What Am I Doing Wrong?

[mawnansmiff]

Ever since I took to occasional cube cutting (flakes and plugs) my tobacco I have been blighted with losing part of my unburnt tobacco whenever I tip out the ash at roughly half bowl.
I know why it is happening, it's because of the pack of cubes being so loose they do not hold together when the pipe is inverted. I don't knock or tap the pipe at all, I simply ever so gently 'scratch' the ash with my pipe tool then tip out. I have tried packing harder but then found it difficult to draw on the pipe.
So what do the more seasoned cube cutting smokers do to prevent this waste of good tobacco?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[fitzy]

I don't bother dumping the ash. I just lightly tamp it down using the weight of the tamper to level it out.

 

[ashdigger]

I rarely dump ash. Sounds like that's the problem.

 

[pruss]

I rarely dump ash. Sounds like that's the problem.

This. Maybe it's time to play with tamping techniques and bowl management. I'd avoid dumping ash until you've cashed the bowl.
-- Pat

 

[gmwolford]

I rarely dump ash. Sounds like that's the problem.

This. Maybe it's time to play with tamping techniques and bowl management. I'd avoid dumping ash until you've cashed the bowl.
-- Pat

Ditto

 

[mawnansmiff]

Well thanks folks but I should say, I don't tip the ash out of my pipe by habit, I only do it when I have difficulty in relighting. When smoking rubbed out flakes, ash tipping causes me no loss of tobacco so it can only be because there is no cohesion with the cube cut pieces.
More experimentation is required methinks ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[aldecaker]

Same thing happens to me. Cube cut is definitely a "loose fill" proposition.

 

[tmb152]

So what do the more seasoned cube cutting smokers do to prevent this waste of good tobacco?

First of all Jay, I always dump my ash. Why? If you need to stir unburned tobacco out into the middle and relight or merely retamp, you have loosened up the ash as well which is a very, very fine dust and now some of it will likely get drawn into your mouth affecting the taste or worse.
Sounds to me you are cutting your cubes too small and just dropping them in too loosely. Try cutting the cubes a little longer or more irregular and rather than just sprinkle in, grab them in a pinch then squeeze and stuff them in so that they are holding onto each other. With a bit tighter pack you shouldn't lose anything at all and if you want to remove the ash (I stir the ashes loose then tip the pipe sideways to sweep out, being careful not to touch the unburned tobacco), you should have no further troubles. Also check to make sure you are not removing too much of your cake.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

You could perhaps try a mix of cube and rubbed and see if that helps.

 

[tbradsim1]

I find that cube cut has to have a hotter flame, so I use my Torch lighter, very carefully , and yes tamping is crucial . It works for me.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

so I use my Torch lighter,

8O

 

[crashthegrey]

I am also a proponent of never dumping ash. But it sounds as though tmb152 has better advice for your style of smoking.

 

[andrew]

I usually rub out some tobacco to act as kindling for the cubes, I very lightly tamp down the ash when required, I think you should try bigger cubes as I've never had this problem, I find my cube cut bowls the tobacco really stays in the pipe. You also may be packing too loosely

 

[pagan]

so I use my Torch lighter

Id ask Uncle Rob
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWsm3w-G8i8

 

[pipeanddrum]

Something I started doing when packing my pipe, which you might want to try, is after loose filling with the first pinch of tobacco, tapping the side of your bowl a few times to help the cut cubes or rubbed out flake settle into the bottom of the bowl instead of pushing or tamping the tobacco down. Then repeat until your bowl is as full as you like. This helps gather the tobacco in the bowl uniformly, but not too tightly, and avoids compressing it together.

 

[samcoffeeman]

This is an inherent issue with cube cutting. I personally don't like it all that much but certain tobaccos definitely benefit from it and are easier to deal with in this method. I only cube cut StoneHaven at this point, and don't ash unless absolutely necessary.

 

[mawnansmiff]

It would appear that cutting into larger cubes and pressing a little more might be the answer. Thus far my 'cubes' are of ~2-3mm square, I shall try twice that size next time and tamp them in a little harder.
Thanks for the responses chaps, much appreciated ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[randelli]

I remember my first cube cut experience. I was living in my travel trailer at the time. I cut the cubes fairly small and loaded them into my bent cutty shaped kaywoodie. Going out the door, I looked down so I wouldn't fall down the steps, and lost half of the bowl in the process. What I somehow managed to save was pretty tastey though!

 

[mawnansmiff]

Well folks I am now smoking some Full Virginia Plug that I cube cut into roughly 4mm X 1.5mm cubes and half way through I did my usual scratch of the ash and tipped it out with no loss of tobacco! It did take a fair bit longer to get the pipe 'going' in the first place but that can be remedied by putting finer stuff on top of the bowl.
So it was simply me cube cutting too small...very many thanks for the tip chaps ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[crashthegrey]

I am glad to hear that you found what works for you.