| Author | Message | ||
     Ryan Moore Member Username: Djsamwise Post Number: 1 Registered: 10-2005 |
Hello! I've very glad to have found this site as I've allready spent hours here scouring past discussions to learn everything from how to pack my pipe to what to buy online. Some of my friends smoked cigars while camping this summer(to back off of cigarettes), I had smoked a corncob a decade ago (to help me back off of other stuff) anyway one thing leads to another and the next thing you know we're all buying pipes. At first I thought building a cake meant allowing the reasons to build up so I tapping the bowl clean and swiping the inside of it with some cloth to rub around the goo, which I learned was not a good idea after seeing the posted picture of a real pipe cake posted somewhere on this site. I'd like to save this pipe if possible, please help a young fella out. Here's my current pipe's history. I purchased a churchwarden from EaCarey and it came with a good sized bowl, carbon lined. I read that it was a good idea to line the bowl with honey or maple so i did that too.. and I cleaned throughouly after letting it cool. I did this about 10 times. And thinking the leftover tobacco in the bottom would make other smokes taste bad I overcleaned the bowl out. (I thought a cake was a thin layer of resin till I saw the picture someone posted) Obviously no cake. About 8 or 10 smokes in I also started noticing a gurgleing. And around the same time, smokes started tasting really bad halfway trhough the bowl. Around 10 or so smokes (week and a half's time) I leanred what a real cake looks like and since then I had wanted to leave some of the leftover "stuff" in the bottom hoping to "grow" a cake but it was far to wet and so I dabbed at the wetness and most of it came out. I am apparantly a prodigous drooler and the fact that I cannot find a long enough pipe cleaner for my churchwarden stem doesn't help the matter in the least. So I am practicing not drooling, (ie. not playing banjo and smoking at the same time) and paying attention to dry my pipe out between smokes and clean the stem portion of the bowl but the main question still stands.. whats the best way to go about building a nice cake in this particular pipe being so wet? btw, I mainly smoke a plain Cavendish because it is smooth and tastes good to me but I am open and willing to new things. Thanks in advance for your tips. -Ryan | ||
| Rocas Faol Member Username: Rocas_faol Post Number: 61 Registered: 07-2005 |
Greetings First, let me welcome you to the wonderful world of puffing! Now, I am going to reply since it appears no-one else has. My particular preference is for long stemmed pipes (churchwardens, Native American & Chinese styles, etc.) and it has been my experience that these types of pipes can produce gurgle far more frequently than others. It does not mean that you are a “drooler” necessarily; long stemmed pipes tend to create and hold more of the water vapor from the combustion process due to their very nature. The length of the stem prevents the water vapor from escaping effectively, and at the same time can effectively cool the hot air drawn from the bowl before it passes into your mouth. Can anyone say condensation? The trapped water vapor and forming condensation both travel back down the length of the stem and into the base of the bowl creating gurgle. Though this can happen with any pipe, I have noted that it seems to happen more often with long stemmed and churchwarden pipes. There is no way to reliably stop it that I have found, but smoking slower does seem to limit it. Maybe it is because the vapor and other moisture factors are burned off before they become a problem-I am not sure. As far as “baking” your cake goes, you will find sufficient threads scattered around this lovely place to suffuse your mind with knowledge; not just on cake baking, but just about everything else as well. One thing I will advise from personal experience-hold the palm of your hand over the top of the bowl (sealing it) and shake it up and down vigorously BEFORE you dump the ash; then let your pipe sit like that until next use. This will spread a thin layer of ash around the surface of the bowl and for some reason this really promotes the buildup of cake. Also, something I noted from your post-do you have only the one pipe? If so the amount you are smoking sounds like it would be consistent with more than one bowl a day usage; is this the case? If so that could be part of the problem since the bowl, and hence the cake you are trying to build are not drying properly/effectively. I am not sure but this could be helping to retard the process. Happy Hunting RF | ||
| Rick Dahms Member Username: Rickd Post Number: 5 Registered: 07-2005 |
... and here are your pipe cleaners. It'll make smoking that puppy a lot more pleasurable. http://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/cleaning/index.cfm If your pipe is sour, you're probably not letting it rest long enough between smokes and will need to really clean and sweeten it. Best, RD |