Clays
Fred Krafcik
Any input people can give as to their smoking (do they tend hot?), how
often one can be used, do they have a finite lifespan (10 bowls, 20,
100?), that sort of thing will be greatly appreciated...
Thanks in advance,
Fred
Erck 2
http://www.dawnmist.demon.co.uk/artgal.htm
L
von Erck
Mike Jacobs
you can even BBQ the cake out of it in hot coals without a problem. As far
as a 'taster' you can't go wrong with a short, convenient 6-incher. The
longer "tavern" version is a terrific if not short smoke - cooler and
without any pipe-flavor to cover the blend's taste.
Mine must have had 100 smokes on it without any trouble when it broke during
a recent move... I think I'll invest in another. Do you think Mark Tinsky
carves tavern pipes??
Regards,
Mike Jacobs
"Fred Krafcik" <sa...@columbia.edu> wrote in message
news:3AD1C4D4...@columbia.edu...
Hardcrackers
it. { : -( Then go buy another. } ;-) I have one (my first pipe BTW) that only
has two inches left to the stem and can still smoke it if you don't mind the
smell of burning nose hair. Ron Ward
crwydryn
Hopefully, you won't have already heard all of this by the time I have a
chance to send it.
The subject of clay pipes seems to receive a lukewarm welcome on ASP; a
handful like them, a handful don't, and most people seem not to have much
(if any) experience with them. However, I think that this is yet another
world of experiences for pipe smokers, and for a variety of reasons every
pipe smoker really ought to have one or two of them. Here's a guide I'm in
the process of writing. I hope it helps you in your foray into clay pipes!
HISTORY
Clay pipes first appear in Europe and in the archaeological record of early
European colonies in the Americas during the 16th century. Tobacco was an
especially common commodity in England, France, Holland and Spain during the
early colonial period. A wide variety of styles have been tried, but the
ones that have endured are mostly essentially the same: a longish stem,
usually straight or very slightly curved, ending in a flared, usually
conical bowl. Clay pipes are normally made in one piece, however there was
a little experimentation in a few regions (notably Ireland and South Africa)
with composite pipes combining clay bowls with stems made from other
materials, such as horn. As these composite pipes turn up quite late (19th
century and early 20th) and follow patterns that are common in briar pipes,
it seems likely that these were attempts by pipe smokers of limited
resources to reproduce the briar pipes they liked in a material they could
afford.
At first, all clay pipes were hand made by craftsmen using press moulds and
soft clay. In the 18th century, as the price of tobacco reached levels that
made it more accessible to the common man, production started to shift
toward slip casting in plaster moulds. Press casting continued, however, to
be the process of choice for those who wanted a quality pipe.
Clay pipes were smoked regularly by people as diverse as sailors, explorers
in the New World, and by the nobility in the Old World, and are a reasonably
common find in archaeological sites that date later than 1550.
The main reason that clay pipes have been more or less abandoned at present
is the sheer affordability of briar during the first part of the 20th
century, and the association of the cheap slip-cast pipes with poverty. In
later decades, good briar started to become a little more difficult to find,
but the clay pipe making industry had already more or less died out, and at
the present time, despite their advantages, clay pipes are a novelty rather
than the norm.
WHY CHOOSE CLAY?
Currently, pipes made from wood, especially briar, are the most popular type
of pipe. However, clay pipes were quite popular for many years, and in fact
for a long time were the only type of pipe available in Europe for the
smoking of tobacco. The advantages of briar are numerous, and generally
fairly well known by the pipe smoking community. Many people seem to be
unaware of the advantages of clay, however.
1. Clay pipes are more forgiving:
- The material from which they are made is not flammable, so one need not be
concerned if one has a habit of smoking too hot. Burnout is impossible.
- Since clay pipes tend to have longer stems, have a higher specific heat
(meaning they can absorb more heat) and radiate heat more readily than
briar, even if one is smoking too hot and hard, it is unlikely that tongue
bite will be an issue for most tobaccos (some tobaccos would bite you even
if you just sprinkled them on an incense brazier, however)
- Ceramic suffers abuse more stoically than either briar or meerschaum.
While it is true that clay pipes are brittle, and unlikely to survive a fall
or a sharp blow, it is vanishingly unlikely that you will damage your pipe
through over-vigorous application of your pipe tool.
2. Clay pipes do not seem to require any break-in period or seasoning to
smoke well. No cake is necessary, and the material being incapable of
burning while you smoke it does not influence the flavour of the tobacco.
While a seasoned clay pipe does smoke a little better than a fresh one, the
difference is not a great one, and a new clay pipe comes essentially "ready
to rock" with whatever tobacco you choose to put in it.
3. The absence of any foreign material (burning briar, flavours from the
curing oil in meerschaum) in your smoke will result in a brighter, clearer
flavour, making clay pipes an excellent way to sample new tobaccos or simply
to rediscover an old favourite. While smoking a given tobacco in a well
cured pipe does add a certain something, it is sometimes nice to get nothing
but the taste of the tobacco in question. This is particularly true if you
are going to be smoking "pure" tobaccos, such as a straight Virginia or
Oriental. Some people also find the spice and exotic flavours of latakia
and perique fuller in a clay pipe, probably due to less absorbsion into the
walls of the pipe bowl.
