PIPE CARE

1
PIPE CARE MAINTENANCE

• Greater Kansas City Pipe Club Meeting November
  20, 2014

2
The Pipe Is a Tool for Smoking Tobacco

• What happens if you never sharpen a knife?
• Clean out your vacuum?
• After a while, performance is diminished
• The same will happen to a pipe if not properly
  maintained
• Tobacco will not taste as good
• Pipe may smoke wet and/or sour etc

3
Focus on Bowl Maintenance

• Begins with the very first smoke and how you prep
  the bowl
• Some moistening or protection advisable
• Slow and cool smoking required to avoid bowl
  scorching
• Smoke the entire bowl from top to bottom
• Clean the ash hole completely with a pipe
  cleaner. Same with pipe shank
• Avoid overworking the pipe let it dry. Clean
  rim and outside of bowl with soft cloth

4
Cake Thickness

• Cake retains flavor and protects the inside of
  the bowl
• Optimal thickness between a dime and a nickel
• If too much cake, bowl capacity reduced may
  crack the bowl
• If too little, may not retain flavor may smoke
  hot wet

5
Pipe Maintenance Tools

• Good absorbent pipe cleaners
• Soft cleaning cloth
• Pipe cake/bowl reamer
• Caliper, knife, buttner scraper (rounded bottom
  only)
• Alcohol good quality drinking spirit (for you).
  Everclear for the pipe (avoid isopropyl/witch
  hazel). Breaks down tars and resins from
  tobacco.

6
Pipe Maintenance Tools (ctd)

• Shank Brush
• Warm coffee (cleans outside of bowl and rim
  without damaging finish/stain
• Cigar ash good silver polish
• Basis for pipe mud for hotspot repair or raising
  bowl floor if draft hole is too high
• Kosher salt or deactivated charcoal if major/deep
  cleaning is required (seek experienced person to
  help may cause damage)

7
Some Additional Comments

• Buffing wheel removes dirt but also removes stem
  and bowl material/nomenclature
• Sharp pointed reamers may eventually puncture
  the bottom of the pipe bowl
• Pipe cleaner use if too aggressive can eventually
  wear a hole through the front wall of the pipe
  bowl
• Dry pipe tobacco provides a sweeter cooler smoke
  and less residual moisture

8
Additional Comments (ctd)

• The more frequently you smoke a pipe during the
  course of a day, it may not taste quite as good
  with each additional smoke
• A good rule of thumb Smoke a pipe once a day
  then let it rest for a day or two.
• Tobacco tastes better after a meal
• Lighter blends early in the day. Heavier blends
  for later in the day or evenings.
• There are always exceptions and differing
  opinions regarding the information noted in this
  presentation!