Yor-gay sounds good!
The Big Tobacco Pipe Information Thread
- Thread starter JCinPA
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #82
JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
This is how I do it, but a refresher is always good for me. May be helpful for Phil and others getting into this more recently. Filling and lighting.
www.smokingpipes.com
How To Pack & Light Your Pipe
- Thread starter
- #83
JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
I have been a bit obsessive about dottle. This excellent article put a stop to it.
www.smokingpipes.com
Smoking Your Pipe To The Bottom Of The Bowl | Smokingpipes.com
Should you smoke your pipe to the bottom of the bowl? We're covering the question with advice from a range of expert pipemakers.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I have been a bit obsessive about dottle. This excellent article put a stop to it.
Smoking Your Pipe To The Bottom Of The Bowl | Smokingpipes.com
Should you smoke your pipe to the bottom of the bowl? We're covering the question with advice from a range of expert pipemakers.
When I started out, anything past the charring light was stubborn dottle that was a swine to incinerate
Nowadays, most dottle discarded is of an acceptable (to me) amount, most of the time. If a particular tobacco, in a particular pipe, won't smoke down to an acceptable level, without first being dried to the point where flavour is impaired, I'll drop a couple of Denicool crystals in before packing. That lets me smoke further, reducing excess dottle, without overdrying tobacco.
As for cake, and char, and other cumulative damage/changes to the pipe, they don't really register on my radar. I intentionally buy low cost pipes. They aren't heirlooms, or works of art to be preserved. They're functional items I burn stuff in, and suck the smoke from. The only other functional requirement I have for them, is to not fall over when I put it down.
Of course, I don't intentionally neglect them, but if they expire before I do, I won't be in need of a psychotherapist to get though the trauma. I think I smoke gently, and I do get decent smoke times. I can be a bit lazy on routine maintenance though, but I do sometimes scrape cake out when I notice it. I will probably never get a pipe repaired even if a flaw develops. I'll just buy another cheap one.
The only thing I've burnt out, was a cob I first started with. I have charred the rim on one of my briars, but that's vision and spatial awareness issues causing me to have the flame in the wrong spot, not me attempting to incinerate anything. Whether I'm still causing unseen damage is unknown, but I still expect to get well over a decade from anything I don't drop, sit on, or lose out and about.
Kilroy6644
Smoking a corn dog in aviators and a top hat
That is the Dunhill Inner Tube. It was introduced early in Dunhill's history as a way to keep pipes clean and tasting good. This was before pipe cleaners. When the tube got clogged, you could replace it with a new one, or boil it to get the gunk out.
Ok, so not absolutely needed if you clean your pipe with what is now available?
Kilroy6644
Smoking a corn dog in aviators and a top hat
Correct. Most people don't use them anyway.
Does anyone know of a shop that has the Alex Glotov horn razor tamper in stock?
Smokingpipes.com has the Steam Punk version, but not the Horn scale version.
I've searched but my Google-Fu is coming up short.
Smokingpipes.com has the Steam Punk version, but not the Horn scale version.
I've searched but my Google-Fu is coming up short.
ylekot
On the lookout for a purse
Yeah I tried and got very little, It appears SATX HAD some in 2019 but that's about it.
- Thread starter
- #90
JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
I've put this elsewhere, I'm sure, in some refurb threads, but I want to plug these products:
I have been having fun refurbing old pipes lately, and I am simply not a fan of the super-hard, ultra-shiny finish you get with carnauba from a cloth buffing wheel. Personal prefs, some love it, obvioiusly.
This is a refurbed Brebbia I got from rebornpipes, and I used Obsidian and Paragon on it. Take off your wedding band or other rings! I put the wax on in a thin coat, let it sit for 5 minutes, then buff it on my palm to generate heat. Like hand-rubbing a gun stock or other wood project. Then buff with a microfibre.
Are these necessary? Are there alternatives? No and yes, respectively. But it's a once in a lifetime purchase, these things will last you forever. I love all 3 products. And this is about the perfect amount of shine for a pipe, IMO.
