Remedies for a Straight Billiard that Collects a Lot of Moisture?

[Briar Lee]

Honestly that's a great question. I have contemplated throwing it away a few times but I payed for it and enjoy how it feels and looks. If the above mentioned remedies don't work it's going to become firewood ! Or a flower pot haha.

Sell it on eBay.

There can only be one or two things wrong with it.

If it has bad briar eventually it should get broken in. That’s doubtful.

If it’s been badly bored then you might try reboring it. Lots of luck there.

I bought that Lee for $40.

That’s a large squat saddle stem bulldog. One of the rarest and largest and most desirable shapes.

But even this Two Star medium bulldog is a cool, dry, sweet smoker.


If there ever was a wet smoking Lee somebody tossed it away fifty years ago.

 

[simong]

Counter sink or funnel the tenon. That did the trick with a straight pipe I had that gurgled.

 

[kcghost]

You know you could sell this pipe right?? It may not make enough money to make that worthwhile but its better than kindling.

 

[didimauw]

Yup the easiest thing would be to keep pipe cleaners near by. But I leave a couple ounces of tobacco out to dry for a few days, mixing it and breaking it up every couple hours, before it's ready to smoke. My Carter hall takes weeks to months to finally dry. Literally.

I've got the "juice" in my mouth more times than I'd like to admit. And pipe cleaner, or cover the bowl and "fling" the moisture out works too.

 

[MattRVA]

As simong mentioned above, counter sink the tenon and make sure the button is funneled at the end of the stem. I’ve found this and opening up the draft hole to help with gurgling.

 

[sablebrush52]

So I've had this pipe for about a year or so now .. but every single smoke I have in it has really not been enjoyable. It's a nice enough pipe I think but it gets really soggy and starts gurgling shortly after the middle of the smoke and sometimes if I tilt it even the slightest bit it drops down the stem into my mouth. It's very unpleasant and I've never had this problem with my other straight billiards.

Here is a link to the exact pipe

https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/england/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=345801

From what you describe, it reads like your tobacco is too wet. Drying it more should solve the problem.
Since I mostly smoke Virginias I dry them to just shy of bone dry. This means the tobacco is dry on your skin when squeezed, no feeling of moisture, but still pliant though the ends may be a little crisp. With aros I allow a LITTLE more moisture so the topping still works. Overall I get more and better flavors that way. Experiment with different levels of dryness to find what works the best for you.

 

[mso489]

Since your other pipes don't have this problem, i'd attribute it to this one pipe. I've kept a few pipes around because they looked like they should be good smokers, but eventually I decided to trade them off for store credit or otherwise trade them off. If they don't smoke in a pleasant way, they aren't really worth keeping. Of if you feel guilty passing it along, just send it off with trash. Life is too short, etc.

 

[badbeard]

Maybe it’s a symptom of arteriosclerosis. Some ever so small obstacle blocking the airway. It compresses the smoke on the income. On the outcome smoke expands gets cooler and looses more humidity, straight physics. Maybe you can see the obstacle while looking through the stem. In respect to the shank I would try to get a drill of 2.5 millimetre up to 3 millimetres led by hand right down into the bowl. I assume the drilling on that small pipe is about 3 mm.

This was my first thought. I have noticed that pipes with smaller airways seem more prone to this, especially if there is a significant gap between the tenon face and the end of the mortise. It creates a little expansion chamber that turns into a swimming pool. Vintage threaded tenon pipes with removeable stingers often have this problem due to the larger void creating turbulence in the shank between the bowl and the airway in the stem.
I have gotten into the habit of taking a 5/32 drill bit and very slightly enlarging the airway in the bowl(by hand) to try and mitigate some of the humidity dropout, and it has worked for me.

 

[Hillcrest]

This was my first thought. I have noticed that pipes with smaller airways seem more prone to this, especially if there is a significant gap between the tenon face and the end of the mortise. It creates a little expansion chamber that turns into a swimming pool. Vintage threaded tenon pipes with removeable stingers often have this problem due to the larger void creating turbulence in the shank between the bowl and the airway in the stem.
I have gotten into the habit of taking a 5/32 drill bit and very slightly enlarging the airway in the bowl(by hand) to try and mitigate some of the humidity dropout, and it has worked for me.

I am very interested in the opposite of what you say here but am not sure I fully understand this. I have a Comoy London Pride 215 3/4 bent billiard that I bought in the eighties ... it is beautiful and perfect in every way except I can't seem to smoke it properly. (22mmx42mm chamber) It has a large draft hole from the bowl to the shank, larger than a thick pipe cleaner; it has a chamber like a Peterson System pipe; but the stem has no stinger and the stem draft hole is smaller than the width of a standard round toothpick. I suspect it should have been drilled for a stinger. The smoke is very hot and acrid no matter what I try. Today I broke off 25% of a Savinelli balsa filter and jammed it in the chamber so it came up and covered the draft hole but left a gap between filter and hole (because its triangular). The stem touched the filter but when I backed it out a hair I had the best smoke ever ... cool, dry, flavorful, longlasting, as good as my best pipes. What did I do and what is the original problem ? It is actually too perfect a pipe to sell or toss and I would like to fix the problem. I would greatly appreciate any advice you or anyone can offer. Thanks !

 

[kschatey]

So I've had this pipe for about a year or so now .. but every single smoke I have in it has really not been enjoyable. It's a nice enough pipe I think but it gets really soggy and starts gurgling shortly after the middle of the smoke and sometimes if I tilt it even the slightest bit it drops down the stem into my mouth. It's very unpleasant and I've never had this problem with my other straight billiards.

