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Message |
    
Adam Trumpey
Member
Username: Trumpster7
Post Number: 10
Registered: 08-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - 07:44 am: | |
Another forum mentioned that smokers could tell by looking at a pipe if it was drilled wrong (too high/low or to the side). I know its probably hard to tell by pictures whether its to the right or left, but is there a way to tell this just by looking (specifically high/low end of the pipe)? |
Todd Bannard
Member
Username: Sasquatch
Post Number: 688
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - 10:45 pm: | |
Adam, it's really a combination of things. "Drilled wrong" can mean that the airway is too high or too low in the chamber, or off to the side. This you can usually tell just from a quick look (or picture) down the chamber. The airway should be just about dead center and the BOTTOM of the airway should hit the BOTTOM of the chamber - the airway hole is "at the bottom of the side" if you will.
At least as important to a pipe functioning well is what happens in the shank of the pipe, where the airway meets the tenon of the stem. In a straight pipe, the holes should line up perfectly, and a pipe cleaner should pass right to the bowl. A heavily bent pipe usually has the airway terminating in the side wall of the mortise, just below the tenon. If the tenon occludes the airway, the pipe will not smoke well at all.
The Peterson System, of course, uses an intentionally complicated smoke path to cool the smoke and condense any excess moisture, so that's a bit of an exception to what I have posted as ideal. |
Harvey Click
Member
Username: Fafhrd
Post Number: 1505
Registered: 03-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 17, 2009 - 01:06 am: | |
Obviously the hole should be centered left/right. To determine high/low run a pipe cleaner and see if it touches the bottom of the bowl. |
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