Bowl Coating

Brothers of Briar

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Of course it is an opinion, based on experience. They're all opinions. So far Todd Johnson is the only argument anyone has made for coatings. I don't have a mancrush on Todd so I remain unswayed. It was funny for a minute, now we'll all go back to what we were doing, and I'll still feel that uncoated bowls have a greater likelihood of smoking sweet to neutral than coated bowls, which in my experience have a greater likelihood of smoking dark. Meet you guys back here in a couple months for the exact same discussion.
 
Larry Roush, a pipe artisan I really respect uses a bowl coating. When GLP reviewed one of Larry's pipes, here is what he said:

"But, wait! This bowl IS coated! After all my ranting and raving about how much I hate bowl coatings, about how the best of them are acceptable at best, I was quite surprised by the transparency of Roush's. What distinguishes this coating from the others is its complete absence of coloration to the taste of the tobacco. I asked Larry about it, about what it was, about why he uses it, explaining to him my usual prejudice against the stuff.

He doesn't use it to disguise flaws in the bowl, as some makers seem to, nor does he use it to "protect" the bowl from abusive smokers. It's raison d'être is simple. Because of his curing process, Roush's bowls are extremely porous. When he stains them, the stain sometimes soaks through the wood, into the bowl, leaving a mottled appearance. "It just doesn't look right," Larry told me, "so I developed the coating. It is 100% edible, and really only serves to improve the aesthetic appearance of the inside of the bowl."

I'd have to agree. It certainly does nothing to detract from the excellent smoking qualities of the pipe. And, obviously that porous nature of his wood plays a very definite role in the excellent smoking characteristics of the pipe. The wood coupled with excellent engineering, a wonderful, open draw, and perfect construction delivers to the smoker an extraordinary experience. From the first bowl, the tobacco has smoldered cleanly, effortlessly, right to the bottom, leaving only a dry ash, and the desire to smoke the pipe again right away. In fact, I did just that. Three times the first day. Each bowl was even better than the last. Break-in? What's break-in?"

See http://www.glpease.com/Pipes/Reviews/Roush.php

So maybe it depends on the coating?
 
I would just like to go on record as saying that I do have a man crush on Todd Johnson

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Since bowl coating has been noted as not being a "standard" thing in and of itself, some people's recipe may help, may hinder or simply do nothing. This crapshoot has led me to believe it either needs not to exist in a pipe, or needs to be removed if possible. Greg ain't gonna lie--which is why I like him. He'll call an ace an ace.

Now, if someone would chime in on what a good bowl coating is and should be, and why, that'd be worth discussing more than steadfast opinions and heel-digging about it all. At least to me. I haven't concluded that bowl coatings are broken clocks right twice a day, but there's likely 100 reasons why they're used, unscrupulously or purposefully.

Some of us simply don't like to take the chance. Furthermore, if someone has a formula and application that makes it work, well...that's a different matter. Many of us aren't rich enough to try each and every maker's approach for a realistic evaluation.

:raisesglass: Here's to four more pages. Four more pages! Four more pages! :lol!:

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Well I have found that the best concoction to use is very old motor oil, mixed with ez light charcoal ground to powder. It not only is a beautiful black, but helps keep your tobacco lit

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...see, and I figured used aquarium filtration, particularly ground-up activated charcoal, mixed with a little cheap gin would have been ideal... shows what I know. :twisted:

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In Canada we coat our bowls with gunpowder, whether they've been pre-coated or not. We're tough up here, and the acrid smell once it's lit helps dull the malodorous scent of the Mixture #79 that we all smoke up here.
 
Most of my pipes are Boswells, and he coats them. The others I have are a Yak, the L'Anatra (no coats), and two Petes (coated) and I once had a Northern Briars that was coated as well.


Of the 7 Boswells, one of them tasted 'funny'. Too sweet, in an off putting way, and didn't fit with the Latakia blends I was smoking in it. It's the largest bowl I have, so maybe it's just total surface area that caused it. I sanded down the inside (after a couple of months of frustration, and probably a couple dozen smokes) and it immediately improved. One of my Pete's was kinda similar, with a funky taste, so I sanded that one down, too.

To my thinking, it had to be the coatings. Funny, though, the rest of the coated bowls smoked fine..a bit sweet first couple of bowls, but then what I'd call "normal" thereafter.


The two virgin bowls smoked great from the start.


My summation: I'd prefer uncoated over coated, based on experience. I don't care how the inside of the bowl looks...after some tobak through it, she'll be nice and dark. I do understand how, from a marketer's perspective, that the completed look of a coated bowl can be desirable.


Bottom line: I'll buy based on the pipe and the maker...if it's coated so be it. If it's funky after a few smokes, I'm sanding to the wood.

 
Yak":sagfdw8u said:
Buttermilk seems to be popular solvent.

:face:
Click to expand...
:suspect: :suspect: :suspect:

...seriously? :lol: Or are you being cheeky?

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just for the sake of fanning the flames... just saw an eltang with bowl coating

and yes buttermilk is one of the ingredients in some recipes

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