Luthiers amaze me. We have a famous ukulele and concertina maker here, Bob Tedrow. He is always soaking and steaming the woods he uses to shape them, shave them, or finish them. I in no way would soak a pipe for as long he does to get wood flexible. I merely rinse my pipes out.
Water has a powerful affect on wood.
So when you say that the only reason I won't agree is because of fear or another dismissive tactic, how does that make your case? I once did say that I thought water flush was silly and left it at that. You, however must resort to tactics which demean your opponent instead of actually engaging in conversation about possibilities.
True, but in a debate both sides resort to hysteria.
Sorry that you feel that way about yourself, but that's inside your head, not mine.
As for people who say that water flushing a pipe doesn't work without having tried it, talking out their ass, I stand by that 100%.
I own some pretty rare and damned expensive pipes. Very, very, very fine smoking implements that I've collected over decades. I wouldn't be submitting them to a practice that would damage them.
Stop playing the wounded victim. Nobody is buying it, least of all me.
In my mind the tone of this post is both ineffective and offensive, especially the profanity, which I am not above. You can call me on at will. It has a lot in common with a gorilla's chest-pounding. Also the tone is constantly dismissive. and a great example of captainsousie's post. above.
Anyway, in the natural world the force of water cannot be questioned. It carves a coastline in whatever form that it wishes. As regards its effect on wood, find a way to embezzle Home Depot's profits on paint and other sealants and you will be a very rich man.
It's obvious that wood and water don 't mix. But based on visual inspection and the way that the pipe so cleaned performs n the next smoke, flushers pronounce flushing good.
Good now, apparently, but good always? Good now based on what, a short visual inspection? Are you sure that no deleterious change occurred? No, your examination can hardly be called thorough. Good inside the shank? You don't know. Good long-term? Nobody knows.
That's a lot of uncertainty in the face of many examples that water degrades wood. I'll wager that this practice has taken root only on this very small island of pipesmagazine-but I don't know.
In fact neither of us know about the matter, but at times both sides resort to being rough with other members because we insist that we do know or feel that we have always been the voice of wisdom and that we have a position to maintain, both of which are ego, not fact.
