Thread: Pipe purchasing help

Originally Posted by MickR

Zapp, two pipes will do you for most of your needs (Like razors a few more is always handy), four would be ideal for someone who doesn't know what they like in tobacco choice though. Ideally you want to rest your pipe after a days use, and also smoke either aromatic tobaccos in it or non aromatic. It's one or the other. So by having two pipes, one for each of the two main tobacco styles, you can swap around each day to learn what you prefer, and that will also rest the other pipe.
Pipes need to dry a bit after a days smoking (so I've heard), as you can imagine that hot, moist climates aren't real healthy for dry wood and eventually that dry wood is no longer very dry. I also practice a frequent internal cleaning regime with mine (I don't worry what the outside looks like, but I probably should!) thus keeping the pipe a little dryer inside throughout the day.
By the sounds of it you like an Aromatic tobacco (as do I). My fall back is a Cherry Cavendish, but they vary from company to company. I've had good and bad. GH Top Black Cherry is great, but I found I was having to unclog the bowls stem after every second bowl...Heavily cased tobacco obviously. Borkum Riff Cherry Cavendish is a good 'drug store' blend, and my 'go to' blend, but we are limited for choice here so it might not be that great in the grander scheme of things.
You can only learn by trial and error and your tastes may change as you go (Mine essentially hasn't after 20 years though), just enjoy yourself whatever way you go.


Mick

+1 on that Mick.....I too like aromatics.I find I like dark tobaccos but some are to moist and I will look for blends with good fair amounts of dark mixed with lighter tobaccos. I have three pipes not counting my beater corn cob.I smoke all aromatics with mine,it's what I like.I usually smoke once out of each pipe giving at least a day of rest to the recently smoked pipe.But....I love my Petey so much that sometimes I try to sneak an extra bowl in it..but I don't do that very often at all. I also keep a fresh pipe cleaner in the pipe to keep it from going sour. speaking of which heh heh...it just so happens I can smoke the Petey tonight yay !!! My goal is to have at least three Petes.Then I will be up to five and that will be good enough for me....yep..three peteys and two vikings life will be good and I shall not want for more.....no smirking now !

Noticed that on the cavendish I tried - it was super moist, and I've had the stuff for probably a year+ sitting in a ziplock bag. It wasn't a bad smoke, but I got some gurgling in the pipe for the first time ever. Overall, the burley I had was a better experience (especially for a beginner, I think).

Originally Posted by zappbrannigan

Noticed that on the cavendish I tried - it was super moist, and I've had the stuff for probably a year+ sitting in a ziplock bag. It wasn't a bad smoke, but I got some gurgling in the pipe for the first time ever. Overall, the burley I had was a better experience (especially for a beginner, I think).

That gurgling is called dottle.If you let the bowl cool and put your mouth over the bowl and blow,you will get rid of that.Then run a pipe cleaner down it and continue smoking.Also do shorter puff increments to lesten the heat and moisture build up. If you puff to much your kind of sweating the tobacco(think hot boxing a cigarette) so let it rest in between puffing a little more often when smoking the real moist stuff and do gentler puffs as well.

Think of it like sipping a hot cup of coffee...Small sips, evenly spaced apart to allow the lips/tongue to cool a bit before the next sip.


Mick

On a similar topic, I have bought some used pipes at flea markets, and after cleaning they mouthpiece is very dull and grey. Is there a way to restore this to a like-new lustrous black, or does it mean that some finish has worn off?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by bbshriver

On a similar topic, I have bought some used pipes at flea markets, and after cleaning they mouthpiece is very dull and grey. Is there a way to restore this to a like-new lustrous black, or does it mean that some finish has worn off?

Thanks!

Vulcanite stems tend to turn grey, brown or green over time. Now there are several methods you can use to fix it, try checking any pipe sites. They are full of information.
Some use tooth paste, some use fine steel wool.There are also pastes that are specially made for polishing stems. I've never tried them so i can't say anything about. I use chlorite + wet sandpaper (say 1k - 2k grit) + hand polishing compound. After such treatment the stem looks like new.
If you want your stems to stay black & shiny little longer, give them final treatment with carnauba wax.

Originally Posted by Sailor

Vulcanite stems tend to turn grey, brown or green over time. Now there are several methods you can use to fix it, try checking any pipe sites. They are full of information.
Some use tooth paste, some use fine steel wool.There are also pastes that are specially made for polishing stems. I've never tried them so i can't say anything about. I use chlorite + wet sandpaper (say 1k - 2k grit) + hand polishing compound. After such treatment the stem looks like new.
If you want your stems to stay black & shiny little longer, give them final treatment with carnauba wax.

Thanks, will give that a try, I just happen to have the 1.5k sandpaper and some automotive paint "polish" on hand, no chlorite, but can probably make decent progress without..

Originally Posted by bbshriver

Thanks, will give that a try, I just happen to have the 1.5k sandpaper and some automotive paint "polish" on hand, no chlorite, but can probably make decent progress without..

If you have a buffer and some carnauba wax you can shine a stem up easily.

Originally Posted by bbshriver

Thanks, will give that a try, I just happen to have the 1.5k sandpaper and some automotive paint "polish" on hand, no chlorite, but can probably make decent progress without..

Chlorite/sandpaper is very aggressive yet effective way to fix the stem. You should be very careful when trying it. I use it only when the stems in some estate pipe looks almost hopeless. Without seeing your stems i would suggest you to try with paint polish first.
Here's a link with some excellent info:

Removing Oxidization on Vulcanite Stems – A compilation of tricks