A
Anonymous
Guest
In my experience, especially with older pipes, their smoking performance has less to do with how much they cost than it does with their airways. The last three inches or so of the stem are critical. An undue constriction here (too quick a taper or too narrow a diameter) will virtually guarantee a smoke that tends to be hot and wet. With practice you can learn to "baby" these to an extent, but they still tend to need a lot of cleaners and to bite a bit.
A second important point is the end of the tenon inside the shank. An abrupt step-down in airway diameter here creates turbulence that condenses moisture and tar on the face of the tenon. Sometimes this is no big deal. But other times you end up with the curiously loud crackling sounds that make you afraid the briar is splitting on you.
Finally, tar inevitably condenses and hardens in the passage where the bowl meets the shank. Over time this becomes narrower and narrower, in spite of using cleaners (dry or moistened with alcohol) and pipe brushes. (Do they still even sell them ?). Pinhole airways can still smoke well, provided you're used to them, but the improvement in taste and dryness a proper clean-out here produces is pretty impressive.
Provided you like the pipe in the first place, I've found that the best solution is not to dump it because its inside is boogered up (it's hardly the pipe's fault it wasn't made right inside), but to send it to George Dibos (LL here) to get it timed and tuned. Just as a fireplace and chimney have to be properly proportioned to work well, so does a pipe. Fortunately, with pipes, unless the end of the stem is too pinched to allow the airway to be opened, at least a great improvement is possible. Sometimes, in my experience, even a miracle.
A second important point is the end of the tenon inside the shank. An abrupt step-down in airway diameter here creates turbulence that condenses moisture and tar on the face of the tenon. Sometimes this is no big deal. But other times you end up with the curiously loud crackling sounds that make you afraid the briar is splitting on you.
Finally, tar inevitably condenses and hardens in the passage where the bowl meets the shank. Over time this becomes narrower and narrower, in spite of using cleaners (dry or moistened with alcohol) and pipe brushes. (Do they still even sell them ?). Pinhole airways can still smoke well, provided you're used to them, but the improvement in taste and dryness a proper clean-out here produces is pretty impressive.
Provided you like the pipe in the first place, I've found that the best solution is not to dump it because its inside is boogered up (it's hardly the pipe's fault it wasn't made right inside), but to send it to George Dibos (LL here) to get it timed and tuned. Just as a fireplace and chimney have to be properly proportioned to work well, so does a pipe. Fortunately, with pipes, unless the end of the stem is too pinched to allow the airway to be opened, at least a great improvement is possible. Sometimes, in my experience, even a miracle.
