I've never experienced how good a thick caked pipe smokes like because i always keep the thickness of my cakes under 2mm, but i HAVE experienced that 2 of thick caked pipes i bought from Ebay got some serious cracks when i removed the cakes. That's hurt, and irritating, folks.
Even in very early time when i got my first pipes and smoked very-very hot, the worst case i've had is some parts of the wall were burned into charcoal, i just removed the charcoal parts, and learned. These pipes got Cracked, probably because of the uneven expansion of the thick cake while smoking, i suppose. So the question is: What is the benefit of thick cake?
To protect the wall? What kind of protection that causes damage to the subject? Nah man, now i believe that my pipes will last a life-time with 1mm cake, all i do is smoke them calmly and slowly. It costs me 1/2 to 1 match box to finish a bowl. Too many matches? - Too cheap to protect the pipe (and the taste).
With thin cake i can also check the wall condition regularly by gently rub the tamper around the wall and listen to the different feelings. I would know if some part is not right.
To improve the taste of the tobacco? As i said i've never experienced that, need some confimations of experts here. I think the thick cake will absorbs the tobacco juice and takes longer to dry, maybe even causes some moist taste. To me a clean pipe brings good smoke. If the airway got dirty, i could feel some different taste which is surely not better than the original taste of the tobacco. My pipes have some light cake but the airways are always-clean.
Still, i've seen such dirty pipe with 5mm cake builded up in the chamber, 1mm in the airway, 1mm on the top! So what is the benefit of thick cake seriously?
Even in very early time when i got my first pipes and smoked very-very hot, the worst case i've had is some parts of the wall were burned into charcoal, i just removed the charcoal parts, and learned. These pipes got Cracked, probably because of the uneven expansion of the thick cake while smoking, i suppose. So the question is: What is the benefit of thick cake?
To protect the wall? What kind of protection that causes damage to the subject? Nah man, now i believe that my pipes will last a life-time with 1mm cake, all i do is smoke them calmly and slowly. It costs me 1/2 to 1 match box to finish a bowl. Too many matches? - Too cheap to protect the pipe (and the taste).
With thin cake i can also check the wall condition regularly by gently rub the tamper around the wall and listen to the different feelings. I would know if some part is not right.
To improve the taste of the tobacco? As i said i've never experienced that, need some confimations of experts here. I think the thick cake will absorbs the tobacco juice and takes longer to dry, maybe even causes some moist taste. To me a clean pipe brings good smoke. If the airway got dirty, i could feel some different taste which is surely not better than the original taste of the tobacco. My pipes have some light cake but the airways are always-clean.
Still, i've seen such dirty pipe with 5mm cake builded up in the chamber, 1mm in the airway, 1mm on the top! So what is the benefit of thick cake seriously?