4. Since clay pipes can be cleaned completely, or nearly so (see Fire
Cleaning), they can be used to try completely unfamiliar tobaccos without
risking wood or meerschaum pipes, which can have a long memory for
particularly intense flavours. If the experiment was a failure, and you
truly loathe the tobacco in question, you need only fire clean the clay and
it will return to pristine condition, ready for your next foray into the
unknown. For this reason, clay pipes are also excellent for experimenting
with non-tobacco smokes such as sage, corn husks, indian tea and the like.
While you might not like the experience, one sometimes gets that curious
feeling "what would that be like in a pipe?", especially about things that
smell good while they are burning. It's nice to have a pipe about that can
be used for such an experiment without worrying about ruining it.
5. Quality clay pipes are much cheaper than briar or meerschaum pipes in the
same class, since both the material and the labour involved is much less.
This makes clay pipes an excellent addition to the collection of any pipe
smoker who needs to pad his or her rotation, but doesn't have the money to
spend on the quality of briar pipe he or she likes.
TYPES OF CLAY PIPE
When you purchase your first clay pipe, it is important to know that there
are two distinct types of clay pipe: slip cast and press cast.
Slip cast pipes are made by pouring a fairly fluid mixture of clay and water
(called slip) into an absorbent mould (usually plaster). A certain amount
of the clay clings to the inside of the mould as water is absorbed by the
mould; the excess is poured out. The mould is then dried for a few hours or
a few days before it is cracked open, at which point the slightly damp clay
pipe is trimmed, dried further, then fired before use.
Press cast pipes are made from solid clay. First, a rod is rolled out from
a ball of clay, leaving a small bulb with a rod extending from it. A wire
or similar object is carefully driven down the length of the rod until just
before reaching the bulb. The entire thing is then placed in the mould, and
a shaping device is pressed into the bowl part of the mould to force the
bulb into the correct shape. The wire is then pushed all the way through
into the bowl, the pipe is dried for an hour or two, removed from the mould,
dried further, then fired before use.
In general, the clay pipes you see most often in catalogues and pipe shops
are the slip cast variety, as these are the easiest to make and also the
cheapest, so they represent a very small risk to the vendor - remember that
most people don't smoke clay these days, so vendors usually carry them
mostly for novelty value.
When you purchase a clay pipe, you should inspect it for the following
qualities:
- seam lines
- pits
- airway (esp the entry into the bowl)
- chips or cracks
Slip cast pipes will usually have marked seam lines. These are the weakest
part of the pipe, and sometimes begin to separate during firing or as the
pipe begins to age. Press cast pipes often have no seam lines, or seams
that are very difficult to make out. In the case of press cast pipes, the
seams do not indicate any weakness, but do indicate that the maker wasn't
very consciencious with regard to the finishing touches, and the price
should reflect this.
Pits in the surface of the pipe indicate that it was press cast, and can
indicate weak points in the clay. Clays that have been mishandled during
shipping may also have developed chips or cracks. During the heat stress of
smoking or cleaning, these are the points that are most likely to give way.
A pipe with these flaws is still smokable, but you may want to buy a
different pipe if the chips etc are in vital spots such as large flaws on
the bowl or cracks/chips at the point where the bowl meets the stem. Chips
at the end of the bit and around the rim of the bowl are just an aesthetic
problem, however, and you needn't worry about them provided you are paying a
very good price for the pipe.
The airway of a clay pipe is a sticky problem. Press cast clay will shrink
approximately 20% during the drying and firing process, while slip cast clay
will sometimes shrink as much as 35%. This makes it very difficult for the
manufacturer to judge the size of the airway before the pipe is complete.
Many clay pipes (especially slip cast pipes) have their airway restricted to
the point of being unable to pass a pipecleaner through them. As clay pipes
don't often need that sort of thing while smoking, it shouldn't pose a
problem for you, and shouldn't prevent you from buying the pipe. If,
however, you tend to prefer blends that typically smoke wet (heavy aromatics
and such) you may want to do the pipecleaner test on any clays before buying
them. Remember however that clay is very absorbent (especially slip cast)
and that not only the bowl but the whole stem will work to absorb moisture
while you smoke. The main issue will be cleaning, which I will cover in a
moment. You also need to be sure that there are no obstructions in the
airway that will restrict draw unreasonably.
It's unlikely you will get a complete obstruction, but slip-cast pipes
sometimes have an uneven interior, depending on the process used by the
manufacturer. The easiest way to test the airway of a clay pipe is to run a
length of florists' wire down the stem - if it meets any resistance at all,
you have an obstruction. Usually, the obstruction will be small and easily
removed by gentle pressure from the wire. If it doesn't move with gentle
pressure, you will need to gauge where in the stem the obstruction lies, and
if it is at least 5 or 6 cm from the bowl you should be able to shorten the
stem so that the portion including the obstruction is removed.
In addition to the main airway, however, you need to pay special attention
to its entry into the bowl. Sometimes this entry is partially obstructed,
and this can usually be cleared easily by picking at it with a pipe tool or
some other hard, narrow object (needles and nails work well). If it is a
press cast pipe, the wire used to make the airway sometimes fails to make it
all the way through to the bowl, in which case there is really nothing to be
done.
All of the above flaws can be problematic, but remember: they *are* flaws,
and if you didn't notice them before purchase it's almost certain your
vendor or the manufacturer will replace it with no problem. It's also
useful to remember that briar has flaws too. These are different flaws from
the ones usually encountered in briar, but there aren't any more of them,
really.
