Sort of a newbie question
Jim Willemin
breakfast, sipping a nice dark roast coffee and puffing some of Peterson's
Sherlock Holmes in a cute little Big Ben pocket pipe. The only burr in my
otherwise ineffable pleasure is the gurgle (which tends to make me
subconsciously puff harder and faster). The problem is that this pipe (a
fairly new pipe, just broken in) has one of those aluminum thingies on the
stem, which prevents a pipe cleaner from getting down into the shank where
all the moisture is. How do you guys deal with aluminum thingies? I could
wait till the pipe cools, then take the stem off and clean it, or I could
take the aluminum thingie off altogether, but I figure the pipemaker put it
in there for some reason (though I can't immediately figure out what that
reason is). Any suggestions? Thanks.
(I've been smoking pipes now for over twenty years, but only recently found
asp - and have learned a lot from just lurking here. Thanks to all for
your help in increasing my enjoyment manyfold!)
BobH
What that is, is a filter of sorts, sometimes called a stinger. Most of
us have yanked them out of the pipes that contain them for the reasons
you have already found. I have a few stingers in a container I kept just
in case I decide to trade or give the pipe away to keep it complete.
I think it's intention is to remove any burning embers and reduce the
temperature of the smoke. Removing it will not make the pipe moisture
free. We have learned to control our puffing and packing to keep the
smoke cooler and drier. You will soon be right there too.
Briarroot
> It is early Sunday morning - I'm waiting for the cats to come in for
> breakfast, sipping a nice dark roast coffee and puffing some of Peterson's
> Sherlock Holmes in a cute little Big Ben pocket pipe. The only burr in my
> otherwise ineffable pleasure is the gurgle (which tends to make me
> subconsciously puff harder and faster). The problem is that this pipe (a
> fairly new pipe, just broken in) has one of those aluminum thingies on the
> stem, which prevents a pipe cleaner from getting down into the shank where
> all the moisture is. How do you guys deal with aluminum thingies?
>
I remove them. Some can easily be pulled out and set aside; others,
like those in certain Kaywoodies, are an integral part of the threaded
stem-shank connection and more drastic measures are required to remove
them. I use a small hacksaw. I hate aluminum thingies!
> I could
> wait till the pipe cools, then take the stem off and clean it, or I could
> take the aluminum thingie off altogether, but I figure the pipemaker put it
> in there for some reason (though I can't immediately figure out what that
> reason is). Any suggestions? Thanks.
>
Never mind the pipemaker's intentions, whatever they may have been.
*Your* reaction is what matters. Did I mention: I hate aluminum
thingies? ;-)
> (I've been smoking pipes now for over twenty years, but only recently found
> asp - and have learned a lot from just lurking here. Thanks to all for
> your help in increasing my enjoyment manyfold!)
>
ASP is a great place to pick up tips, even for veteran pipe smokers. I
had been a pipe smoker for 30 years before I first found my way here and
have since learned several new tricks. Welcome aboard!
Regards,
Tim Parker ... Gawith-Hoggarth Scotch Flake in a Barling square-shank
billiard
--
"Communists are people who read Marx and Lenin. Anti-Communists are
people who *understand* Marx and Lenin." - Ronald Reagan
Jim Beard
> How do you guys deal with aluminum thingies? I
> reason is). Any suggestions? Thanks.
If the thingy has threads on it and is required to
hold the mouthpiece and shank together, you have a
couple of choices. Leave it as is, or use a hacksaw
(or something similar) to remove all of the thingy
that is not needed.
Otherwise, if you think you might sell the pipe later,
remove the thingy, clean it, and put it away. You will
never find it when you go to sell the pipe, but you will
have observed the protocol. :)
If neither of the two above obtain, remove the thingy
and discard it.
The purpose of the thingy is to give advertising
copy-writers something they can write about. It is
alleged to cool the smoke, condense moisture, block
ashes and hot embers, and do anything else a
creative mind can come up with -- to include represent
the long tradition of making and selling thingys
(note spelling; the plural of an archaic technical term
should be an archaic spelling of the plural form as well)
to customers who do not know enough to shun them.
The temperature in the bowl is more important to
taste than the temperature of smoke when it reaches
the mouth, moisture carries flavor (first point) and
condensing it in quantity in the stem is no improvement
over allowing it to reach the mouth (second point --
unless you are smoking so hot that the heat of
condensation tries to set your mouth on fire, in which
case you need to change your pace of puffing), and a
bit of ash and maybe a still-burning ember or two now
and then will be instantly cooled by contact with saliva,
and it is merely a notification that you have truly
reached the bottom of the bowl.
Cheers!
jim b.
--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.
MrAbstracto
wrote:
The only burr in my
> otherwise ineffable pleasure is the gurgle (which tends to make me
> subconsciously puff harder and faster). The problem is that this pipe (a
> fairly new pipe, just broken in) has one of those aluminum thingies on the
> stem, which prevents a pipe cleaner from getting down into the shank where
> all the moisture is. How do you guys deal with aluminum thingies? I could
> wait till the pipe cools, then take the stem off and clean it, or I could
> take the aluminum thingie off altogether, but I figure the pipemaker put it
> in there for some reason (though I can't immediately figure out what that
> reason is). Any suggestions? Thanks.
>
I've had the same problem as well on a few pipes. I usually just put
them in the box full of empty beer cans in the kitchen to be recycled.
pipeman
to get wet so I don't know how faf that'll go. I have no use for
contraptions. Gently blowing into the pipe may clear the buble of
moisture off the stinger. They are suppossed to eliminate the need
for pipe cleaners. Pipe cleaners are better.