I am not talking highway toll but a simple pipe cleaner test that could save a lot of grief. A pipe maker advised me long ago to always test proper alignment of stem to shank drilling with a pipe cleaner. He also strongly felt that tenon tight fit to bottom of shank drilling could make a marked difference in smoking quality. Don’t feel shy about doing these tests at the pipe shop, you don’t need a lighted loope or inside caliper kit, just a pipe cleaner.
The Easy Pass Test
- Thread starter Pipeoff
- Start date
I'm going to try it on all my vintage estates and see what results I get. Not that I care...I'll smoke them anyway!
I have some awesome pipes that smoke great, but still don’t fully pass a pipe cleaner. Just because they don’t pass one is not always a deal breaker for me. Occasionally, vanity wins. ?
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Big deal for me, I won't buy a pipe unless it passes the pipe cleaner test.
Does that mean you have handled and tested all the pipes you’ve purchased? You have some awesome rubios (little jealous seeing the pics) and jack howells. Or you just trusted the makers?
Honestly, I haven't much cared about the pipe cleaner test. In a straight, yeah, a pipe cleaner should go through, but with bents? Not so much. Some of my favorite pipes don't pass that test. A pipe either has a good draw or it doesn't.
Tenons will have a tiny bit of space, because the dimensions of the mortise change slightly during a smoke. And over years there is a little shrinkage with hte wood, just like any other wood. But if a completely uninterrupted airway is a must, check out Scottie Piersel's steel lined pipes that end with a reverse tenon, onto which the stem rotates. Great smokers!
Tenons will have a tiny bit of space, because the dimensions of the mortise change slightly during a smoke. And over years there is a little shrinkage with hte wood, just like any other wood. But if a completely uninterrupted airway is a must, check out Scottie Piersel's steel lined pipes that end with a reverse tenon, onto which the stem rotates. Great smokers!
I'll have to get some pipe cleaners to test if any of mine are no good
I ask them to verify before I purchase and tell them it is mandatory for me. With Jack and Jose,not an issue at all, I think they make it mandatory themselves.
I can’t pass a pipe cleaner through most of my Peterson pipes, and they all smoke great, BUT, I would certainly prefer that they would. I think the perfect alignment is “generally” more for the ease of cleaning than the proper functioning of the pipe.
It would probably behoove most of us to perform this test which has been reported numerous times on any new pipes we are going to purchase. But in truth it isn't as good as lighting up the pipe and taking a few draws on it.
Most pipes will pass a cleaner, even bent pipes. You really just need to get to know the pipe, with a little bend at the tip of the cleaner and wiggle here and there I can get pipe cleaners through 99% of my pipes, my Oom Paul’s being the exception.
This has been a huge deal to me up until the past couple months. I have a Baraccinni that wouldn't pass a cleaner, this made me sad and I put it up for a few months...I eventually got bored one day and took it off the shelf, the thing is easily one of my best smokers - leaves very little dottle compared to many of my 'easy-pass' pipes and dries right up when I use a cleaner while smoking (I am constantly swabbing out moisture it seems)
My new IMP meer also requires the stem to be removed and some wiggle magic to get a cleaner to pass all the way to the bowl ..I was chagrined at first, but the thing smokes tobacco down to dust..I am just going to smile and nod.
While I like a pipe to pass a cleaner all the way, I don't think it's an end-all-be-all qualifier (for me).
My new IMP meer also requires the stem to be removed and some wiggle magic to get a cleaner to pass all the way to the bowl ..I was chagrined at first, but the thing smokes tobacco down to dust..I am just going to smile and nod.
While I like a pipe to pass a cleaner all the way, I don't think it's an end-all-be-all qualifier (for me).
Fascinating. A subject I have never given a huge amount of thought too.
Straight pipes should pass a pipe cleaner, and most slightly bent as well. I'm always delighted to find that a more fully bent pipe passes a pipe cleaner, but I hardly expect it. To me, that means that the artisan, or artisan at the factory, did an especially good job of drilling. However, to expect a piece of twisted wire with fluff attached to do a U-turn in an airway doesn't match my sense of physics. When it does, it does, but many fine bent pipes don't, and they can smoke superbly well.
If you’re just now thinking ? about acquiring some pipe cleaners—please let us know if ANY of them go in.
I honestly never gave it any thought. The case I use a pipe cleaner while smoking when I either get some moisture with the smoke or a gurgle. A pipe cleaner that doesn't pass does the trick for me. I pull apart a pipe after smoking and cooling anyway. But I can understand it could be a form of quality control to check the drilling is dead centre which shows craftsmanship, especially with higher grade artisan stuff.
How does one test if the tenon is a tight fit against the bottom of the mortise?
I prefer a pipe cleaner to pass cleanly, but it’s not a complete deal breaker. Especially for bent pipes.
I expect a cleaner to pass on straight pipes, so if it doesn’t, that usually a concern about the drilling.
Bent pipes might just need a little “lockpicking” to get the cleaner to pass, but it usually works.
As long as the pipe doesn’t gurgle and smokes nice, I don’t really care.
I expect a cleaner to pass on straight pipes, so if it doesn’t, that usually a concern about the drilling.
Bent pipes might just need a little “lockpicking” to get the cleaner to pass, but it usually works.
As long as the pipe doesn’t gurgle and smokes nice, I don’t really care.