Enlarging Draft Hole

[momus]

I posted earlier that my wife bought me a nice little Sav Turtuga. I like how it smokes but its draw is really tight. The draft hole barely fits through a pipe cleaner (which does go through all the way into the bowl). What I am finding is that it smokes great but the draft hole and the bowl intersection is easily blocked. I am wondering if I could just enlarge that part of the draft hole. Is there any reason why I shouldn't do that as long as I am really careful? Thanks for any help.

 

[LL]

I posted earlier that my wife bought me a nice little Sav Turtuga. I like how it smokes but its draw is really tight. The draft hole barely fits through a pipe cleaner (which does go through all the way into the bowl). What I am finding is that it smokes great but the draft hole and the bowl intersection is easily blocked. I am wondering if I could just enlarge that part of the draft hole. Is there any reason why I shouldn't do that as long as I am really careful? Thanks for any help.

If it smokes great as-is, leave the airway alone.

To avoid draft hole blockage at the bottom of the bowl, just pinch/squeeze some tobacco into a square-ish ball and drop it in before filling.

 

[maxpeters]

I guess if you're handy enough with a drill, you could do it yourself. I wouldn't attempt it though, but that's me.
If you really like the pipe, any pipe repair person could open the airway up easily enough. I have sent pipes away to be opened up because a pipe cleaner wouldn't pass through easily. It's not that expensive.

 

[glpease]

I've got to second LL's response, here. If it smokes well, don't mess with it. Not all pipes are made better by having their airway enlarged. I've actually had a couple become bland and tasteless smokers after being drilled, though they were fine before. There are plenty of great smoking pipes from the golden age that weren't drilled out to today's subway tunnel proportions.

If intermittent blockage is your only real concern, just be careful when filling, especially at the bottom. Making the hole bigger may actually make THAT problem worse, too, since larger and larger particles may find their way into the hole. FURTHER, any enlargement of the shank's airway should be matched by a commensurate enlargement of the stem's airway, making the job a little more complicated.

It sounds like it ain't broke, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just sayin'.

 

[Harlock999]

I've got to second LL's response, here. If it smokes well, don't mess with it. Not all pipes are made better by having their airway enlarged. I've actually had a couple become bland and tasteless smokers after being drilled, though they were fine before. There are plenty of great smoking pipes from the golden age that weren't drilled out to today's subway tunnel proportions.

If intermittent blockage is your only real concern, just be careful when filling, especially at the bottom. Making the hole bigger may actually make THAT problem worse, too, since larger and larger particles may find their way into the hole. FURTHER, any enlargement of the shank's airway should be matched by a commensurate enlargement of the stem's airway, making the job a little more complicated.

It sounds like it ain't broke, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just sayin'.

:cheers: :cheers:

 

[Thomas Tkach]

And if you ignore the experts, please don't use a power drill. A pin vise and your hand would be much better.

 

[Sasquatch]

What happens if you slide a pipe cleaner into the bowl before you load the pipe? This can prevent the blockage issue.

 

[momus]

Thanks for your responses. Ok I will hold off with my little "repair" project.........

 

[emerald]

One thing to keep in mind is fluid dynamics. A change in the diameter of the airway as a whole (such as enlarging one end, but not the entire stem) can cause condensation. Try tapered cleaners, perhaps? I find that if a chunk of tobacco blocks the smoke hole, I can usually dislodge it with a pipe cleaner and push the whole charge up a bit, which dramatically improves the smoke.