Uneven Scorching and Burning of Inner Wall/Briar Pipes
Feb 9, 2018 7:04:56 GMT -5
Ronv69 and zambini like this
Post by briarpipenyc on Feb 9, 2018 7:04:56 GMT -5
I do a lot of reading about, and looking at, estate pipes. One of my favorite sites for this kind of subject matter is Reborn Pipes. I love to see the magic unfold, and enjoy all the photos of badly neglected pipes as they go through all the refurbishment stages. Finally, with expert care, they are "reborn" into what they were originally designed to do. It's an eye-opening process, and the results are astounding.
Anyway, take a good look at any well-used, briar pipe, especially those older pipes that are good candidates for restoration work, and you will almost always notice that the inner wall of the pipe and rim, (that quadrant of the bowl that's closest to the smokers face), is probably badly burnt and scorched, far more that the outer, and right/left side walls, of the bowl. Uneven heating of the bowl must cause this scorching and charring.
When pipes are being lit, when they are smoked, when they are clenched, the natural attitude of the pipe is usually at a downward angle, and rarely is the pipe, as it is unconsciously being smoked, held horizontally. More than likely, the inner wall and rim of a pipe is constantly receiving most of the charring heat and steam generated by the lighting/smoking process. Notice the scorched rims on most pipes. The scorch-marks are uneven, and usually far worse worse, and biased toward that inner edge due to the exposure of heat, smoke, combustion products, tar buildup, etc, as it rises along that inner wall, and out of the tobacco hole.
Is there any practical way to slow down this scorching, or, eliminating it altogether? I would guess that the biased, scorching of the inner wall is just part of pipe smoking and that it will not be stopped unless the smoker makes an effort, and holds the pipe at some other angle that will not allow the pipe to dip below the horizontal. This ritual sounds ridiculous, and I probably answered my own questions. In real life, who's going to do this?
This may sound strange, but when I smoke some of my pipes, I very often, if I can, deliberately rotate the stem in the shank so that the pipe bowl is held at a different angle. Then (I think) the smoke and heat can flow along a different section of the bowl walls. Some of my pipes have 1/8 -1/4 bent stems, and if I reverse the stems 180 degrees out of normal register, the back-rim of the bowls then can take the brunt of heat and smoke. These peculiar stem orientations cannot be done with 1/2 -full bent stems, of course. I make an effort to hold bowls, while and after puffing, horizontally, so heat and smoke can rise straight up and out.
Yes, I probably need my head examined, but I don't like to see bowls (tobacco holes) burnt into uneven ovals. It just bothers me to see defaced pipes. Graffiti turns my stomach just as much. But honestly, I don't think there is any way to avoid this scorching/charring problem.
Just some thoughts.
Frank
NYC
Anyway, take a good look at any well-used, briar pipe, especially those older pipes that are good candidates for restoration work, and you will almost always notice that the inner wall of the pipe and rim, (that quadrant of the bowl that's closest to the smokers face), is probably badly burnt and scorched, far more that the outer, and right/left side walls, of the bowl. Uneven heating of the bowl must cause this scorching and charring.
When pipes are being lit, when they are smoked, when they are clenched, the natural attitude of the pipe is usually at a downward angle, and rarely is the pipe, as it is unconsciously being smoked, held horizontally. More than likely, the inner wall and rim of a pipe is constantly receiving most of the charring heat and steam generated by the lighting/smoking process. Notice the scorched rims on most pipes. The scorch-marks are uneven, and usually far worse worse, and biased toward that inner edge due to the exposure of heat, smoke, combustion products, tar buildup, etc, as it rises along that inner wall, and out of the tobacco hole.
Is there any practical way to slow down this scorching, or, eliminating it altogether? I would guess that the biased, scorching of the inner wall is just part of pipe smoking and that it will not be stopped unless the smoker makes an effort, and holds the pipe at some other angle that will not allow the pipe to dip below the horizontal. This ritual sounds ridiculous, and I probably answered my own questions. In real life, who's going to do this?
This may sound strange, but when I smoke some of my pipes, I very often, if I can, deliberately rotate the stem in the shank so that the pipe bowl is held at a different angle. Then (I think) the smoke and heat can flow along a different section of the bowl walls. Some of my pipes have 1/8 -1/4 bent stems, and if I reverse the stems 180 degrees out of normal register, the back-rim of the bowls then can take the brunt of heat and smoke. These peculiar stem orientations cannot be done with 1/2 -full bent stems, of course. I make an effort to hold bowls, while and after puffing, horizontally, so heat and smoke can rise straight up and out.
Yes, I probably need my head examined, but I don't like to see bowls (tobacco holes) burnt into uneven ovals. It just bothers me to see defaced pipes. Graffiti turns my stomach just as much. But honestly, I don't think there is any way to avoid this scorching/charring problem.
Just some thoughts.
Frank
NYC
