makin cake

mark · Dec 19, 2009

Just finished breaking in a stanwell 124 revival, this pipe came with the bowl coating running through the airway all the way down the stem including the filter chamber. I reamed the coating out of the airway and left the rest intact. Why they felt the need to clog the airway I'll never know ( maybe it was finished Friday afternoon at five o'clock ) but it's open now and drawing easy. The first few bowls were pretty nasty tasting but she's all squared away now. The jury's still out on the filter though, it came with an adapter to replace the filter, but isn't long enought to bridge the gap leaving a space for condensation to gather. after a few bowls I pulled the filter out and it was quite wet and soggy, seems to me sitting there wet is detrimental to the pipe,,,any thoughts???,,,,

Justpipes · Dec 19, 2009

mark":f8q0dcki said:
seems to me sitting there wet is detrimental to the pipe,,,any thoughts???,,,,

I completely agree Mark. That is why I try not to ever leave a pipe sitting over night with tobacco in it. I always clean my pipes out at the end of that days smoking. I believe the residual moisture will permeate the briar and I would assume the same with a soggy filter having an adverse effect. I have a couple of 9mm filter pipes that smoke just fine without the filter.

Doc Manhattan · Dec 19, 2009

I go back and forth about filters... I have a Stan 124 also, and I try to be dilligent about removing the filter the second it's totally cooled down from a smoke. I know the moisture isn't great for the pipe, but I also suspect that it's not nearly as bad as I think in the long run. The part that drives me crazy is not being able to run a cleaner down the shank until the filter is out.

(I do use the adapter when I'm going filterless... the big filter-holder tenon seems so thin and short to me that I worry about it holding together without the adapter.)

You could always hire a craftsman Brother like LL to fabricate a replacement filterless stem... best of all possible worlds.

Sasquatch · Dec 19, 2009

Agree w/ what's been said. Get the filter out after the pipe cools off. In fact, I'd say get it out and leave it out, but that's up to your preferences.

I would add that for most practical applications, I am starting to believe that the open space inside the pipe (which would be taken up by the filter) is less important than we might believe. I'm pretty well aware of "perfect pipe theory" but I have a number of pipes which are in drastic violation of the "smooth tube, constant volume" approach. I have a Mastro Beraldi, for example, that is drilled on a steep angle, not ramped at all, the airway "drops out" into a 9 mm chamber about an inch long, then goes up into the stem which starts out fat and reduces rather abrubptly, bumps along over some bamboo and then out through the mouthpiece. Smokes dead dry. Never any moisture in the 'pocket'.

So what am I saying.... I guess what I'm saying is I don't think you'll find any major difference in having an adapter or not, or getting a different stem. You might be able to marginally improve a pipe with that kind of modification, but if it's a situation where if you smoke the pipe filterless and it still gets real wet (I'd be surprised) then that's just how that piece of briar is going to function.

Sad to hear that a pipe would leave a shop with a Stanwell stamp and be all cruddy inside.

Natch · Dec 19, 2009

I'm in the minority here (the "correct" minority, of course, but the minority none the less :lol: ) as I own several 9mm filter pipes and almost always use a filter when smoking them. You might try the Savanelli balsa filters rather than the charcoal ones. They don't "filter" nearly as much, really just absorb some of the juices and moisture in the smoke. They are angle cut at each end and are a bit longer than the other 9mm filters, though, so depending on the chamber length of your pipe, you might need to snip off a bit of one end for a perfect fit. I find about 1 in 10 filter pipes have chambers just short enough to need this.

After the pipe cools, I remove the filter every time and in summer I have a place on the porch in the sun where I can put it for a day or two, or in winter I've got a warming tray on the wood stove to dry them. But I find drying them well for a day or two helps a lot. Very individual as to how many times you might use them. Depending on how dirty they get, I can get from two to four smokes out of each, but that can vary. If I'm smoking a light, high grade Va I'll probably use a new one, if it's a mid-grade latakia kind of bowl, perhaps one that has been used once or twice. If it's Walnut, one that has had at least 30 bowls smoked through it helps the taste.
:lol!:

Anyway, I include filter pipes (with filters) in my rotation and use both the charcoal wrapped in paper with ceramic ends and the balsa filters, depending on the pipe and what I'm smoking. Works for me.

Natch