Bowl Coatings... yes or no?

[glpease]

Not all bowl coatings are equal, some granted can add a bad taste, some don't to me.
The question is which do and don't and, some people may just be sensitive to bowl coatings and some not.
The biggest reason for a bowl coating is for insurance that the pipe smoker won't burn the bowl out and the maker doesn't have to replace it. It's not used to cover up or hide things most the time as some may think, not by reputable makers. [...]

Interesting data point. A friend who does pipe restorations was recently sent a pipe made by a well-known, reputable maker, to have the coating removed, and some other things taken care of. Behind the blackness of the coating was apparently a rather dramatic fissure, filled with something "epoxy-like", and hidden behind the coating. So much for it not being used to hide things. (It surprised me to hear of it - I've always felt the same way, that reputable makers don't use coatings to hide flaws. Now that I know that it's been done at least once, by at least one maker -an ardent defender of coatings, by the way - I'm not sure I'd be so cavalier with my trust in the future.)

As for the stuff "protecting" the briar, I remain skeptical. The only two pipes I've owned that burned out were both coated with the dreaded silicate coating that I despise so much. (See the articles cited above.) Further, one pipe maker's "interesting" display of the efficacy of his bowl coatings actually served more to demonstrate the fire-retardant nature of raw briar, which was able to withstand a direct ca. 1300˚ flame for over two and a half minutes before it began to smolder. I cannot imagine a smoker generating that sort of heat, whilst still keeping a tongue in his head.

If there are flaws in the wood, no magical coating will help...

But, yeah. Overall, still not a fan, though organic coatings are transparent to the tobacco's taste, overall, and in some cases do make the break-in a little easier.

 

[SpeedyPete]

Before I smoke any new pipe, I clean out the bowl thouroughly. If it's coated, I remove the coating as best as I can. I use surgical spirit and paper towels to do this.

I then leave the pipe for a day to dry out completely.

Next I use full creme sherry and paper towels to "clean" out the bowl some more. I believe the alcohol in the sherry removes some more of the coating and whatever else there might be inside the bowl. As the alcohol evaporates, the sugar in the sherry remains in the bowl.

This sugar have two advantages:

1) It helps to mask the taste of "burning" briar
2) It helps to build a cake much faster.

I've done this for many years and it's the only "coating" I recommend :twisted:

 

[Old Nate]

Before I smoke any new pipe, I clean out the bowl thouroughly. If it's coated, I remove the coating as best as  I can. I use surgical spirit and paper towels to do this.

I then leave the pipe for a day to dry out completely.

Next I use full creme sherry and paper towels to "clean" out the bowl some more.  I believe the alcohol in the sherry removes some more of the coating and whatever else there might be inside the bowl.  As the alcohol evaporates, the sugar in the sherry remains in the bowl.

This sugar have two advantages:

1) It helps to mask the taste of "burning" briar
2) It helps to build a cake much faster.

I've done this for many years and it's the only "coating" I recommend :twisted:

This is interesting. Might look into it in the future.

 

[Richard Burley]

Here's an e-mail just received from Peterson, in answer to my asking how they would remove their coating:

Dear Rick.
Thank you for your email.

The pipe can be sanded down to the bare wood, that is the way we would do it.

We use 280 grit sandpaper.

I hope this information is helpful.
Kind regards
Adreena Browne

Kapp & Peterson Limited
Peterson House
Pearse Street
Sallynoggin
Co. Dublin
IRELAND

Tel: +353-1-2851011
Fax: +353-1-2856593
Web: www.peterson.ie
Email: [email protected]
cid:[email protected]
Registered Office: Peterson House, Sallynoggin, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Registered: Dublin, Ireland - Reg. No.32027

 

[SpeedyPete]

Here's an e-mail just received from Peterson, in answer to my asking how they would remove their coating:

Dear Rick.
Thank you for your email.

The pipe can be sanded down to the bare wood, that is the way we would do it.

We use 280 grit sandpaper.

I hope this information is helpful.
Kind regards
Adreena Browne

Kapp & Peterson Limited
Peterson House
Pearse Street
Sallynoggin
Co. Dublin
IRELAND

Tel: +353-1-2851011
Fax: +353-1-2856593
Web: www.peterson.ie
Email: [email protected]
cid:[email protected]
Registered Office: Peterson House, Sallynoggin, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Registered: Dublin, Ireland - Reg. No.32027

I wonder why they WOULD do it? Can't they just leave the bare wood bare in the first place :twisted:

 

[Richard Burley]

I wonder why they WOULD do it?  Can't they just leave the bare wood bare in the first place :twisted:

I "forced" them to answer that way.  I said I didn't want to hear about how or why I shouldn't remove their coating.

