Rim Char Removal
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The one in the photo is a GAN 356X. They have a completely personalizable model called the GAN Infinity that I'm also considering. Careful though, nearly as addictive as buying pipes!?
I love the look of a well loved pipe, with a patina of smoke stains around the top of the outside of the bowl and a little cake oozing up from inside and flowing over. That said, I do have pipes that I try to keep the rims as clean as possible, but this is not the norm.
My first Becker was a Danish scoop, blasted with spectacular smooth grain around the rim. I kept it as pristine as possible, cleaning and buffing that rim after every smoke. The pipe smokes like a dream, but keeping gunk off the rim the way it is designed is impossible. Now, I just smoke it, and let the cake creep out all it wants. It actually adds a beautiful nuance to it. But, I don't ever plan on selling any of my pipes. So, I could care less.
When I am hanging out at The Briary and someone comes in and asks about how to keep a rim clean or hesitates buying a pipe with a spectacular rim, the guys all just start laughing at the guy. "It's a tool." Buying a pipe designed to smoke well and is beautiful and wanting to keep it pristine is like buying a new pickup truck and refusing to haul anything because you don't want to mess up the bed.
But, on the other hand, some trucks are probably better off on showroom floors than in the field. If you happen to have the luxury of having a showroom and enough other trucks to keep you working... YMMV
My first Becker was a Danish scoop, blasted with spectacular smooth grain around the rim. I kept it as pristine as possible, cleaning and buffing that rim after every smoke. The pipe smokes like a dream, but keeping gunk off the rim the way it is designed is impossible. Now, I just smoke it, and let the cake creep out all it wants. It actually adds a beautiful nuance to it. But, I don't ever plan on selling any of my pipes. So, I could care less.
When I am hanging out at The Briary and someone comes in and asks about how to keep a rim clean or hesitates buying a pipe with a spectacular rim, the guys all just start laughing at the guy. "It's a tool." Buying a pipe designed to smoke well and is beautiful and wanting to keep it pristine is like buying a new pickup truck and refusing to haul anything because you don't want to mess up the bed.
But, on the other hand, some trucks are probably better off on showroom floors than in the field. If you happen to have the luxury of having a showroom and enough other trucks to keep you working... YMMV
Black sandblast pipes might come as option for those who are concerned about charring the rims
Really? I'd have thought the opposite. Is this your own observation/test?
Science demands an answer!
Embers has it right. Hold your lighter horizontally, and draw the tip to near—not on— the tobacco. This works for all—matches, butane, fluid—everything except a torch, which should be held way away from the pipe, vertically upside down. Flame on that one about a half to full inch above the tobacco. Aim very carefully!
Yes it’s from my own observations. I’ve had it almost happen. Once the ember gets going and rises if you have the top of the bowl topped full it rises up above the rim and the ember scorches it. I believe this is 90% of rim char. Also sometimes when this happens pieces fall off onto the rim and burn it.
I’ve seen people with lit pipes and the ember up above the rim.
take a junk pipe and hold a lighter to the rim and you will see it takes a long time to scorch the rim with a lighter or match. Not saying it doesn’t or can’t happen I just think that lighter scorch is overplayed. Obviously a torch lighter will scorch the rim... but with a soft flame is hard to do. I even light my pipes in the wind and haven’t scorched a rim.
just try it on a brand new pipe. Never pack it to the brim and you’ll see how pristine the rim remains.
I am going for: It's the combo of tobacco rising and over torching the rim.
'Cause I sometimes do the full fill, tobacco blooms up, and no charring. But I light carefully, mostly by keeping a distance from flame to tobacco, avoiding the rim.
'Cause I sometimes do the full fill, tobacco blooms up, and no charring. But I light carefully, mostly by keeping a distance from flame to tobacco, avoiding the rim.
That's how Sante conditioned his cobs with a perfectly black rim.?
I never said that someone who gets all OCD over the rims staying pristine weren't "real" pipe smokers. I have some that I keep pristine also, but the pipes that I actually enjoy the hell out of, I could care less whether there was anything on the rims. They are well-loved and look it.
Charring the rim, is one thing though. That is irreversible. Getting some soot on the rim from an over oxidized flame (metal workers will know what I mean), or getting some cake creep up on the rim is another... Char is from bad lighting technique, soot or cake creep is just the natural consequence of smoking.
Char is easily fixed by holding the lighter above the bowl. Creep and soot... I wouldn't worry about those. You can clean that up today like a frantic OCD piper off his meds, or years down the line whenever it crosses your mind again, but the pipe is not being damaged by it.
Charring your rim is a not in play.
I don't think you have to be OCD to want to remove tar/lava/cake from the rim. Here are a couple dozen pipes I cleaned last night, and scrubbed the rims on most of them. Took an average of about 10 seconds per pipe. Some of that is make up work, as I didn't remove any for years.
I don't think you have to be OCD to want to remove tar/lava/cake from the rim. Here are a couple dozen pipes I cleaned last night, and scrubbed the rims on most of them. Took an average of about 10 seconds per pipe. Some of that is make up work, as I didn't remove any for years.
I just keep a board with some suede leather stretched to rub the rims on occasionally. It doesn't work for all pipe designs, but... There is a difference between OCD and just wanting to keep your pipes looking nice. @jpmcwjr OCD involves more fretting, hand wringing and worry... which is unbecoming of a pipesmoker, IMO. 
I just keep a board with some suede leather stretched to rub the rims on occasionally. It doesn't work for all pipe designs, but... There is a difference between OCD and just wanting to keep your pipes looking nice. @jpmcwjr OCD involves more fretting, hand wringing and worry... which is unbecoming of a pipesmoker, IMO.
Unless you’re diagnosed with it, unfortunately. In which case it’s not very fun or “cool.”
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