- Obsidian stem oil
- Halcyon II pipe wax (for rusticated)
- Paragon pipe wax (for smooth)
I have been having fun refurbing old pipes lately, and I am simply not a fan of the super-hard, ultra-shiny finish you get with carnauba from a cloth buffing wheel. Personal prefs, some love it, obvioiusly.
This is a refurbed Brebbia I got from rebornpipes, and I used Obsidian and Paragon on it. Take off your wedding band or other rings! I put the wax on in a thin coat, let it sit for 5 minutes, then buff it on my palm to generate heat. Like hand-rubbing a gun stock or other wood project. Then buff with a microfibre.
Are these necessary? Are there alternatives? No and yes, respectively. But it's a once in a lifetime purchase, these things will last you forever. I love all 3 products. And this is about the perfect amount of shine for a pipe, IMO.
- Thread starter
- #91
JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
Question:
I have noticed in several bent pipes that the bowl is drilled narrower and deeper below the draft hole than in my straights. Forgive my lousy drawing skills with a mouse, but below is what I mean.
I've been thinking about filling these in with pipe mud, but because it seems to be a common thing, and there is a marked difference between my straights and my bents, I thought I would ask if perhaps this is a design feature for bents that I should leave alone? I don't want to "fix" something that is by design, thereby screwing things up. Are bents drilled differently by design??
Bent on left, narrower, more cone-shaped bowl bottom draft hole higher up. Straight on the right, not that flat, but flatter and wider at the bottom than my bents with a lower draft hole. Thanks.
I have noticed in several bent pipes that the bowl is drilled narrower and deeper below the draft hole than in my straights. Forgive my lousy drawing skills with a mouse, but below is what I mean.
I've been thinking about filling these in with pipe mud, but because it seems to be a common thing, and there is a marked difference between my straights and my bents, I thought I would ask if perhaps this is a design feature for bents that I should leave alone? I don't want to "fix" something that is by design, thereby screwing things up. Are bents drilled differently by design??
Bent on left, narrower, more cone-shaped bowl bottom draft hole higher up. Straight on the right, not that flat, but flatter and wider at the bottom than my bents with a lower draft hole. Thanks.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
If you put a pipe cleaner down each one, and pretend that's the drill bit that drilled the hole, they should pretty much hit bottom centre of the bowl. If so, the bent is drilled correctly. No pipe mud needed. Only if it significantly overshoots bottom centre, is it drilled too high.
Due to this, a straight pipe us more likely to smoke to ash than a bent, but bents can still give terrific smokes, just leaving a little bit more dottle. The upside in my experience, is that the draught hole in bents, is less likely to get blocked by rogue bits of backy. Nor as you as likely to suck dusty bits through, when nearing the end of a tin or pouch. The smoke can sometimes be cooler and less bitey too.
Also, the draught hole in the stummel, may not be in line with the draught hole in the stem. As such, you may not be able to get a cleaner down into the bowl mid-smoke. I find that's not normally an issue though, and so long as the cleaner will go down into the mortice, that should clear any mid-smoke gurgles.
If a certain tobacco (particularly aros) smokes too wet for that bent, these things are brilliant.
I know some folks don't like anything that even suggests any kind of filtration, but they really can transform a smoke. No taste change, no draw change. Just drop one or two into the bowl before packing. These are an essential part of my smoking arsenal, although I don't often use them.
I did use some yesterday actually, in this pipe. I can't use pipe cleaners mid smoke with this pipe, as the stem collects lint from them, and blocks up.
When the pipe had cooled, I stripped it to clean it, and the cleaner came out pristine. Seriously. Zero gunk anywhere, yet the smoke was perfect.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Pics nicked from an old post of mine...
Draft hole on a bent, drilled at a wazzy angle, shown using pokey thing on a Czech tool.
This would explain why a draught hole on a bent needs a smaller drill, to be able to make the awkward angle from mortice to bowl bottom, without fouling the sides.
And in turn, this puts the hole out of whack with the stem bore, so a pipe cleaner doesn't go into the bore without dismantling.
Draft hole on a bent, drilled at a wazzy angle, shown using pokey thing on a Czech tool.