 

[SpeedyPete]

I wonder why they WOULD do it?  Can't they just leave the bare wood bare in the first place :twisted:

I "forced" them to answer that way.  I said I didn't want to hear about how or why I shouldn't remove their coating.

Good for you, young man!

 

[SpeedyPete]

I've been looking at a number of beautiful Petersons but then I remember the road tar coating.......

I will rather stick to Sav's and corn cobs

 

[the rev]

I coat my bowls unless asked not to. And I way prefer a coated bowl. I don't taste the difference, the pipe builds a cake way faster and I feel more secure.

rev

 

[idbowman]

If you put two otherwise-identical pipes in front of me, one with a bowl coating and one without, I would reach for the without the coating. I have NO quantifiable reason for this and won't pretend to know more about it than I do - it's just a preference.

That said, if I saw a pipe I really liked and am considering purchasing, the presence of a bowl coating won't turn me away. In fact, the presence of a bowl coating is probably at the very bottom of points I consider when buying a pipe.

 

[monbla256]

.
That said, if I saw a pipe I really liked and am considering purchasing, the presence of a bowl coating won't turn me away.  In fact, the presence of a bowl coating is probably at the very bottom of points I consider when buying a pipe.

Another intelligent and reasonable response !! :twisted:

 

[SpeedyPete]

.
That said, if I saw a pipe I really liked and am considering purchasing, the presence of a bowl coating won't turn me away.  In fact, the presence of a bowl coating is probably at the very bottom of points I consider when buying a pipe.

Another intelligent and reasonable response !! :twisted:

I will by any pipe that I really like, coated or not coated, Peterson excluded. I'm not talking about their carbon coating, it's the DYE inside the bowl which makes it a deal breaker.

 

[KevinM]

FWIW: Last year I was in a quandry whether to buy a Pete 80s smooth or the same in a blast. So I bought both I sanded the bowl coating out of one, left the other coated and started smoking them. The blast was the one I sanded and it's had nothing in it to date but aged 965. I can puff on it empty and taste latikia. The smooth one with the Pete coating left intact isn't dedicated. According to my smoker's diary, the sanded bowl pipe broke in a bit faster and a bit more evenly. The coated bowl seemed to produce more goop on the pipe cleaner (dye?) and was slower to build cake at the bottom of the bowl. But at this point, both are performing completely satisfactorily, and I don't see that there's a plus one way or the other after break-in is complete. My break-in protocol was fill 'er up to the rim loosely, smoke slowly, if it goes out let it cool down, tamp lightly and light up again. No quarter or half fills. If I had my choice, I'd prefer no coating in a new pipe, but afer a dozen or so bowls, my experience doesn't indicate a better end result one way or the other. Whether the experiment was tilted by the tobacco used is more than I can say. Piper's Preference, I'd say. The best bowl coating I've experienced was in Phil Trypis pipes, and I'v heard that he used clay. My Trypis pipes all quickly built a nice, thin, even cake and smoked great from the first. RIP, Phil.

 

[fsu92john]

.
That said, if I saw a pipe I really liked and am considering purchasing, the presence of a bowl coating won't turn me away.  In fact, the presence of a bowl coating is probably at the very bottom of points I consider when buying a pipe.

Another intelligent and reasonable response !! :twisted:

I will by any pipe that I really like, coated or not coated, Peterson excluded.  I'm not talking about their carbon coating, it's the DYE inside the bowl which makes it a deal breaker.

Yes. I will probably never buy another new Peterson for this reason. Yuck!

 

[Richard Burley]

After, say, a hundred smokes, does the bowl coating remain, topped by cake--or does it get consumed?  Seems like a negative, either way.

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[Dutch]

I prefer to coat my own bowl with a nice even layer of carbon. I have found the easiest way of doing this is with some high quality tobacco and some fire. The taste of the bare wood is quite enjoyable during the process.

I would hate to let a pipe carver cheat me out of the experience, by coating the bowl in an attempt to cover a tiny flaw, that doesn't amount to a hill of beans. :scratch:

 

[MichaelM]

After nearly 30 years of not thinking about it, I find myself firmly in the "I don't care to think about it" camp.

 

[Feazelle-n-it]

I just tried my first pipe with a bowl coating and I have to say I don't care for it but its not a deal breaker.

 

[ZeroContent]

I've only had two pipes that were brand new, everything else I own was estate which I reamed to death when I bought them.

The two new ones were Brebbia and a Stanwell. Didn't have a problem with either of them for how they treated the bowl.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

...everything else I own was estate which I reamed to death when I bought them. 

Hey, as long as you can fit a pencil in the chamber, the cake is fine. :lol:

Glad to see you post, ZC.

8)