The Cube Cut Method

[sparroa]

Somehow I'm not surprised...
Nah, Mick, I have full confidence in your abilities. If only I could get you onto VA flakes I'd be a happy man! ::

 

[cajunguy]

I'm smoking a bowl of Penzance having used this method. It is fantastic. Awesome post.

 

[sparroa]

I figured Penzance would be too hard to manage via cube cuts because it is so crumbly. Good to hear that it can be done!

 

[gwtwdbss]

I have a tin of Old Dark Fired I have yet to open. I believe today is the day I open it and give the cube cut method a try. I usually partially rub my flakes out a bit. Great post! Love the pic. Without it I would have cut my cubes much larger. Thanks Mike!

 

[johncorosz]

I tried the cube cut method tonight with some Peterson Irish Flake and it worked well for me. Took it out of the tin, cut it up and let it dry for a couple hours. Lit easily, smoked well was able to put it down for a bit and I could still bring it back without much issue. Only had to relight in the last 1/3 of the bowl and I think it was mainly from neglect. I will try it again this weekend and pay more attention to it and see how that works. I like this method more than the roll or fold method and appreciate the tip.

Pretty much the same for me! I also do the fold and stuff method but only with already dried and prepared flake. I never really run unless I am blending the baccy something else. Great review on Cube Cutting to say the least, thanks!

 

[yazamitaz]

This was a great read. Thanks for the link in the other thread Bentmike

 

[cigrmaster]

Great tip from Mike, I have continued to cube cut my flakes with great results.

 

[kcghost]

Cube cut tobacco is spectacular for the gravity feed method of loading your pipe. Just pour it into the bowl of your pipe, shake a little bit to settle the tobacco, and you are good to go.

 

[russianbeardedman]

Just tried cube cut method and let me tell ya, one of the best smokes I've ever had. Thank you for the tip. I smoked HH Old Dark Fired.

 

[bentmike]

Thanks russian, Enjoying some some cube cut flakes right now. ::

 

[sailorjeremy]

Has anyone tried this method with coins? I'd suspect the results would be somewhat the same. Hmmm... maybe I'll give it a go with some Luxury Bullseye Flake.

 

[thebadkitty]

Oh yes, and it works just as well. I used Luxury Bullseye Flake by folding it over and turning a little with each cut to stay perpendicular to the grain. Sort of. Whatever it is I mean, it worked great. Later I tried pulling the centers out like Cosmic mentioned in another thread once and that was different. Not better or worse, just different. Give it a try if you already haven't started cutting; I wish I could describe it better.
BentMike... Thanks for posting this. I've smoked flakes with this cut since you first put up the post and it has changed pipe smoking for me. Thanks! (I'm also such a geek that I have had a magnifying glass in my pocket ever since that post).

 

[andrew]

Yes lately I've been cube cutting G&H flakes, because they're so perfect for it. It's great as it's convienient to store and it's the easiest foolproof packing method too. I find it lights extremely easily, it's more about knowing how much the tobacco is going to expand so you don't pack too much in.

 

[eightywon]

I'm enjoying some cube cut Marlin Flake right now. So good!

 

[cigrmaster]

Bent Mike is the man. Since he posted this way back when, I have consistently cube cut my flakes. Since I only smoke flakes Mike's tip has been a huge reason I enjoy my tobacco as much as I do. We should have a statue erected showing Mike with a flake and a pair of scissors. He should be put up on Mount Rushmore as his tip is that important. Every pipe smoker on this forum owes him a debt of gratitude. :clap:
russian, welcome to the forum and Old Dark Fired is one of my favorite blends. It is perfect for cube cutting.
Jeremy, I also cube my coins( Escudo and Dunhill DNR) with equal success as I get with my regualr flakes.

 

[pipesinperu]

Every pipe smoker on this forum owes him a debt of gratitude.

+1 to that!
I'd seen the Pipes Magazine YouTube video on cube cutting, and I got the impression it was just a good method for beginners until you got the hang of folding and stuffing flakes. I'm a beginner, yes, but I thought I was doing pretty well with the fold and stuff. Then I saw how many more experienced pipe smokers on this thread were recommending the cube cut, so I tried it with some McConnell Scottish flake and WOW! By far one of the best smokes in my short 4-5 months of pipe smoking. The flake went from being mild and fairly one-dimensional to big, round, with a good dash of perique that I'd only gotten hints of before. Thank you all!
I do have a few questions about this issue, though. First, does the fold and stuff have any advantages taste-wise? Obviously, it's less prep work, but if we're talking taste, the extra effort for the cube cut seems well worth it and I don't see why I'd go back to fold and stuff. Second, I'd been reading some older threads on "flake pipes" and was thinking about making that my next purchase. Does cube cutting make the advantages of a narrower chamber not as noticeable as with fold and stuff? Or is a good flake pipe a good flake pipe, no matter how you pack the flake? And my last question: It seems like cube cutting would work with broken flakes, too, right? Even if they're not perfectly square, it's still the same idea, I think. Haven't seen that mentioned anywhere. Guess I'll just have to give it a try myself and see!

 

[edgreen]

I, too, have cut flakes in this method. Shouldn't we be calling it square cut, or rectangular solid cut, since it's not really cut into cubes?

 

[cigrmaster]

pipesinperu, the fold and stuff does concentrate the flavors and gives a cooler smoke which is why people use that method. I still use fold and stuff when I am smoking outside as I want a slower burn if there is any kind of wind while I am smoking. I use the cube cut most of the time as I smoke indoors most of the time and I do get the concentrated flavors and cool smoke that the fold and stuff gives. I find I get a more consistent burn with less relights using the cube cut method and I find no loss in flavor or cool burning. For my tastes fully rubbing out a flake makes me lose flavor and gives a hotter burn which is why I never use it. Broken flakes I just cut into big chunks and stuff them in making sure it feels like I am sipping a milk shake through a straw.
A good flake pipe will smoke a flake great using either the fold and stuff or cube cut. My favorite flake pipes are group 4-5 size, they weigh in at 38-55 grams and my favorite shapes are Dublins, Apples, Billiards, Rhodesians, Brandy's, Calabash, Lovat's, Pokers, Cherrywoood's. I also make sure the bowl width is .75-.82 and the bowl depth is no greater than 1.7. I also prefer pipes with a shank dimension of .4 to .45. The open shank gives a nice dry smoke.

 

[stanlaurel]

I thought that this thread needed to be pulled back to the top of the list again.

 

[ckgdrums]

I thought that this thread needed to be pulled back to the top of the list again.

Good call... an enjoyable, and informative read.