Give It A Rest.

[s.ireland]

Update: I smoked a bowl of Embarcadero in a GBD billiard about four hours ago. I decided to smoke another bowl of the same tobacco in this same pipe. I finished bowl #1, cleaned the pipe with a dry pipe cleaner, let it sit for about 30 minutes, loaded another bowl and let sit for maybe another 20-30 minutes, then smoked the second bowl all the way to the bottom. Just finished bowl #2 and let me tell you the most flavor and best part of both those bowls was the bottom half of the second bowl. Seriously it was amazing. The taste and aroma were remarkable.

The GBD had been at rest for at least a few weeks... Maybe I was able to enjoy two back-to-back bowls with the second actually tasting better because the pipe rested a great deal longer than 24hrs?? :study:

 

[Anonymous]

That squares with my experience, for whatever that's worth (assuming anything).

:face:
AFTER ALL, EVERYTHING IS ONLY A MATTER OF OPINION (IN THE OPINION OF BH)

 

[SpeedyPete]

Update: I smoked a bowl of Embarcadero in a GBD billiard about four hours ago. I decided to smoke another bowl of the same tobacco in this same pipe. I finished bowl #1, cleaned the pipe with a dry pipe cleaner, let it sit for about 30 minutes, loaded another bowl and let sit for maybe another 20-30 minutes, then smoked the second bowl all the way to the bottom. Just finished bowl #2 and let me tell you the most flavor and best part of both those bowls was the bottom half of the second bowl. Seriously it was amazing. The taste and aroma were remarkable.

The GBD had been at rest for at least a few weeks... Maybe I was able to enjoy two back-to-back bowls with the second actually tasting better because the pipe rested a great deal longer than 24hrs?? :study:

Yep, I believe you!!! I've had that same experience a couple of times.

Smoking Irish Oak in a Stanwell Royal Guard right now which enjoyed a month's rest. Sweet, sweet, SWEET :bounce:

 

[Blackhorse]

Including my cobs and Falcons (which I kind of put into a seperate catagory) I think I have between 50 - 60 pipes, only two of 'em are meers neither of which I use more than a half dozen times a year. Of those I tend to mostly use maybe a dozen. About half of those are chosen for specific blends or types of blends. I've got one Tinsky kit pipe I carved that has a very narrow and yet slightly deep bore that I only use for the stinkiest Brit stuff like Canon and Cob and the like. Others have just the right shape for flakes, others smoke everything well...and are used accordingly.

In terms of how often I'll use one...depends on the pipe. I've got some that are heavy walled with a good cake and I wouldn't hesitate to go exactly 'back to back'...but I wouldn't let 'em sit and cool. No solid physics behind that, it's just what I do. There are many that I wouldn't use twice in a day. But I think that 24 hours is plenty of rest.

My favorites come from names like Radice, Northern Briar, Peterson (half a dozen of these really weight my favs into these lines), Boswell, Stanwell (a HC Andersen I got from Puros Bran...smokes blends with a VA/Per/Turkish mix like crazy), Sasquatch (fabulous BST Oom Paul), etc., etc., etc. And a whack of basket pipes and shop level pipes that smoke like crazy...ja just never know. But a mix. And there doesn't seem to me to be any difference between the cost or quality of a pipe and how well it smokes or does a second session.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

You know those pipes that you find occasionally, on ePrey or elsewhere, that have so much cake in the bowl nary a pencil could pass? That's the kind of pipe I think of that likely has had little rest. Unfounded assumption on my part, but I figure if a gent doesn't care about his bowl capacity or briar, he likely uses the crap out of his pipe.

That said, if he kept smoking it, as he obviously did, maybe there's something to it. *shrug*

 

[KevinM]

Just buy way too many pipes, then worry
more about smokin' em all than restin' em. :twisted:

That's my theory, too. I have approx 50 briars, three meers and a doz or so MMs. I use them all; none are relegated to practice squad duty, although their playing time is spread out a bit. On vacations I take along two or three, plus a good supply of pipe cleaners. Even then, I notice that the base of the bowl around the air hole is dry after 24 hours, to me a sign that the pipe is refreshed and ready to go. Back in the days when I was pipe-poor it was my impression that the pipe would let you know when it needed a break.