In addition to the basic slip cast vs press cast distinction, it should be
noted that some clay pipes have been glazed. A glazed pipe will have the
characteristic glassy surface of your fine china. A glaze pipe can be very
attractive, since it is a good way to permit more intricate and durable
decoration. However, it should be noted that there are some difficulties
with glazed pipes:
- if the inside of the bowl is glazed, the pipe may not be smokable. The
airway may be completely blocked by glaze, which would require a needle file
to remove. Other than this, it is likely that a pipe that has been
completely glazed, inside and out, will not smoke like a clay pipe at all,
but more like a glass pipe. This is because the interior glaze prevents the
clay from absorbing moisture and tars as you smoke. A glazed pipe will
require more thorough cleaning of the stem as well.
- even if the inside of the bowl is not glazed, glazed ceramics of this sort
are often made from porcelain clay which is much denser and less porous than
the usual sort of clay used for pipe making. This will cause problems
similar to those found in a pipe with the interior glazed, and means that
cleaning will probably not be able to return the pipe to nearly new
appearance.
- glazes are generally fired at a much lower temperature than the clay was
originally fired. If the temperature was low enough, fire cleaning may
cause the glaze to sag, run, crackle or discolour. If the vendor doesn't
know for certain, you can hazard a guess: porcelain clays (very fine
grained, white clays that produce a dense, light ceramic when fired) and
stoneware clays are fired at very high temperatures, and the glazes used
with them are similarly hardy at high temperatures. Standard kiln cleaning
might not bother them (though of course you will still be taking a risk) and
other forms of fire cleaning probably won't. If the clay appears quite
porous (like a flower pot) then it was probably fired at a lower
temperature, meaning that the glazes were fired at a lower temperature
still. Such a pipe will survive fire cleaning, but the glaze will probably
be ruined.
On the whole, due to the uncertainties a glazed pipe may well be best left
as a display piece. However, I have personally made clay pipes *and* glazed
them, and they have worked well. The issue is not whether or not glazed
pipes work for smoking, but whether the manufacturer really had smoking in
mind when the pipe was made. A pipe that is clearly intended as a display
piece will probably not smoke well, and may suffer when you attempt to do
any comprehensive cleaning. A pipe that is very decorative, but appears to
have been designed for actual use will probably smoke as well as any other
clay pipe and will not pose any problems when cleaning it. As usual, caveat
emptor.
WHERE TO BUY CLAY PIPES
Unfortunately, clay pipes are rather difficult to come by at present,
however they are available if you know where to look. Clays appear to be
more popular in Europe following a resurgence of historical recreation in
the 1990s, and can often be found in the catalogues of large pipe and
tobacco companies such as Dan Pipe.
There are also a number of individuals who make press cast pipes, usually
replicas of historical pipes, and many of these people have web pages from
which you can order. Usually, such operations are quite small, and the
vendor may or may not accept credit cards.
Another place you may find replica pipes is in museum shops or the gift
shops of historical villages (the type where the staff play the parts of
everyday people in a community of a specific period in history). Surprising
as it may seem, these pipes, while intended as display pieces, are smokable.
The staff of the gift shop may know whether or not the pipe was actually
made in the historical village, and if it was it is likely to be quite
genuine. If not, it will of course depend on whether the manufacturer
intended to make something pretty for your gew-gaw shelf or a pipe.
Finally, some pipe shops do stock clay pipes, though due to problems finding
other suppliers these are often slip cast pipes. You local vendor may be
able to order some clay pipes for you, particularly if you guarantee to buy
three or four of them.
PREPARING TO SMOKE
There isn't really much that needs to be done to a clay pipe before you can
just pack it up and smoke it. First, you need to check the bowl to ensure
there are no objects sitting in it. Sometimes new pipes have a slight
dusting of clay dust from the manufacturer, and this can be removed with a
slightly damp cloth if you've a mind to. Unless there's an awful lot of it,
it shouldn't bother you though. Some manufacturers dip the bit of their
pipes in sealing wax to provide a slightly more comfortable grip between
your teeth. If you like, you can remove this by gently scraping it with a
knife, then holding it in a flame until it burns off. You will be left with
a charred bit, but this will wear off with use or during the first fire
cleaning.
PACKING A CLAY PIPE
It is important to note that while packing your clay pipe, you should not
hold it by the stem. Grasp the base of the bowl between your index finger
and thumb while packing. Grasping any kind of pipe by the bowl is generally
a good idea when packing it, but the smaller, fragile-looking bowls of a
clay pipe often make people nervous. There is really no need for this,
provided you grip the bowl by the base and not the lip and don't squeeze too
hard. It's no different from being able to hold a glass without it
shattering in your grip. Just loosen up and let your fingers figure out the
best grip by themselves.
The process of packing a clay pipe is basically identical to what you would
use with a briar. Some people advocate packing more loosely, feeling that
clay pipes smoke hotter than briar. They do sometimes smoke a little
hotter, but not very much, and actually I have personally found that packing
more loosely exacerbates the problem. If you pack your pipe a little more
tightly than usual (not too much of course) you will find that taking long,
slow draws (like blowing up a balloon in reverse) will keep the pipe lit and
at about the right temperature. You will also avoid bite. Many briar
smokers complain of bite when smoking clay, but I personally think that this
derives from the looser pack that is optimum in a briar. The clay of the
pipe gets much hotter than a briar, and helps to keep the tobacco itself
smouldering at lower temperatures. Wood has a lower specific heat than
fired clay does, so the wood tends to be a little cooler than the ember in a
briar pipe. Clay, on the other hand, can sit at the burning temperature of
the tobacco without any danger of burning itself. It also radiates heat
better than briar (which is why it gets so hot to the touch while smoking)
which should mean that the bottom of the bowl and the stem will be much
cooler than the parts nearer the ember - probably almost room temperature -
and will help to cool the smoke before it reaches your mouth.
