Why?

[Corncobcon]

Why is one pipe a good smoker and another one a bad smoker? I have two Lucca Vanetti pipes that are the same style and purchased at the same time. One is a bent apple shape and the other one is a straight billiard. I have smoked them both at about the same length of time. The apple smokes fine but the billiard smokes like crap. Why is that? Does it have something to do with the density of the briar? :scratch:

 

[Stick]

Gosh, that’s a toughy Conrad. I recon there’s lots of variables at play like the ‘mechanics’ of each pipe; draught, draught length and shape, inner bowl dimensions etc. And then I’m also drawn to thinking that smoking pipes is more an art than a science where a briar and its smoker somehow ‘connect’.

In sum... it don’t know!<img class="emojione" alt="?" title=":smile:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/1f604.png?v=2.2.7"/>

 

[kxg]

When you say "Smokes like crap" Conrad, what do you mean exactly? Draws hard? Gurgles? Tastes weird? Etc?
Lots of ways to define crap in the pipe world, therefor lots of possible answers.

 

[Corncobcon]

When you say "Smokes like crap" Conrad, what do you mean exactly?  Draws hard? Gurgles? Tastes weird? Etc?  
Lots of ways to define crap in the pipe world, therefor lots of possible answers.

Define crap! :lol!: Maybe that was too harsh a word to use to describe the pipe in question. It just doesn't taste good. The pipe in question smokes hotter than the other one. The tobacco tastes different than the other one. The draw is fine but draws hotter. I guess it could be the shape. Is it safe to say that no two pipes, no matter how close in appearance, are the same?

 

[Zeno Marx]

If you could answer this, it might be the Holy Grail of pipe smoking. Turn chance and art into a science.

There's a certain Italian brand shape I've always loved. I've probably owned 7 or 8 of them? None of them smoked for beans. Keep in mind that 50+% of the best smoking pipes I've ever owned are of this brand. Then, to confuse it further, I've owned a very similar shape by another Italian brand...2 or 3 of them, actually...and each of those smoked fantastically. That second Italian brand...has another shape that I consider the quintessential of that particularly shape...I had more than a half dozen pass through my hands before I found one that also smoked fantastically.

A question for the ages.

 

[kxg]

One of the mysteries of pipe smoking and, I suppose, why most of us end up with many more pipes than we need. To the OP's point, a bent apple and straight billiard are two different animals regardless if they look alike in terms of finish. But I'm afraid even if we're talking two of the same style and shape, there would be differences, perhaps slight, perhaps not.
If nothing else, we're dealing with briar, where things change within the same stummel. Briar is a wildcard.
I think there are too many variables to de-mystify the process. The best we can do is find a brand or carver/style/shape we like and try another.
At least this is how I'm rationalizing my PAD.