I’ve been working on an old Mastercraft Billiard. Finally got it cleaned. Took SO MUCH PGA to get clean. I even have another pipe I completely reset and it still has that smell. I believe it’s in the shank.
That old Estate flavor and smell
- Thread starter jayhancock
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
There are others on this forum that use hot water to accomplish what I use 190 proof Everclear, which is to completely clean away the rancid, stinking tars and oils that permeate the briar of some old estate pipes. The shank is the most difficult part to clean, and likely was not kept as clean as the bowl.
My argument for using straight Everclear is that it reliably works. Just keep after it, and eventually most old stinkers can be restored to smoking condition.
The argument against Everclear is that it costs $17.50 per fifth, where water is free.
What I will not use, is rubbing (methanol) alcohol. While it works to clean the briar, wood alcohol is a deadly poison.
Do some searching! There were a couple of really good threads recently that included discussion of that issue as part of overall cleaning. I finally tried the activated charcoal on one after trying cotton balls, then salt, lol. It seemed to get the pipe over the hump. A little Meer I had someone else deep clean when I had the stem repaired and had a new one made for it as well. The Meer still had a bit of a ghost (after 124 years of love) but it was a sweet smell!
warm water, soap, and a tube brush. repeat a few times. rinse well. I did the alcohol and pipe cleaners (regular and bristled) for decades, but now I use running water. It works better, is less work, and is cheaper.
I’ve found that a small pipe knife blade that isn’t overly sharp, or a poker tool with a flat edge is a huge timesaver when it comes to cleaning out the mortise of estate pipes. Pipe cleaners with Everclear just dissolve the top layer of the cylinder of dried gunk caking the mortise—that approach will take forever and use many, many pipe cleaners. You’d be amazed how much built up gunk you can scrape out with a blade or tool. The more you can scrape away, the less the Everclear and pipe cleaners are responsible for cleaning up.
Shank brush and Everclear. The mortise is where the hubastank lives but the shank brush - and if necessary a dental pick - is the best I’ve found to clear it.
If that fails I’d just send it for professional cleaning that would probably include an alcohol retort and possibly ozone treatment. I haven’t needed to go that extreme because the shank brush does a fantastic job.
If that fails I’d just send it for professional cleaning that would probably include an alcohol retort and possibly ozone treatment. I haven’t needed to go that extreme because the shank brush does a fantastic job.
If the pipe tastes skanky, it is almost always a dirty shank or mortise, occasionally the stem.
A shank brush, tools such as small jewellers screwdrivers or dental picks will save you a lot of time, pipe cleaners and alcohol - if the shank or mortise is heavily gunked up.
I use a liquid soap, but dishwashing liquid will do very well.
I water flush, but also alcohol soaked cleaners afterwards.
You can never get your pipes too clean
The stem can also oxidize on the inside. I will coat a fluffy churchwarden pipecleaner with toothpaste and secure one side of the pipecleaner to a vise or even a nail in the wall, and just work that stem back and forth. Then rinse with alcohol on a pipecleaner. It rakes a little elbow grease.
No way lol. I’ve heard don’t use any alcohol you wouldn’t put in your body. But I also question if you need to put Everclear in your body! haha
Everclear/grain alcohol is Ethanol
Some use denatured. I use isopropyl.
Regardless of what alcohol I use to clean my pipes, I rinse them really well with water and a final pipecleaner swabbing. I’m just not keen on having any residual flavors.
A friend gave me some Bacti-Stat, and I found that works really well. I have to say that I wouldn't hesitate to use Dawn, or whatever you have handy. Palmolive is a little more gentle, but it would also work well. I will say that you will have to re-apply wax to the pipe for obvious reasons. The soap removes the gunk, but it also removes some of the good stuff too. But alcohol presents the same issues. I actually found I can be less cautious with running water and soap. They may remove the wax, but they barely touch the dye. I've spotted a pipe with alcohol getting on the outside. That hasn't happened with running water. As a precaution, I do put a little packing tape over the stamping, and I don't use super hot water. Just warm water will work fine. I haven't had a problem with losing stamping, but I've read that hot water can raise the stamping a little. Again, I haven't experienced this, but a little tape as a precaution is worth it for peace of mind.
Shank brush with Murphys oil soap first. Cool water rinse. Then Iso alcohol and cue tips. I have a mini screwdriver that I used to use for glasses and ground a little spatula at the end to drag stuff out.
Got an estate Pete in last week
Did the usual hot water flush, liquid soap and shank brush followed up by alcohol soak in the bowl and shank
The stem wouldn’t fit in snugly afterwards
A bright torch revealed the inspissated tars and crud in the mortise that hot water and alcohol didn’t shifts
Needed a few minutes of judicious reaming with a small screwdriver to get the shank and mortise clean
Hot water and alcohol MAY NOT be sufficient
Did the usual hot water flush, liquid soap and shank brush followed up by alcohol soak in the bowl and shank
The stem wouldn’t fit in snugly afterwards
A bright torch revealed the inspissated tars and crud in the mortise that hot water and alcohol didn’t shifts
Needed a few minutes of judicious reaming with a small screwdriver to get the shank and mortise clean
Hot water and alcohol MAY NOT be sufficient
I do the water, soap, brush, flush the very last. The metal tools are to get 95% of the stuff out. The alcohol soak is to loosen the remaining gunk and pull the small percentage out of the wood itself. The scrub is to (hopefully) clean it to bare wood and take that final percentage or two out.
The order of things is important. I used to sell and rent backpacks. There are generally 5 adjustments on a backpack, and they have a specific order to tighten. For instance, if you tighten #4 before #1, it makes #1 50% effective.