Reamer For Bottom Of Bowl

[irishearl]

Is a knife reamer the way to go to ream the bottom of pipe bowls or is another type of reamer the best?

 

[sablebrush52]

Pick up a Buttner, and if you can find one, or a PipNet set. Both of those will offer you much better control. Avoid the shitty Castleford knock off. Lousy quality control. Of course, if you feel confident with using a knife, go that route. But, being a vintage pipe collector and seeing the thousands of butchered, carved up rims and and chambers, I'm not a fan of knives. Also, some glass paper around a round ended piece of doweling is a great way to go.

 

[Lees65GTO]

Senior Pipe Reamer or the 5 piece with a tee handle works great.

 

[Coreios]

I second buttner.

 

[Briarcutter]

I'd recommend the British Buttner also. You can find them on ebay with difficulty though. Try to find a new one as they get dull. Find the original made in England. They harden the metal which is good but it is a bit difficult to sharpen when they get dull.

 

[verporchting]

Buttner +1

 

[LeafErikson]

I usually just use the scooper part of a Czech tool for the whole chamber, including the bottom. Surely I can’t be the only one but who knows. I have to be more careful with my meers but I go to town on my briars. I tend to not get a lot of cake right at the heel though as I almost never smoke a bowl all the way down to ash.

 

[MattRVA]

I recently read/heard about a guy that takes a dime and clamps it with needle nose vice grips or pliers and uses that to ream the very bottom of some pipes. I haven’t tried it but I could see it working. I can’t remember where I heard about it.

 

[irishearl]

Senior Pipe Reamer or the 5 piece with a tee handle works great.

I thank everyone for their ideas. Have long had a senior reamer, but it doesn't do a great job on the bottom of bowls. So, too, the buttner which I have. Whatever Briarville uses, does a heck of a job. Just got back 4 he reamed and sent 4 others out before that. Of course, I think he drilled out the cake on nearly all of them. Wouldn't have the tools or expertise to do that. Just trying to figure out how to do preventative maintenance on them now.

 

[sablebrush52]

I thank everyone for their ideas. Have long had a senior reamer, but it doesn't do a great job on the bottom of bowls. So, too, the buttner which I have. Whatever Briarville uses, does a heck of a job. Just got back 4 he reamed and sent 4 others out before that. Of course, I think he drilled out the cake on nearly all of them. Wouldn't have to tools or expertise to do that. Just trying to figure out how to do preventative maintenance on them now.

Get yourself a couple of pieces of doweling in different diameters, round off the end, and wrap glass paper around the end and secure it with a rubber band and you'll have a perfect tool for doing what you want. It's what a lot of restorers use.

 

[Briar Lee]

I own a Butner and a lot of other framers but I don’t use them anymore.

Turn a sharp pocketknife sideways.

Scrape out the cake, don’t slice it, scrape it.

When it turns brown, STOP!.