This would explain why a draught hole on a bent needs a smaller drill, to be able to make the awkward angle from mortice to bowl bottom, without fouling the sides.
And in turn, this puts the hole out of whack with the stem bore, so a pipe cleaner doesn't go into the bore without dismantling.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Sneaky peek at one of my Christmas pipes.
To make the tricky angle on this one, they actually had to slightly cut into the mortice wall at the bottom front edge, so they could get the hole tight up in the top corner.
The first time I saw this on a pipe, I thought it was a drilling error/anomaly, and why the pipe was a second. However, I've now gotten my head around what is needed to get that hole to emerge where it should on a full bent.
EDIT: That's just a bit of pipe cleaner fluff in the bottom, from me inspecting it.
To make the tricky angle on this one, they actually had to slightly cut into the mortice wall at the bottom front edge, so they could get the hole tight up in the top corner.
The first time I saw this on a pipe, I thought it was a drilling error/anomaly, and why the pipe was a second. However, I've now gotten my head around what is needed to get that hole to emerge where it should on a full bent.
EDIT: That's just a bit of pipe cleaner fluff in the bottom, from me inspecting it.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Oh... and those conical bowl chambers that you describe, are great for Virginias and other more delicate tobaccos. The juices from the wider uppermost part of the fill (lots of tobacco), collect in the tobacco in the narrower part further down (less tobacco), concentrating the flavour more than would be done in a more cylindrical chamber. That's why a lot of people prefer Dublin bowls for Virginia blends, as they typically (not always) have conical chambers.
- Thread starter
- #96
JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
^^^^^^^^^^
THIS is why I started this thread. Thank you, sir! Comprehensive answer.
@AimlessWanderer
THIS is why I started this thread. Thank you, sir! Comprehensive answer.
@AimlessWanderer
Okay, I have a question. You pack your pipe, you light, you tamp lightly and light again, and smoke away. Now your pipe goes out at, say, :25. Presuming you want to continue, do you:
a) relight as is, i.e., draw the flame down into the ash to ignite the remaining tobacco (perhaps after tamping very lightly); or
b) scoop or tap out a little of the top ash, then relight? It seems to me this might get the remaining leaf burning well; but (a) might well allow the fire to be banked and continue to burn well too. I've tried both, and I'm still not sure, as they both seem to work. What do you do?
a) relight as is, i.e., draw the flame down into the ash to ignite the remaining tobacco (perhaps after tamping very lightly); or
b) scoop or tap out a little of the top ash, then relight? It seems to me this might get the remaining leaf burning well; but (a) might well allow the fire to be banked and continue to burn well too. I've tried both, and I'm still not sure, as they both seem to work. What do you do?
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
You do seem to be very duration conscious in your smokes
Not a criticism, just an observation.For all relights, my pattern of behaviour tends to be...
1) a quick waft of the flame.
2) If that doesn't take, a light tamp and another quick waft of a flame.
3) if that doesn't take, dump ash, see where the peaks and troughs are in the tobacco surface, and adust accordingly
4) if that still doesn't take with a further light, it's dottle. However, if there still seems to be a lot of tobacco left, I'll put it aside for a few hours (or a day), and try it again after it's aired out a bit.
Aimless, the duration business is something I've picked up here. Some of us seem to be concerned with that. I use it, I guess, as a measure of how smoothly the smoke went, how well I've packed the pipe, etc. And a guide to my skill: A short smoke is pretty easy, but to get a half-hour or more (for me) lets me know I've done it right.
I've occasionally set a pipe aside for an hour or even 12 and come back to it.
I guess maybe fishing out a little ash is not a bad idea.
I've occasionally set a pipe aside for an hour or even 12 and come back to it.
I guess maybe fishing out a little ash is not a bad idea.
I’ll sometimes just lightly poke at the ash with something pointed then quickly invert the pipe. The ash falls out and the tobacco *usually* stays put. This helps a lot when relighting a pipe that has been sitting for a while and I don’t know how far into the bowl I’ve smoked. If the tobacco falls out I just pack another bowl.