Here is a link to the exact pipe

https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/england/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=345801

Do you use rubber tips on the stem? If so, try without.

 

[badbeard]

I am very interested in the opposite of what you say here but am not sure I fully understand this. I have a Comoy London Pride 215 3/4 bent billiard that I bought in the eighties ... it is beautiful and perfect in every way except I can't seem to smoke it properly. (22mmx42mm chamber) It has a large draft hole from the bowl to the shank, larger than a thick pipe cleaner; it has a chamber like a Peterson System pipe; but the stem has no stinger and the stem draft hole is smaller than the width of a standard round toothpick. I suspect it should have been drilled for a stinger. The smoke is very hot and acrid no matter what I try. Today I broke off 25% of a Savinelli balsa filter and jammed it in the chamber so it came up and covered the draft hole but left a gap between filter and hole (because its triangular). The stem touched the filter but when I backed it out a hair I had the best smoke ever ... cool, dry, flavorful, longlasting, as good as my best pipes. What did I do and what is the original problem ? It is actually too perfect a pipe to sell or toss and I would like to fix the problem. I would greatly appreciate any advice you or anyone can offer. Thanks !

First and foremost, I am no expert, so take everything I say as if some random person on the internet said it..
Bent "well" style pipes, like system pipes, have that chamber specifically to create the effect that my above post was trying to mitigate in straight pipes. That said, what you sort of did was put something in the "well" that soaked up the moisture throughout the smoke. I have had a couple of Pete Systems, and I'd always push a little gob of cotton ball in the bottom of the well - not so much as to cover the draft, but enough to soak up the nasties so when I'd put the pipe in my pocket, or dumped ash, I wouldn't get that juice everywhere. I noticed when I started doing this, the system pipes started smoking drier than before. Perhaps containing the built up moisture is the ticket in this case?

 

[Hillcrest]

First and foremost, I am no expert, so take everything I say as if some random person on the internet said it..
Bent "well" style pipes, like system pipes, have that chamber specifically to create the effect that my above post was trying to mitigate in straight pipes. That said, what you sort of did was put something in the "well" that soaked up the moisture throughout the smoke. I have had a couple of Pete Systems, and I'd always push a little gob of cotton ball in the bottom of the well - not so much as to cover the draft, but enough to soak up the nasties so when I'd put the pipe in my pocket, or dumped ash, I wouldn't get that juice everywhere. I noticed when I started doing this, the system pipes started smoking drier than before. Perhaps containing the built up moisture is the ticket in this case?

I noticed the moisture settled in the bowl instead of the chamber with the balsa. I use a pipe cleaner throughout and do not drool but this pipe just has so huge a draft hole I get tobacco and ash in the stem. I will have to try the cotton ball and see if that helps better than the balsa. I just wish I could close up that draft hole a bit or halve it.

 

[burleybreath]

I've had one pipe recently that gurgled every time I lit it up, a Pete Rathbone. Out of eighty or so pipes that I currently have, that's the only one that does this. I could not only predict that it would gurgle, but when. Love the shape for some reason I can't figure, but I do, so I stuck with it for about a year, and the gurgle went away. Not to suggest any causality here, but the only thing I did was allow some cake to build up. Weird. Glad I didn't toss it, though I came close several times.

 

[UB 40]

I noticed the moisture settled in the bowl instead of the chamber with the balsa. I use a pipe cleaner throughout and do not drool but this pipe just has so huge a draft hole I get tobacco and ash in the stem. I will have to try the cotton ball and see if that helps better than the balsa. I just wish I could close up that draft hole a bit or halve it.

IMHO I see no way to close the draft hole. Maybe a flake folded in the bowl may help or filter crystals like that from denicotea. They also hold back some humidity.

 

[Hillcrest]

I've had one pipe recently that gurgled every time I lit it up, a Pete Rathbone. Out of eighty or so pipes that I currently have, that's the only one that does this. I could not only predict that it would gurgle, but when. Love the shape for some reason I can't figure, but I do, so I stuck with it for about a year, and the gurgle went away. Not to suggest any causality here, but the only thing I did was allow some cake to build up. Weird. Glad I didn't toss it, though I came close several times.

I only have 3 Petes and 2 Pete seconds and have never had a problem like this. First, i should say I do not like chambers wider than 20mm that said; My Pete pub second is 22mm and this Comoy is 22 mm. I find the draft too much for me anyway. Now on the comoy add a huge draft hole and tiny stem hole ... everything taste like a hot ashtray. But with the balsa filter in the bottom of chamber --- perfect ... except for the dottle and moisture in bowl but that was due to too wet a tobacco. Thanks.

 

[Hillcrest]

IMHO I see no way to close the draft hole. Maybe a flake folded in the bowl may help or filter crystals like that from denicotea. They also hold back some humidity.

I could try a flake ... I didn't think of that. Thanks. !

 

[mngslvs]

I don’t think pipes always submit to rational explanations. I recently bought a beautiful beautiful GBD estate, had a replacement stem. From a reputable vendor. I have had a great experience with another GBD, and this one was only $75 so I thought I would give it a shot. The thing smoked extremely hot and wet from the get-go. I smoked it once and that was enough. Never had wood feel that hot in my hand, and I don’t smoke anything with sugar in it, no aromatics, etc. I got the hell rid of it, post haste.