P.S. I'd say that Castello pictured with the septagon shaped, paneled bowl is a case of fatal attraction. Yes, I like the looks of it. Howsomever -- my experience is that pipes that have for any reason, inconsistent thicknesses of wood in their bowls, will be prone to a variety of petulancies, from smoking wet, or hot, or being amenable to limited tobacco choices (good luck finding them or it), and some just give up and burn out. My guess is that it has something to do with uneven heat transfer during the smoke.

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW : the critical variable in drying time isn't the bowl itself ; it's the throat area between the bowl and the mortise. That's where it gets wettest and takes longest to dry back out again, even if the stem's removed.

Not surprisingly, this is also where the taste/aroma problems come from when a pipe is inadequately rested on a long-term basis. And trying to use alcohol on a cleaner to get it "clean" can soak the nasty further into the briar & lengthen the drying time.

Fortunately, a quick trip to Dr. Dave's ozone chamber can fix that problem fairly quickly and decidedly cheaply.

:face:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

FWIW : the critical variable in drying time isn't the bowl itself ; it's the throat area between the bowl and the mortise. That's where it gets wettest and takes longest to dry back out again, even if the stem's removed.

Not surprisingly, this is also where the taste/aroma problems come from when a pipe is inadequately rested on a long-term basis. And trying to use alcohol on a cleaner to get it "clean" can soak the nasty further into the briar & lengthen the drying time.

Fortunately, a quick trip to Dr. Dave's ozone chamber can fix that problem fairly quickly and decidedly cheaply.

:face:

Totally 100% agreed--from the "throat" to the mortise/tenon joining. I've seen pipes with "stress cracks" and swelling that happens on the outside shank where, if you were to cut away a cross-section, the mortise and tenon meet. It seeped into the gaps and kept collecting. I now try and use a dry pipe cleaner to swab out (the best I can) the post-smoke moisture, then letting it dry open and unhindered for at least 12 hours (your ambient humidity may vary).

 

[docwatson]

Personally I enjoy a month's rest!!!!! Once you start collecting it's easy to do, just accumulate about 3 dozen pipes and smoke one per day each month. If it happens to be cobs, there's not a lot of $$ involved in the total, if it happens to be high grades then it can be considerable but fun. :shock:

 

[s.ireland]

FWIW : the critical variable in drying time isn't the bowl itself ; it's the throat area between the bowl and the mortise. That's where it gets wettest and takes longest to dry back out again, even if the stem's removed.

Not surprisingly, this is also where the taste/aroma problems come from when a pipe is inadequately rested on a long-term basis. And trying to use alcohol on a cleaner to get it "clean" can soak the nasty further into the briar & lengthen the drying time.

Fortunately, a quick trip to Dr. Dave's ozone chamber can fix that problem fairly quickly and decidedly cheaply.

:face:

I never used alcohol after each and every smoke but I would use it from time to time for deep cleans. A while back I stopped this practice due to some guys on here as well as a few pipe making friends saying that it doesnt help so much as it soaks in that nasty gunk. So far I haven't noticed too much of a difference using only dry pipe cleaners after each smoke. I also tend to leave the last cleaner I use in the pipe while it's resting... Seems to work well.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Yeah, well, who cares if ____________ works so well, do it _____________ way and you'll be doing it right. :lol: What the heck's wrong with ya?

 

[Anonymous]

If (when ?) the buildup starts constricting it, drill bits are the way to go. Start a size or two smaller, and drill (turning the drill bit by hand) the crusted gunk out, getting larger until you're up to the inside diameter. Something like a tap wrench to hold the bits is ideal, but people use pliars too. Just go easy so you don't snap the drill off inside !

:face:

 

[s.ireland]

Yak, so far I've just been using the bit that's inside of a kleen reem. Works well enough for me! I've never experienced a really gunked up airway

 

[Anonymous]

For some reason, mine get gunked to the point where I almost can't get air through them. It's probably from a combination of Va. flakes, and smoking them at tin-moisture level. (They're a little trickier to manage that way, but the flavor is incomparably richer and fuller-bodied. When dried out, they're admittedly easier to manage, but the taste is thin and pale in comparison). That produces a lot of tarry gunk, and it condenses at the bottom of the bowl & the exit hole, caking it nearly shut over time.

:face:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I have a Kleen Reem, too, and my only problem with it is the length. There's a few pipes that just don't like it, either due to length or angle. I haven't had to do it as maintenance on my own pipes, but a few estate pipes I bought were almost caked shut at the throat of the draft hole.

I have one of these, except with a flat, aluminum handle--works great, just choose your bit:

I do clean my pipes between every smoke, though, so I just haven't had a problem with blockage.