As the pack is a bit tighter, I like to roll up a ball of tobacco and stick
it in the bottom of the pipe before packing so as to ensure an air space
near the bottom. This assists in the draw and can reduce moisture as well.
You may also find it useful to use your pipe tool's pick to lever the
tobacco up and away from the walls of the bowl after each tamping in order
to encourage good air flow.
Rope, twist, flake, navy cake, cube cut and similarly dense types of tobacco
smoke *extremely* well in a clay.
SMOKING YOUR CLAY
Lighting should proceed as normal for your briars. As most clay pipes have
a stem that is a bit longer than the average briar, you might find the
process a bit awkward at first as you adjust, but it should take only 2 or 3
lightings for you to be just as proficient as with your usual pipe. Of
course, if you already smoke churchwardens fairly regularly, you should have
no trouble at all. An advantage of clay pipes is that they are fire proof.
This means that you have many more options for lighting your pipe than with
a briar. Candles, flaming twigs, blow torches, coals lifted straight from a
fire, Bunsen burners, or just sticking your head close enough to the fire to
get the bowl in there and puff are all options. Some require more caution
than others, though, so watch it! <g>
While you are smoking your clay, you will probably find tamping to be less
necessary than with your briar pipes. Again, this is related to the density
of the pack. The denser pack used in clay smoulders rather than burning -
at first you will probably need to relight more than in a briar, but as you
get the hang of it you may find that your clay pipes smoke more smoothly. I
personally often have days where I'm "in the zone" and never need to relight
my clays once I've got them going. I rarely have this experience with my
briars. During this process, tamping serves the purpose of encouraging the
ember rather than breaking down the ash. When it looks like my pipe might
die out, I sometimes break up the ember with my pick and spread it over the
surface of the tobacco before puffing things up and tamping gently to get
things going.
While you are smoking, it is not wise to handle the bowl...unless you have
asbestos fingers. The bowl will get quite hot, certainly much hotter than a
briar and hotter than meerschaum too. The best way to hold a clay pipe with
a stem of any length is to rest the stem on your ring finger, curling your
index and middle fingers over top. Once you have found the pipe's centre of
gravity, this method becomes effortless. Pipes with shorter stems are
generally intended to be clamped in the mouth, but if you don't like to use
your teeth while smoking you can hold the part of the stem closest to the
bowl between your thumb and forefinger and rest the stem on the knuckles of
your other fingers. Many pipes with shorter stems are equipped with a
"dewdrop" hanging either from the bottom of the bowl or at the point where
the bowl and stem meet - this is intended for gripping, and on a well
designed pipe will stay remarkably cool during the course of a smoke.
CLEANING
This is the part that turns most people off clay pipe smoking, even though
it really isn't as problematic as they think.
As with a briar, once the smoke is finished, empty out the ashes and dottle.
Clay pipes don't require a cake, and can actually suffer from the presence
of one if it is allowed to grow much so you might want to wipe the inside of
the bowl once it has cooled a little. If the stem has a large enough
airway, run a pipecleaner through. If a pipecleaner doesn't go in easily,
DON'T force it. You will almost certainly not succeed anyway, and risk
snapping the stem. Generally, a clay pipe won't suffer much from not having
the stem swabbed out, since the clay seems to absorb and redistribute
moisture much better than briar, and certainly better than vulcanite, horn,
metal etc as is usually used in briar pipe stems. However, if you are
unable to clean the stem mechanically you will wind up fire cleaning more
often.
One alternative to pipe cleaners that I have used in the past is a length of
florists' wire wrapped with cotton thread. Florists' wire comes in a
variety of gauges, so you should have no trouble finding one that will pass
through the airway even with the thread wrapped around it. Dip the
thread-wrapped end in your cleaning agent of choice (I usually use dark rum
or vodka...akvavit in a pinch)and run it back and forth down the stem. You
will need to re-wrap the wire from time to time so that your thread is
clean. If you can get your hands on the unwaxed, brushed out cotton dental
floss, this works really well. It seems to be more absorbent than regular
cotton thread.
Note: obviously, polyester and nylon threads won't absorb much if anything,
though they will act as a scraper for the inside of the stem; you really are
best working with cotton.
Extremely small brushes with long stems are available for cleaning small
pieces of lab equipment such as the larger gauge glass tubes. If you can
get hold of one of those it should work quite well.
I have also used a long wire with the tip bent over to hold a bundle of
threads in place (like a swab/brush) in place of a pipe cleaner. Combined
with a solvent such as alcohol it can do quite a good job of cleaning the
stem, though it requires more time than a pipe cleaner would.
If you clean carefully between smokes and are careful to avoid wet smoking
(complete with gurgle) you may be able to keep your clay going for quite
some time before fire cleaning becomes necessary. This will allow you to
properly season it, which can improve the smoking qualities of the pipe but
it quite a bit more difficult with clay pipes due to the nature of the
material.
