffee and a rag, coupled with elbow grease, should do the job. With a blasted rim, a soft toothbrush can be useful for getting into crevices.

 

[jakesmokes]

I stuff the bowl with cotton balls and saturate them with Everclear using a dropper. I let it sit for a few hours, and the cake gets super soft and scrapes right out easily.

 

[BigR]

I use a dental pick to chip outbthe cake. Then I sand the chamber walls. To get rid of any old flavors, every bit of cake has to go. And the airway and mortise need to be as clean as possible.
For the rim, softening the soot is key. Lay a wet rag over it and let it soak. I use a pick to gently scrape it clean and finish with 000 steel wool.

What grit sandpaper do you use to sand the inside the bowl?

 

[xrundog]

What grit sandpaper do you use to sand the insiide?

When I use a wrapped dowel I personally like 400g. You can go coarser but check your work often.