Smooth Pipes Tend To Smoke Better Than Sandblasted

[lordofthepiperings]

In another topic foggymountain made the comment that smooth pipes tend to smoke better than sandblasted. It's a statement that interested me and I'd love to hear his reasoning and other peoples opinions on how they feel different finishes smoke compared to one another.
I myself haven't really noticed this, but then again I only have one rusticated pipe which is back in Vegas so I haven't smoked it in a few months. The only thing I can kind of see that may affect the smoking of the pipe is the fact that, typically, sandblasted/rusticated are made from briar with more flaws and the sandblast and rusticated finish tends to hide them.
So, what are everyone else's thoughts?

 

[pipeinhand]

My rusty Ardor is one of my better smoking pipes, so...

 

[mrgunnar177]

I have a nice stanwell that's sandblasted and it smokes great. Also have a couple smooth Pete's that smoke great as well (all around the same price range of $100)

 

[ace57]

I can't tell if one is better than the other but that's just me.

 

[ghost]

I have quite a few of both and I don't notice any difference between smooth and rusticated. I think it just depends on the pipe, where the hole was drilled, break-in etc...
I'm also interested to hear from others who have noticed a difference.

 

[colcolt]

My first pipe in many years was a Nording Viking partially rusticated and it's one of my top three favorites. It smokes great and is the one I keep at work.

 

[mangers]

I tend to disagree, if anythinfg I think rusticated and sandblasted pipes smoke cooler than smooths, or at least they feel cooler in the hand.

 

[garyovich]

The only difference I have seen across the board is that rusticated/blasted finishes tend to smoke cooler. I imagine this is because of a greater ratio of surface area to bowl size.

 

[bigvan]

I've heard that rusticated and sandblasted pipes stay COOLER than smooth pipes due to their larger surface area which allows for faster heat dissipation. I can't say that I've experienced this myself, but it at least passes the initial "sniff test" of logic.
But smooth pipes smoking "better" than rusticated/blasted? To accept such a statement, one would first have to define what makes a pipe smoke "better" and what aspects of a smooth pipe possess these attributes of "better smoking-ness" that rough textured pipes don't.
The ball's in your court, Foggymountain.

 

[shawn622]

I notice no difference what so ever. But I haven't been really paying attention. :!:

 

[photoman13]

I don't see how the outside of the bowl can change the taste of the smoke, just possibly the coolness. I haven't noticed any difference between smooth, sandblasted, or hand carved. Maybe if the sandblasted was done to cover up flaws in the briar that might be true. But as a general statement I would disagree.

 

[doctorthoss]

I've smoked both kinds for 20 years and have never noticed the slightest difference. Heck, I've never noticed that blasts smoke cooler than smooth ones, either. I HAVE noticed that thick-walled briars tend to be a bit cooler, however.

 

[judcole]

But smooth pipes smoking "better" than rusticated/blasted? To accept such a statement, one would first have to define what makes a pipe smoke "better" and what aspects of a smooth pipe possess these attributes of "better smoking-ness" that rough textured pipes don't.
The ball's in your court, Foggymountain.

+1, bigvan

 

[tbradsim1]

I believe it is in the briar, a study was made and rusticated edged out the smooth ones because of more surface area, I have an old Edwards Algerian briar with thin walls and it smokes as cool as my thicker wall high end pipes. The old cajun

 

[will]

Totally true.
I also read somewhere red cars go faster than the blue ones.

 

[puffy]

To really test you would need two pipes exactly alike except for finish.Then though as has been said two pieces of briar may just not smoke the same no matter the finish.All I know for sure is I can't notice a difference.

 

[chopz]

i wouldn't think any blanket statement can apply to all pipes, and don't know of any difference from personal experiences but i will say that if perhaps a person has a rusticated pipe that was given a high gloss non-breathing finish (given that a coarse surface might be more difficult to polish to a high gloss than a smooth surface) would that cause it to smoke hotter?

 

[captainsousie]

I have not found the following to be true. For sake of argument, when I say "rusticated" or "rustication" that would also include sandblast for this argument alone.
Here's a guess. Among the lower-end pipes there is quite a bit of rustication and "carving". Thereby, someone with limited experience in higher end rusticated pipes might make the assumption that all such pipes have shoddy workmanship. This pairs with the assumption that rustication is only done to inferior quality briar blocks. So, in the poster's experience, smooth=higher quality and rustication=lower quality.
Personally, my smooth, blast, carved and rusticated pipes smoke fairly equally and it depends on the tobacco, the specific pipe and my mood which of the two is better.

 

[cigrmaster]

In my experience, I believe a sandblasted or rusticated pipe will smoke a tad cooler. I have had straight grain pipes that today would go for 1500 plus and they certainly did not smoke better than my sandblasted higher end pipes. Now I do have a few straight grains in the collection that do smoke as cool as any of my pipes, but they don't smoke better than my best sandblasted pipes.

 

[hawk60ce]

I find my sandblasted or rusticated ones to smoke cooler than my smooth ones. i prefer smoking the sandblasted ones as well, but i have some nice smooth ones in my collection. too say that smooth pipes smoke better than sandblasted ones seems to be an extremely broad statement. whats your opinion of better? ones opinion of ''better'' will be drastically different than anothers. and you know what they say about opinions...