RESTING AND ROTATION
Clay pipes both absorb and release moisture more quickly than briar, and in
addition the fact that they are inorganic means that souring is less of a
problem. In fact, I have never had a clay pipe go sour in the sense that a
briar can.
These qualities of clay mean that a clay pipe can be smoked quite heavily
during the course of a day, left to rest over night (possibly longer if the
local humidity is high), and then treated in much the same way the next day.
While this will definitely increase the frequency with which you find it
desirable to fire clean your pipe, you will probably not notice any other
adverse effects. If you smoke slowly, are usually able to avoid smoking
wet, and are able to swab out the stem after each smoke, you may be able to
continue this way indefinately, especially if you actually have a rotation
of 2 or 3 clay pipes to work with. Also, remember that a clay pipe won't
burn and doesn't suffer from warping; if you are concerned that your pipe
isn't getting enough time to rest (a clay pipe with particularly thick walls
may require more drying time, while the less dense slip cast pipes may
require less) you can solve the problem simply by placing it on top of a
heating vent or even on a tray in the oven. Force drying clay pipes doesn't
seem to have any adverse effects.
The fact that clay pipes are so hardy under difficult conditions make them
an excellent addition to one's rotation. They allow you to dedicate certain
briar pipes to specific tobaccos (taking advantage of the very different
properties of wood and the cake that builds in a briar pipe), and yet not
have to curtail your smoking even if you haven't got a large collection.
Also, if you have a bare minimum rotation of briars, a clay can pick up the
slack when you want to rest one pipe a little longer or give it a more
thorough cleaning.
FIRE CLEANING
From time to time, you will probably find that the sheer quantity of tar and
other nasty things that have accumulated in the porous material of a clay
pipe will result in a much decreased absorbency and thus wetter smokes,
complete with the occasional quantity of "pipe juice" coming up the stem and
into your mouth. The flavour of your tobacco will be marred, you will often
be spitting tar and juices out, and the increased moisture will increase the
chances of bite. This is when you need to clean the pipe more thoroughly,
and the best method is baptism by fire.
Ideally, if you have access to a gas kiln, either in your own home or
through a friend, or even by hiring space at a commercial ceramic supply
shop, refiring your pipe is the perfect cleaning. The pipe is placed in the
kiln, and heated to a temperature below the one it was originally fired to,
but high enough to drive out and burn all the chemicals that have
accumulated in the clay (cones 03 and 02 has worked for me in the past, but
it is best to consult with someone who knows what they are doing and can
judge what kind of firing the pipe originally went through). This is the
only way to thoroughly clean your clay pipe, but unfortunately all seasoning
is also lost: when the process is finished, the pipe will be almost like
new. It will have regained so much absorbency that you will feel it
clinging to your fingers and lips when you smoke it for the first time!
As I said, this is the ideal situation, but not everyone has access to a
kiln, and of course if you don't have a number of pipes to clean
simultaneously it might not be cost effective. There are other methods you
might find more convenient:
- putting your pipe in the oven, with the rack as high as possible, then
putting the oven on "self clean" can sometimes do the trick. You won't get
as clean a pipe as from a kiln, but it will certainly set back the clock.
The disadvantage of this if you have an electric oven is that the tars might
not actually combust, but simply evaporate, in which case you may end up
with a slight residue on the elements and other surfaces in the oven. The
effect will only be slight, but you might detect a slight smoke smell while
cooking in the future. If you happen to have a self-cleaning gas oven (I've
only ever seen one of these in my entire life - whether they were anything
but a failed experiment I don't know), you should have no problem, as the
gas burners will consume the residue more completely and drive what is left
out through the exhaust. When the self-clean cycle is done, your pipe will
be as clean as it can get from this method.
- if you have a gas oven with a grill, or a gas barbeque, you can place your
pipes as close to the flame as possible, light the gas, close the lid/door
and leave it alone for a while. Cleaning will take at least 20 minutes, and
may take as long as an hour depending on how hot your grill actually gets.
Depending on the arrangement, you may want to turn the pipe from time to
time to ensure even cleaning.
- a very traditional way of cleaning your pipe, and the only one that
actually contributes to the seasoning in my opinion, is to place it in a
fire. Carefully arrange your pipe in the fire, then rake glowing coals
overtop. (I like to get coals into the bowl, too) Your pipe is now
completely surrounded on all sides by burning material. Typically, one will
need to leave the pipe in the fire quite some time (I generally just leave
it there until the fire burns out) and it won't appear as clean due to the
accumulation of soot and such on the outer surface, but a campfire cleaned
pipe has a special something about it that needs to be tried to be
understood.
- this is the riskiest method, in my opinion: manually immersing your pipe
in a flame such as that from a Bunsen burner, blowtorch or even the gas
burners of your stove or oven. You need to take extreme care not to burn
yourself as the temperatures involved are high enough to do some serious
damage. Keep a close eye your clothes and other dangling objects to avoid
the risk of fire. In all, though, to a sensible person using this method,
the greatest risk is not to himself but to his pipe. If you are not careful
to heat the pipe evenly, you will get differential expansion and this may
result in cracking or spalling. While the effects may not be immediately
visible, small stress fractures within the body of the pipe may make it more
and more fragile until at some point it may snap in your hands as you tamp
or pack the pipe. If you can't get the whole pipe into the flame, then you
should run it smoothly back and forth to ensure even coverage. While some
recommend that you heat the clay until it begins to glow, this isn't really
necessary. You will be able to watch the clay get cleaner and cleaner, and
if it doesn't seem to be changing at all, simply move it more slowly through
the flame to increase the average temperature.
OTHER CLEANING METHODS
Having given very serious thought to alternate methods of cleaning my clay
pipes, it has occurred to me that since the clay itself would not be at risk
the way briar would, soaking might in fact be the answer. I have soaked
pipes in boiling water, salt water, boiling salt water, and vodka. Boiling
salted water was reasonably successful, though it took some time and needed
to be watched, which is far from optimal. Vodka also worked reasonably
well, though it took much longer than the boiling method. I think that
heated alcohol, and possibly a higher concentration would work more quickly.
I wish I still had access to lab facilities so I could try it without having
to worry too much about flashpoints. Acetone would likely work nicely, but
I'm leery of using anything on my pipes that I wouldn't put in my mouth. I
plan to experiment with vinegar (organic acids can be excellent tar
solvents)and vinegar/salt solutions.
Thus far, none of the solvent methods I've tried has been satisfactory, but
neither have they shown any sign of damaging the pipes. As with most
things, YMMV. If anyone has tried solvents to clean clay pipes, please let
me know so we can pool our knowledge!
Clay pipes can also be cleaned on the top rack of your dishwasher if you so
desire. You should wash your pipe alone, however, as the residues are quite
strong smelling and may permeate any plastic or wooden items included at the
same time. I also recommend putting the pipe in one of those little plastic
cages you can get for washing small objects to avoid damage from the pipe
being battered around inside the dishwasher. Such a cleaning is, however,
superficial. It will remove deposits from the outside of the pipe, and from
the bowl, but will not be very effective on deposits in the stem.
Dishwashers do not get hot enough to drive out the materials that have been
absorbed into the clay of your pipe. Frankly, the risk to your pipe
probably outweighs the advantages of this method.
Anyway, apologies for this huge post. I should probably have broken it into
sections, but I wasn't sure where to make the divisions and to be frank I
was too lazy to do it. I hope it has been interesting to at least some of
you.
Naturally, if there are any errors in the above, or if you would like to see
some of your experiences included in this, feel free to let me know either
on ASP or privately via email.
K
--
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kevyn Winkless
kevyn@canada"r e mo v e".com
Qui me amat, amet et pipem meum
See the ASP faq at www.pipes.org
Alex Leger
> Naturally, if there are any errors in the above, or if you would like to
> see some of your experiences included in this, feel free to let me know
> either on ASP or privately via email.
> kevyn@canada"r e mo v e".com
Great post Kevyn ... hot dang now I'm curious about these darn clay pipes.
Alex
--
"Neo-liberalism is not liberalism, it is neo-liberalism and the neo stands
for Stupid!"- J. Mayer
ravnhaus
it up yet. After reading your guide I am inspired to load and light tonight.
Thanks
John
Joshua
crwydryn wrote:
<snipped for brevity>
Wonderful post Kevyn!!!!! I have had two clays and loved smoking them
to try new tobaccos. I learned alot form your post and will most likely
pick up another clay pipe inthe near future.
Thanks!
Joshua
--
to see my pets' pics click:
http://community.webshots.com/user/pokrsmokr
Trever Talbert
custom-designed clays coming from England that I'm very curious about
getting. All the clays I have smoked have tended to have overly-tight
airholes and this has ruined the fun of them for me since it usually results
in tongue fry from having to puff hard enough just to keep them lit. I'm
looking forward to experiencing a clay with a more open draw and hope the
new pipes will be good smokers. It's sort of a touch-and-go thing, as I
specified bowl and airhole sizes that would work well in briar but I really
have no idea if the same relationships will hold true in clay smoking
dynamics. The clay I'm most looking forward to is an unusual calabash I
sketched out - it takes advantage of clay's flexibility by having an airhole
that curves through the calabash body and up into the bottom center of the
bowl. Also, it will have a regular vulcanite or acrylic stem for comfort.
I can't wait to smoke the thing and see what it's like!
--
Happy smoking,
Trever
http://www.talbertpipes.pair.com
Joshua
that sounds neat Trever, please post a pic once it arrives.
I have had the same problem with a few clays... very tight draw, but I
suspect those were of the slip-cast variety. also, once the little red
plastic 'bit' coems off, I noticed how irritating the clay is on my
teeth. Definitely not 'clenchers' LOL
Fred Krafcik
needed to know, plus a lot of stuff I hadn't even thought of yet.
Fred
Trever Talbert
protracted newsgroup explosion over bad Usenet manners, particularly the
habit of quoting 500 line posts to add 2 lines of your own? Bad boy... that
will be 200 lashes with a wet Dr. Grabow for you....
Fred Krafcik
(1) I thought I had deleted the original thread.
(2) At least I posted up top so there was no scrolling needed.
Honestly, I didn't mean to make the mistake, and I apologize to those
who had to pay extra for the big long unnecessary delay I caused. I'll
do better.
Contritely,
Fred
crwydryn
>What a great post! It's perfect timing for me too, as I have a couple of
>custom-designed clays coming from England that I'm very curious about
>getting. All the clays I have smoked have tended to have overly-tight
>airholes and this has ruined the fun of them for me since it usually
results
>in tongue fry from having to puff hard enough just to keep them lit.
This problem most often is caused by the connection between the stem and the
bowl being restricted, or by obstructions in the stem. Both can be easily
remedied if you're brave.
It's possible to purchase long, thin, flexible files, however they can be
expensive and are very difficult to find, in my experience. You can
simulate a wire file in one of two ways:
1. take a wire and score it along its length - if you like, you need only
score a short portion, provided you remember that this portion is the only
bit that will work like a file.
2. wrap a very small gauge flexible dowel (or wire) with *extremely* fine
wire (the finest gauge steel fishing line works reasonably well). You can
fix the fine wire in place by coating the dowel with adhesive first. Epoxy
works best, as other adhesives tend to give way under the stress of using
the wire-wrapped surface as a file.
This file can be inserted in the stem of your pipe (you might want to check
that it will fit first) and used to *carefully* increase the bore if the
stem really is too narrow, or to scrape away any occlusions. I have used a
wire file successfully to open the aperature from the stem to the bowl in
one or two cheapo slip-cast pipes.
Remember, however, that this technique is not reversible. It's best to take
a stroke or two, check to see how things are coming, and continue a couple
of strokes at a time. If you don't pay attention to the progress you are
making, you can easily damage your pipe. If you are careful, however, there
is very little risk to your pipe.
>I'm
>looking forward to experiencing a clay with a more open draw and hope the
>new pipes will be good smokers. It's sort of a touch-and-go thing, as I
>specified bowl and airhole sizes that would work well in briar but I really
>have no idea if the same relationships will hold true in clay smoking
>dynamics.
They won't work exactly the same way they do in wooden pipes, but they
should work well enough. I've personally found that clays with a very
slightly tighter draw than briar smoke very nicely indeed.
The other problem I can foresee is that (depending on the technique they use
making your pipes) it is very difficult to produce a finished ceramic piece
with very precise dimensions. Certainly, the kind of precision that is
bandied about in discussions of aperature size etc is essentially impossible
for custom manufacturers.(there are modern factory scale slip cast
techniques that might produce the desired size, but I don't think they would
produce a smokable pipe). *If* the potters who are producing your pipes for
you have the knowhow to measure the clay's relative humidity very precisely
and adjust it perfectly prior to casting, they can accurately calculate the
degree of shrinkage and thus predict the exact size the object will have to
be while it is green if it is to be exactly as you specified once it has
been fired. It should be in the right neighbourhood, but as we know very
small differences in a briar pipe can change its smoking qualities
dramatically.
>The clay I'm most looking forward to is an unusual calabash I
>sketched out - it takes advantage of clay's flexibility by having an
airhole
>that curves through the calabash body and up into the bottom center of the
>bowl. Also, it will have a regular vulcanite or acrylic stem for comfort.
>I can't wait to smoke the thing and see what it's like!
This really does sound like an interesting pipe. I look forward to hearing
how it smokes, and if possible I'd like to see a pic of it (post on your web
site will ya!)
On a historical note, there was a fair bit of experimentation in composite
pipes (clay bowls combined with stems of various materials) in the late 19th
century, especially in Ireland and South Africa. They never really caught
on for a wider audience, however, and to the best of my knowledge such pipes
are rare if not unique these days. I think the lack of popularity had a lot
to do with the associations these pipes had: composite clays were clearly
intended to give smokers of limited means access to pipes of the sort
normally limited to briar, calabash and meerchaum (and thus quite
expensive). The result of course was probably that some people felt clay
pipes to be somehow "low class" so as the average purchasing power went up,
and better mass production techniques made briar more accessible, clay went
out of style before composite pipes could really take hold.
Out of curiosity, who did you order your clays from? I'd like to check out
their web site if nothing else, and possibly order a pipe or two myself!
>
>--
>Happy smoking,
>Trever
>http://www.talbertpipes.pair.com
>
>
>
crwydryn
Joshua wrote in message <3AD33C46...@Rosenblatt.com>...
>that sounds neat Trever, please post a pic once it arrives.
>
>I have had the same problem with a few clays... very tight draw, but I
>suspect those were of the slip-cast variety. also, once the little red
>plastic 'bit' coems off, I noticed how irritating the clay is on my
>teeth. Definitely not 'clenchers' LOL
>
>Joshua
>>
>--
>to see my pets' pics click:
>http://community.webshots.com/user/pokrsmokr
I personally don't find the clay a problem on my teeth at all, but of course
everyone's different. Some people can't clench down on lucite or even
vulcanite without it being uncomfortable. The bit probably isn't plastic,
though, it's generally sealing wax. If you can find sealing wax at a good
stationers or an art supply shop you can recoat the bit when it wears off.
See my reply in another part of this thread, or email me for details. For
those who find clays hard on the teeth even with the wax bit, I recommend
increasing the thickness of the bit by adding a layer or two of your own.
Incidentally, though most manufacturers seem to use sealing wax, I think
that beeswax would work fairly well too, though being softer it would wear
away more quickly.
