Why Does This Pipe Smoke Hot?
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I’ve always wanted a dog to help with ratting…
that crack/scratch is not a hot spot, but you can see the colour differences better on that face.
Could the crack have been cause by the heat though?
There's info on the web that say heat conducts better along wood grain than across. So, it follows that the bird's eye areas would feel hotter than the others. As to why there is a hot spot on the back and not the front, I can only speculate like brobs that there is a hidden burn out there. The pipe seems well used so I'd not be surprised if that is the case. Since there is no real fix besides building a cake in that area, with or without pipe mud, I don't see the point of removing the cake just to see if that is the actual problem.
That crack looks ominous.
That crack looks ominous.
The cake could also be so old and hard it’s causing problems. No need to keep it in there IMO
In the picture below it appears there’s a minor fracture in the bowl on the midline? Is this superficial, or a scratch…?
I just refurbished a 60 year old pipe that had a fair amount of cake buildup in it. I wanted to get the cake even and of course clean the pipe, so I sanded down the cake so that it was even. While doing this, I discovered some minor spider web cracks and decided to go ahead and take it down a little bit more. After I completed sanding, I applied a bowl coating of “pipe mortar”.
I smoked it the other day. It’s smoked fine. In the first picture you posted it looks like there is an uneven cake? Cake holds and transfers heat differently.
Sounds like you’re happy smoking it as is while taking some extra precautions.
Either way, a very beautiful pipe with, as craig61 said, “a lot of trips around the sun”!
I just refurbished a 60 year old pipe that had a fair amount of cake buildup in it. I wanted to get the cake even and of course clean the pipe, so I sanded down the cake so that it was even. While doing this, I discovered some minor spider web cracks and decided to go ahead and take it down a little bit more. After I completed sanding, I applied a bowl coating of “pipe mortar”.
I smoked it the other day. It’s smoked fine. In the first picture you posted it looks like there is an uneven cake? Cake holds and transfers heat differently.
Sounds like you’re happy smoking it as is while taking some extra precautions.
Either way, a very beautiful pipe with, as craig61 said, “a lot of trips around the sun”!
I have a few "injured pipes" that are among my favorites. A Larsen Copenhagen (first era) is among them. It was significantly more evident that there was a burn out compared to your issue. I used furnace cement to patch the issue from inside the bowl. See the attached photo. This is what I used. Zero resale value after this kind of repair of course, but I have been smoking it now for 2 years since making the repair. It no longer smokes hot and is one of my favorites. And, I have a fine collection. PM me if you want details about my process...
Here’s the link to the video on making and using “pipe mortar”. The main thing I like about this patching compound is that as the video explains it’s safe compared to other methods of pipe bowl repair. The ingredients are easy to find and mix up.
I also used this ”pipe mortar” to fill in the void in the bottom of the bowl of a brand new MM cob that created a nice flat bottom bowl even with the draft opening.
Many have gone to fireplace mortar for a permanent repair.
Lots of good discussion, which was my intention when starting the thread. The reason I find this pipe interesting is that it smokes hotter than say these other two briars in my collection, which are are both turn of the century and have had a hard life
while I’ve used pipe mud/mortar before I’m happy to work with the carbon layer that is already in there. I think I will remove some of it where it is uneven and see if that makes any difference to the heat displacement. Also, unlike the two britwoods above, I have been smoking EGR in the pipe instead of homegrown or crispy ropes. While not a goopey aromatic, maybe the extra processing is mucking around with my usual cadence too.
in regards to the crack on the front face, I’ll measure it to see if there is any movement. I feel like it is just a surface scratch, but it does make me uneasy that it’s not a straight line for instance.
while I’ve used pipe mud/mortar before I’m happy to work with the carbon layer that is already in there. I think I will remove some of it where it is uneven and see if that makes any difference to the heat displacement. Also, unlike the two britwoods above, I have been smoking EGR in the pipe instead of homegrown or crispy ropes. While not a goopey aromatic, maybe the extra processing is mucking around with my usual cadence too.
in regards to the crack on the front face, I’ll measure it to see if there is any movement. I feel like it is just a surface scratch, but it does make me uneasy that it’s not a straight line for instance.
I have an old pipe whose chamber looked exactly like that but when reamed back to bare briar it turned out it was just useless cake rather than burnout.
I agree with BROBS and Karam; get rid of the cake so you can see what's really going on in there. Uneven cake might be causing some of the problem but you can't know until you get rid of it. You can do an alcohol soak if you like but regular tap water will accomplish the same thing. Run warm water through the bowl and then ream it out. Rinse and repeat until it's clean.
I disagree. That's just uneven Cake buildup. The pipe gets hot at the top third, that's the bottom third.
Yeah, but he's down under, so everything's all topsy turvy...
Look at the back of the chamber wall at the top 1/3. It’s like Swiss cheese
If it's really a concern, then I guess I would sand out the cake back to bare wood. Then you'll be able to see the state of the chamber walls and can proceed based on what you find.
In looking at the photos of the cake, I don't really see anything that would immediately lead me to believe that it's burning out. Cake builds and over time there are sections that do break off leaving little voids which look a lot like what I'm seeing in your photo.
If you do choose to sand it back to bare wood, then it would be advisable to put some sort of coating in there. It will help to prevent any further damage going forward.
On the hardwood pipes I've built, I use sour cream and powdered granulated charcoal. It can be applied rather thickly as opposed to sugar/honey/what have you carbon concoctions. Let it dry for a week and smoke away.
Fruitwood, apple in this case will char fairly easy if not protected. The sour cream/carbon coating works pretty good at protecting the chamber, and the pipe smokes fairly cool.
Or just smoke it...
In looking at the photos of the cake, I don't really see anything that would immediately lead me to believe that it's burning out. Cake builds and over time there are sections that do break off leaving little voids which look a lot like what I'm seeing in your photo.
If you do choose to sand it back to bare wood, then it would be advisable to put some sort of coating in there. It will help to prevent any further damage going forward.
On the hardwood pipes I've built, I use sour cream and powdered granulated charcoal. It can be applied rather thickly as opposed to sugar/honey/what have you carbon concoctions. Let it dry for a week and smoke away.
Fruitwood, apple in this case will char fairly easy if not protected. The sour cream/carbon coating works pretty good at protecting the chamber, and the pipe smokes fairly cool.
Or just smoke it...
thanks for the sour cream tip. I have been wanting to use an activated charcoal mixture to line an unsmoked pre-20s pipe I have.
ive decided to just remove some of the high spots on the cake and smooth out and then just smoke this pipe. I would prefer to not remove the cake and expose the wood, purely because I have uncovered problems in the past which where already somewhat protected by the carbon.
ive decided to just remove some of the high spots on the cake and smooth out and then just smoke this pipe. I would prefer to not remove the cake and expose the wood, purely because I have uncovered problems in the past which where already somewhat protected by the carbon.
Have a pipe that used to smoke hot. Even hotter with VA. Now it doesn't. No clue why it smoked hot, nor why it doesn't now. Pipe fairies probably had their black magic doing overtime.