EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9) - Bob
So I have this GBD I picked up from Tim West's Ebay corner which was a recovered bowl that got a silver band and replacement stem put on because apparently no one else wanted it, and I've been trying to get it into smoking shape but it's one of my worst smokers. I love the shape and the bowl(which is a nicely grained billiard). My first analysis of the pipe is that it was either dip varnished, or or severely gunked up somehow, because this thing gets WAAAAAY too hot to touch. Like touching a pan that's been sitting on the heat levels of hot. I don't understand what it is about this pipe that just makes it retain rather than dissipate heat-- it has a reasonable amount of cake on it after 20 or so smokes, so I suspect that isn't the issue. Does GBD use varnish? I think the description said it was old if that helps, but I know that says next to nothing about the pipe, sorry for the ambiguity.
My first instinct was the sand the finish off, which I was confident was a varnish simply due to the way it responded when alcohol was put on it-- it simply had zero effect on the shine of the pipe. Most waxed pipes lose their wax and even bleed their stain if you get alcohol on it, right? This one, nada. Nothing came off even if i scrubbed the outside with alcohol. Pretty safe to conclude it's varnish then, right? Well anyway, I did sand the exterior, not sure how deep I should have went, but it hasn't effected the smoking quality unfortunately.
Do I sand it further? Do I sand the inside, in the event that a layer of varnish also coats the insdie of the bowl between the cake which contributes to a kind of heat-insulation effect?(Also would explain why it smokes sopping wet). Really just unsure what direction to go here since I only desire smoking mechanics and don't even care too much if I completely ruin the way the pipe looks, since I don't think it had much collector value anyway since it was a replacement stem and had a repair band.
My current plan is to just aggressively sand the outside and inside, but I was wondering if anyone had better ideas/advice, like continue smoking it for another 20 or 40 smokes, and if it would possibly get better this way. Cheers.
So I have this GBD I picked up from Tim West's Ebay corner which was a recovered bowl that got a silver band and replacement stem put on because apparently no one else wanted it, and I've been trying to get it into smoking shape but it's one of my worst smokers. I love the shape and the bowl(which is a nicely grained billiard). My first analysis of the pipe is that it was either dip varnished, or or severely gunked up somehow, because this thing gets WAAAAAY too hot to touch. Like touching a pan that's been sitting on the heat levels of hot. I don't understand what it is about this pipe that just makes it retain rather than dissipate heat-- it has a reasonable amount of cake on it after 20 or so smokes, so I suspect that isn't the issue. Does GBD use varnish? I think the description said it was old if that helps, but I know that says next to nothing about the pipe, sorry for the ambiguity.
My first instinct was the sand the finish off, which I was confident was a varnish simply due to the way it responded when alcohol was put on it-- it simply had zero effect on the shine of the pipe. Most waxed pipes lose their wax and even bleed their stain if you get alcohol on it, right? This one, nada. Nothing came off even if i scrubbed the outside with alcohol. Pretty safe to conclude it's varnish then, right? Well anyway, I did sand the exterior, not sure how deep I should have went, but it hasn't effected the smoking quality unfortunately.
Do I sand it further? Do I sand the inside, in the event that a layer of varnish also coats the insdie of the bowl between the cake which contributes to a kind of heat-insulation effect?(Also would explain why it smokes sopping wet). Really just unsure what direction to go here since I only desire smoking mechanics and don't even care too much if I completely ruin the way the pipe looks, since I don't think it had much collector value anyway since it was a replacement stem and had a repair band.
My current plan is to just aggressively sand the outside and inside, but I was wondering if anyone had better ideas/advice, like continue smoking it for another 20 or 40 smokes, and if it would possibly get better this way. Cheers.
Last edited by a moderator:
