Small Crack in Chamber of New Pipe.
- Thread starter john19
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A word of advice from fifty years of pipe smoking.
Smoke your new pipe all the way down to the air hole in the bottom at least ten times, or an entire 42 gram (1 1/2 ounce) package of tobacco for smaller pipes.
After break in, then only smoke it down until you don’t enjoy it.
I can’t explain just how it works, but I know a pipe that’s been completely broken in smokes cooler and sweeter than a new one or one that’s not been smoked all the way down to the bottom until fully broken in. I think the heat further cures the briar.
That little chip will disappear after break in.
Thanks for advice. I know that already.
But i have a question. In a new pipe, how do you clean the chamber (because you want to build a cake). Maybe I do dry cleaning until the cake is built (with dry pipe cleaners or dry paper towels)?
I'd smoke the hell out of it
It will come around .Really doesn't look bad,just a tiny chip,or dimple in the Coating .
It will come around .Really doesn't look bad,just a tiny chip,or dimple in the Coating .
After your smoke, use your pipe tool to loosen any dottle (partially burnt tobacco), place your thumb over the top and shake. Pour out the ash. This should leave a thin coating of ash in the bowl, which will help build cake. Remove any remaining dottle.
Also, remember to blow out the ash before your next bowl. Just blow through the stem.
Also, remember to blow out the ash before your next bowl. Just blow through the stem.
Leaving ash in the chamber is a sure way to build soft and flakey cake. Not recommended.
With respect for the other suggestion I'd not smoke to the air hole. Unless you like ash in your mouth.
Pipes are not quite that high maintenance. Unless the chip in the bowl coating, or whatever that is, is too much concern I'd smoke your pipe and move on.
I have two pipes with cracks in them that smoke perfectly fine. You are lighting fire in wood. It generally goes ok with the whole briar wood thing. What's the worst that could happen?
Pipes are not quite that high maintenance. Unless the chip in the bowl coating, or whatever that is, is too much concern I'd smoke your pipe and move on.
I have two pipes with cracks in them that smoke perfectly fine. You are lighting fire in wood. It generally goes ok with the whole briar wood thing. What's the worst that could happen?
Back fifty years ago, the instructions with new briar pipe sometimes said to smoke only half a bowl, all the way down, for about six bowls. They also said to build up a cake to the “thickness of a dime”. I no longer leave that much cake, but I leave some cake, just enough to see it.
Using a twisted paper towel soaked in Everclear is how I clean my pipes today. It removes goo and tars, but it’s difficult to actually remove the carbon that we call cake, using just a towel.
I buy a lot of used pipes, and most have bare briar at the bottom. I go right ahead and smoke them all the way down to fully break in the briar.
Unless a pipe has been oil cured, such as a Lee, the last little bit of the smoke will be bitter, and taste like burned briar, until the pipe is fully broken in. It’s also going to be very hot on the outside, until broken in.
When dug from the ground, a green briar root is not usable. It must be soaked or boiled in water or oil, to remove most of the bitter tannins. Then it must be dried out, and ideally aged for awhile, the longer the better. Only then can it be carved into a pipe.
I won’t argue about it, but fifty years of pipe smoking has convinced me it’s the extreme heat that cures out the last bit of tannins and makes a pipe smoke cool and sweet, not so much the formation of a cake. There’s something about the heat that helps the briar insulate and makes it taste better.
A thoroughly well broken in pipe can be slowly smoked all the way down, and the pipe is still cool and dry on the bottom, on the outside of the pipe. It should be rested and dried out completely between smokes, too.
I also think a completely broken in pipe, is better even at the first of the smoke.
But it definitely is better, at the end of a smoke.
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It appears to only be a chip in the cake on the wall. No dramas.
Get some pipe mud from Aristocob. One dollar for a small packet. It will fix that problem perfectly.
Get some pipe mud from Aristocob. One dollar for a small packet. It will fix that problem perfectly.
It looks like there is a chip in your bowl coating. I would sand that shit off and start from bare wood. That shit looks like Waterglass which is the most foul tasting bowl coating ever devised by human beings. The Danish started it I believe and it is a total deal breaker for me now. If I see it or smell it, the artisan better fix it or lose a sale.
Pipe mud from Aristocob new Greek(!) friend.
It will be useful in the future for sure, I say.
Greetings from Greece.
It will be useful in the future for sure, I say.
Greetings from Greece.
I doubt you'll find it in Greece. You'll have to order it from Aristocob.
I smoked 10 bowls (I smoke a little). This is the condition of the champer. I think it's fine.
