Well Known Problem seeks Answer

[mngslvs]

When inserting a pipe cleaner, several of my pipes require a twist or two to get the pipe cleaner past the mortise all the way down to the bowl. No big deal at all. A couple of them require not only crimping the pipe cleaner at the end, but 7 or 8 attempts and some colorful language. It occurred to me that I might kiss the end of the mortise with a drill bit, in order to ease the passage of the pipe cleaner, but then I thought that might bugger the physics of the airflow or something. So how to fix this, aside from mailing the pipe to someone ? Not an uncommon problem I'm sure.

 

[bullet08]

Pipe cleaner not being able to get to the bottom of the chamber is basically biggest problem that really doesn't make any difference in smoking quality.

If you're doing this while smoking, there are other options. Light but sharp blow into the stem to clear the moisture. Cup the bowl and flick. Disassemble and properly clean mortise and draught.

If you are doing this to cold pipe, disassemble and properly clean the pipe. Mortise is where the crap collects.

Pipe cleaner test really doesn't prove anything other than the carver wasn't hungover/drunk/having sex while drilling. Drilling anything other than the pipe that is.

 

[kcghost]

Tell me, what kind of pipes do you have this trouble with and what kind of cleaner you use??

 

[RookieGuy80]

I have a few like that. I've learned to live with the gurgling until the pipe has cooled down. The take it apart to clean. Or, if I think something plugged the airway, I'll let it go out. The flip it upside down, cover the bowl with my fingers but allowing air to flow through, and blow it out. And I always end up with pipe ash in my beard with an oom paul/ hungarian.

 

[Sig]

If the pipe is gurgling you can drill it out some.
Ive done it will perfect results, just be careful.
If its not gurgling, don't worry about it.
I have several pipes that don't pass a cleaner but they smoke perfectly well.
It's more common for this to be a non issue than an issue.....in my experience.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Deal breaker for me. Those pipes get tossed.

 

[georged]

The situation & remedy is discussed at length here:

Before Using Your Pipes as Flower Pots or Throwing Them in a Landfill, do this... :: Pipe Talk

Because geometry tolerates no argument, sometimes the bottom-dead-center of a pipe's tobacco chamber and the bullseye-dead-center of its mortise floor cannot be connected with a straight line. It isn't a brand-dependent thing, or even (necessarily) a "quality thing". It's simply three...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[woodsroad]

While it’s not a problem for me, clearly it is for some people. Sell the pipe, or try fixing it, it’s not your technique at fault.

Making an analogy with a semiautomatic firearm, where a cartridge is stripped from a magazine and pushed into the chamber, may need a feed ramp on the mortise. A conical drill bit, like those sold as screw countersinks, should do the job. The slower the taper, the better.

 

[romaso]

You might try a riffler file first, take just a little off and try it again, to get the cleaner to pass. Pretty easy to overdo it with power tools...

 

[Professor Moriarty]

When inserting a pipe cleaner, several of my pipes require a twist or two to get the pipe cleaner past the mortise all the way down to the bowl. No big deal at all. A couple of them require not only crimping the pipe cleaner at the end, but 7 or 8 attempts and some colorful language. It occurred to me that I might kiss the end of the mortise with a drill bit, in order to ease the passage of the pipe cleaner, but then I thought that might bugger the physics of the airflow or something. So how to fix this, aside from mailing the pipe to someone ? Not an uncommon problem I'm sure.

Some pipe makers drill a 'guiding groove' to help coax pipe cleaners into the stummel's air hole.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I bought this, I think it is 4 mm. I use it to clean out my pipes and do a light drill if the pipe cleaner is catching. By design, unless I'm really stupid, I'm not going to cause any serious damage. It has served me well.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

I bought this, I think it is 4 mm. I use it to clean out my pipes and do a light drill if the pipe cleaner is catching. By design, unless I'm really stupid, I'm not going to cause any serious damage. It has served me well.

View attachment 317702

hand tools are under-rated. power tools empower me to screw things up in a jif. For me, even a geared hand drill is a dangerous weapon of uncertain destruction.

 

[Cracklin' Tobaccy]

I've had a couple of pipes that were gurglers. A slight enlargement of the draft hole did wonders. Otherwise I'd learn the ol' flick of the wrist move.

 

[mngslvs]

The situation & remedy is discussed at length here:

Before Using Your Pipes as Flower Pots or Throwing Them in a Landfill, do this... :: Pipe Talk

Because geometry tolerates no argument, sometimes the bottom-dead-center of a pipe's tobacco chamber and the bullseye-dead-center of its mortise floor cannot be connected with a straight line. It isn't a brand-dependent thing, or even (necessarily) a "quality thing". It's simply three...

pipesmagazine.com

Thanks @georged. Perfect. This confirms my idea, only with a more appropriate bit. I know exactly what you mean by the danger of the bit "grabbing" the wood, so sanding it to remove the sharpness makes great sense. God bless this forum, as it were.

 

[dingdong]

On some pipes, end of tenon does not get close enough to the hole in the shank. thus the cleaner tend to "drop" and hit the cavity in between and not going anywhere. This "drop" tendency gets worse on bent stems. Not much you can do really - tapering the hole in the shank may help to some extent, but not much.
Some tenon got square end, some got tapered hole (good for airway/gradual diameter change) but tend to "drop" the end of the cleaner and hitting the lowerside of the shank cavity.

 

[anotherbob]

I don't think any of that's a problem. I don't use pipe cleaners while smoking. If I get a gurgle I use the pick from the pipe tool to loosen up the dottle a bit. Dump ash and stir the tobacco and tamp down to a better level. Doesn't happen often but kills gurgles which only happen with tobaccos I don't have the best pack down for yet (that yet can be a long one on some occasions). And I always take the stem out after a smoke to clean the mortise because that's where it gets nastiest.

 

[mngslvs]

Several seemed to have misunderstood my question. Not talking about the draw/ draft hole. Not talking about gurgling. Not going to discard a pipe over a simple problem. As georged points out in his thread, this problem is not unusual even among four-figure scandinavian pipes, among others.

 

[dingdong]

Easiest way will be to remove the stem.. i do this on most of my bent pipes that can't pass through to the bowl

 

[mortonbriar]

@mngslvs this is off topic, but your avatar appears to have a bit of camera on the forehead...

 

[elvishrunes]

I have a few stems and shanks that won’t pass a cleaner, I just clean as far as I can, and they work fine. For me this would only become an issue if the tar blocked the smoke draw or really reduced it, until then I don’t worry about it. So far so good…