Unsmoked briar pipe, bare wood bowl, smooth or rough?

[monty55]

I wanted to get peoples opinions on bare wood bowls on new or unsmoked pipes and whether a smooth bowl, or rough sanded bowl is better in your opinion. I have several that have ultra smooth bowls, and some like Moretti go out of their way to rough the inside of the bowl up to aid in faster cake build.
What's your take?

 

[redbeard]

Only new wood pipe I have had is pear, it was pre coated. So I couldn't be help there. But if I were to throw out an answer to your question I would think a rougher inside bowl would build cake a tab bit faster due to trapping more ash and whatnot. But I would take that with a couple grains of salt.

 

[mso489]

I really don't think it matters, though the fact that some makers do the rough bowl means they probably think it does.

The smooth unfinished bowl insides I've bought break in just fine. The whole cake-building emphasis is over-sold.

You want a nice coating of carbon, but beyond that, cake is just an invitation to ream a pipe, which most do rather

poorly and make the pipe burn unevenly. I wipe a pipe bowl out after every smoke and do with less than a dime's

width of cake, which smokes great, and keeps my pipes going for 35 to 40 years and counting. In short, don't worry

about it.

 

[literaryworkshop]

My understanding is that sanding the tobacco chamber smooth is an appearance thing, not a performance thing. I understand why a pipemaker would do it--customers like smooth, shiny surfaces, and it suggests that the maker pays attention to detail. But I doubt it significantly affects how the pipe smokes.

 

[eastwoodaudio]

I've got a pre-carboned bowl (Hilson Vintage) that seems to be building cake SLOWER than a bowl that had no carbon coating in it whatsoever (unfinished Savinelli, Series III) for what it's worth.

 

[dottiewarden]

"The whole cake-building emphasis is over-sold."
+1
As a relatively new pipe smoker, I'm discovering exactly what mso489 is saying. I'm currently breaking in my third pipe and all is going very well. I've received a lot of useful advice on this site but the best tip regarding breaking in a pipe was to put in some good tobacco and light'er on up! I was told by one of the members that good briar will hold up right from the beginning and after following that advice I found out it was true.
Pipe: New Chacom Salsa 297 Canadian
Chamber: Smooth raw briar
Break-in technique: Put tobacco in pipe and smoke
Results: Zero scorching, smooth smoking right down to a fine white ash!
Warning: This may not work if your smoking cadence is fast paced or you're out in high winds on a cold day!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

+1MSO, on the nose.
I remember my first pipe and fretting over whether it was going to cake up or not. Personally, I like the well polished bowls for my lightweight clenching pipes, because the bowls are so narrow to begin with, I'd prefer them not to cake. And, with the clench style, the smoker is already smoking slow enough that it doesn't matter.
Just smoke and enjoy it. Soon enough, you'll have to deal with cake.

 

[monty55]

Great info. Thanks to all of you.