School me on Water Wells

[Briar Lee]

On the howling plains of Kansas, at a little gas station near Topeka in 1977, I bought a WDC Giant Wellington for next to nothing from a basket of pipes.

View attachment 114921 Upon return to the dormitory a more knowledgeable pipe smoker showed me how my new pipe had a water well, or spit well as he called it.

Essentially, it’s a feature where below where stem and shank meet there’s a Y where water goes down into a well and the airway angles into the bottom of the bowl.

Peterson System pipes feature this, and it’s advertised as keeping the pipe from gurgling.

Since then I’ve owned a few full bent pipes that feature water wells.

View attachment 114922View attachment 114923The well does trap water, and I’ve always assumed that was from spit running down from my mouth.

But some huge Danish pipes do not have a water well. The Knute on the left has a water well, the Ben Wade on the right does not.

View attachment 114924I need some schooling on water wells.

First, do they trap spit, or do they trap condensed water from the smoke stream? Or maybe it’s a little of both?

Second, do they really work to stop gurgling? That huge Ben Wade smokes dry as a bone without a water well.

And any further trivia or information about a water (or spit) well would be be much appreciated.

 

[jpmcwjr]

As to what they trap: Anything that runs back down the stem.
I don't drool into the stem, and I think you'd have to be pretty unaware to do so.

 

[solideogloria86]

They're designed to trap moisture from the combustion of Tobacco. If you drool in your pipe, it will also function as a spit trap. But, the intended function is for moisture created by burning tobacco.

 

[londonbriar]

I imagine most people on here smoke a pipe quite 'mindfully' and don't dribble down the stem. But for the boys of old, who had one in their mouth 24-7, I guess the old saliva-down-stem was a real problem.

Although part of me wonders whether it is a part of the craft that has been turned into a feature. I guess it is necessary to drill a bent pipe in two passes at different angles, and the 'water well' is just a feature of this process - meaning you don't have to worry about stopping your drill in just the right place but can over-shoot your first drill, thus making the pipe quicker to produce.

Re gurgling etc, I tend to smoke straight pipes and swab mid-bowl with a pipe-cleaner if it starts to gurgle.

 

[mso489]

Since none of my pipes have this feature, and since I seldom if ever get gurgling, I somewhat doubt the need or use of the moisture well features, system pipes, etc. I think people feel they have more of a pipe if they have this feature, but I can't understand why, though many fine pipes otherwise have this.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

On most days, I keep a pipe clenched, and I've never drooled down the stem. I am not even sure how I'd do that, since my teeth are above any water line... and, I've not drooled since I was a baby, IF I drooled back then even. I am not sure what to think about grown men drooling. I know, I know... it's not your fault, just happens. Try to keep your dirty knuckles off my carpet, and breathe through your nose once in a while.

My apologies to about half the forum that I've just insulted. Feel free to punch me in the face.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I know, I know, Pavlos... you drive by a Taco Bells, and your pipe just goes out, ammirite?

 

[mso489]

cosmic, it's okay. We wouldn't know we were awake if you weren't giving us a hard time.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

I showed this thread to my pipe smoking friend,, Sal Ivy Gobsworth.

She said. " As you know, I use a deep water well on my pipes. People just don't understand this sort of thing. Sorry about the floor Morrison, but really. It makes me want to spit. "

 

[bullet08]

Water trap isn't exactly for the people who drool. It's to trap condensation from stem. Nothing will fix those wet smokers.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I think that one of the real drawbacks of pipes with wells in them, is that if they are really pulling the fluids out of your stem as they are designed, and if you knock your pipe over on your desk, you may end up with paperwork covered in nasty smelling brown water.

 

[OldRocko]

Isn't this "water well" similar to Peterson's system pipes?

 

[jpmcwjr]

Isn't this "water well" similar to Peterson's system pipes?

Right!

And, Michael, dumping out cess from a pipe can happen, well or no well. Ones learns not to do so!

 

[edger]

On most days, I keep a pipe clenched, and I've never drooled down the stem. I am not even sure how I'd do that, since my teeth are above any water line... and, I've not drooled since I was a baby, IF I drooled back then even. I am not sure what to think about grown men drooling. I know, I know... it's not your fault, just happens. Try to keep your dirty knuckles off my carpet, and breathe through your nose once in a while.

My apologies to about half the forum that I've just insulted. Feel free to punch me in the face.

Punch you in the face? Easy for you to say with a gaggle of beautiful women protecting you.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

And, Michael, dumping out cess from a pipe can happen, well or no well. Ones learns not to do so!

Where does the pool of water come from when you knock over a non-system pipe?

 

[edger]

Just an observation regarding The System.
Peterson started in Ireland, where the air is always damp and your pouch of Condor NEVER dries out! Condensation happens.

 

[Briar Lee]

I can remember being shown the water well on my new WDC Wellington and thinking goody, the spit will drain in that hole!

I didn’t consider that since the Wellingtons all had the P lip how could I drool down the stem anyway? The button orifice is pointed upwards.

But then again, stick some Copenhagen in your mouth and saliva starts forming. Maybe pipe smoke causes salivation too, I’m not aware of.

Gradually I’m more of the opinion that most, maybe all the water the well traps comes from the tobacco in the bowl burning.

There are at least two ways, to drill a water well. The better way is like my White Spot NOT FOR SALE, which has a slightly oval shank and stem, and goes straight through the airway, and the water well is drilled below the airway.

The other way is like my GBD Colossus where the water well is drilled straight, and then the air hole is drilled angled down to the bowl. I can see a sight half moon on the inside of the tenon where the maker nicked it making the second and smaller drill. To pass a pipe cleaner through that requires dismounting the stem.

I’ve noticed too, than on the higher grade water well pipes the end of the stem also will have a section that is much larger than the airway. Together with the water well this creates a condensation chamber. My WDC and White Spot NOT FOR SALE both have a condensation chamber.

View attachment 114980
All in all, a water well does get wet, when the pipe is smoked.

The best thing about the feature may be you expect it on high end full bent pipes

 

[beefeater33]

I had one pipe once, with a "Water Well".................. What a Nasty, Smelly, Rank, Vile invention that was. A well full of tars and oils, and ash, and saliva........... gross, Man.......... Not for me, I'll never own one again...........

 

[anotherbob]

Where does the pool of water come from when you knock over a non-system pipe?

the bladder.

 

[hauntedmyst]

As to what they trap: Anything that runs back down the stem.
I don't drool into the stem, and I think you'd have to be pretty unaware to do so.

On most days, I keep a pipe clenched, and I've never drooled down the stem. I am not even sure how I'd do that, since my teeth are above any water line... and, I've not drooled since I was a baby, IF I drooled back then even. I am not sure what to think about grown men drooling. I know, I know... it's not your fault, just happens. Try to keep your dirty knuckles off my carpet, and breathe through your nose once in a while.

You "dry" smokers can be so insensitive and judgmental to those of us who are excessively saliva challenged. Can you imagine what it's like to go to a business meeting with a bib? To have mean high school girls on the bus ask you if you want a baba? To have the greeter at Walmart follow you around with a mop and a "Caution Slippery Floor" sign? To have your friends at a lawn party ask you to move around so the lawn gets evenly watered? To have your own mother look at you and say "I don't remember sleeping with a Saint Bernard!"? We're a very marginalized segment of society.

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