As for the tight draw problem, I described how to make your own wire file
and use it to widen the aperture (usually that is enough) or slightly widen
the bore of the stem in another post too. I've been writing another
(shorter - much shorter!) faq entitled "first aid for clays" which I will be
posting when I get a chance to finish it (hopefully today - I have an hour
or so in one block later that isn't already spoken for) that will deal with
this and other issues of clay pipe repair and maintenance. If you can't
wait to see the faq when I post, feel free to email me and I will explain
that way
Again, apologies to those who may have found downloading my clay pipe faq a
bit long. I probably should have broken it into blocks. Frankly, I didn't
realise how large it was until after I'd posted it and happened to be
checking my out box for another message I sent elsewhere...and noticed that
the bloody thing was 35K. Not to mention that my very own news server
accepted it for posting but refused to let me download it...
Anyway, my bad manners for sending such a thing with no warning. In the
future, I'll try to get web pages up and running first, and just post links,
methinks.
justinj...@gmail.com
My brother and I make ceramic pipes through our company called Owl House Pottery. Clay pipes are awesome. If you want to check them out, go to owlhousepottery.com. Happy smoking!
inf...@mindspring.com
wrote:
>
>My brother and I make ceramic pipes through our company called Owl House Pottery. Clay pipes are awesome. If you want to check them out, go to owlhousepottery.com. Happy smoking!
shakenbake
> On Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:03:22 -0800 (PST), justinjasiew...@gmail.com
>
>
>
> >My brother and I make ceramic pipes through our company called Owl House Pottery. Clay pipes are awesome. If you want to check them out, go to owlhousepottery.com. Happy smoking!
>
> And exactly what would one smoke in those pipes?
strong tobaccos. :)
random
like breath-smoking, they're for inhaling, getting hard hits of whatever
you're smoking; they're not the traditional clay tobacco pipe that has
been smoked for hundreds of years.
I expect that you might not have visited the site but just replied in
defense of traditional clay pipes rather than of bongs. You want to
have a few hard hits of those "old-fashioned strong tobaccos" more power
to you, but I expect those tobaccos smoked in the pipes on that web-page
would knock you right on your ass.
Never smoked a traditional clay myself, might like to try one sometime.
Any clay smokers out there?
And by the way (now that the topic is other than the smoke de-jour) what
the heck happened here since I left in... what, 2006 or so? Used to be
Tinsky was posting weekly new offerings ads, Pease was participating in
tobacco discussions, Art (mingkahuna, forgot his last name) was
particpating, etc. I see that Ed Duncan and Paul Z are hanging in by
their fingernails. Seem to recall having seem a recent post from Jim
Beard but might have been exercising my old-guy-memory. So what's up,
fellas?
Jim Beard
> On 11/16/2012 05:36 PM, shakenbake wrote:
>> On Nov 16, 5:12 pm, info...@mindspring.com wrote:
>>> On Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:03:22 -0800 (PST),
>>> justinjasiew...@gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> My brother and I make ceramic pipes through our company
>>>> called Owl House Pottery. Clay pipes are awesome. If you
>>>> want to check them out, go to owlhousepottery.com. Happy
>>>> smoking!
>>>
>>> And exactly what would one smoke in those pipes?
>>
>> Rope, like Brown Number 4, Black XX and a whole host of
>> old-fashioned
>> strong tobaccos. :)
>
> I think infodex's point was that those aren't designed for
> techniques like breath-smoking, they're for inhaling, getting
> hard hits of whatever you're smoking; they're not the traditional
> clay tobacco pipe that has been smoked for hundreds of years.
use up through perhaps 1975, regardless of what was smoked in
them, but those on the website were new to me.
It looks to me like the small cup is where the combustible
material goes, and the cup would be about the right size for an
opium pipe, but the opium pipe would have a small-diameter stem.
That huge "stem" (call it a "trunk"?) the cup sits on would
imply a huge surge of air to accompany the smoke.
My guess would be a crack cocaine pipe, a variety I have never
had occasion to even see.
> I expect that you might not have visited the site but just
> replied in defense of traditional clay pipes rather than of
> bongs. You want to have a few hard hits of those "old-fashioned
> strong tobaccos" more power to you, but I expect those tobaccos
> smoked in the pipes on that web-page would knock you right on
> your ass.
> Never smoked a traditional clay myself, might like to try one
> sometime. Any clay smokers out there?
have smoked a few Dutch pipes that sort of approximate in shape
an ordinary pipe.
The tavern clays have a bowl on the small size, and tend to smoke
hot (when I smoke them, at least). Cleaning required is minimal,
and straight-forward: Put the pipe in a fire, on in an oven on
high, and let it burn away the residues. If you have a kiln, you
can refire the things, but that is really overkill.
The larger Dutch clays likewise tend to smoke hot (for me --
maybe I should give them another try and see if another decade of
practice has improved my draw significantly), and they season
differently than briars. Taste will be different, but whether
that is an improvement or a detriment might depend on the taster.
The heavy ones are, well, heavy. I rarely hold the pipe in hand
while it is stuck in my face, and the weight/leverage on the
teeth is not good, IMHO.
> And by the way (now that the topic is other than the smoke
> de-jour) what the heck happened here since I left in... what,
> 2006 or so? Used to be Tinsky was posting weekly new offerings
> ads, Pease was participating in tobacco discussions, Art
> (mingkahuna, forgot his last name) was particpating, etc. I see
> that Ed Duncan and Paul Z are hanging in by their fingernails.
> Seem to recall having seem a recent post from Jim Beard but might
> have been exercising my old-guy-memory. So what's up, fellas?
post from Gregory in many months, or maybe a few years.
The nature of communications habits on the 'Net have changed
greatly, and USENET Newsgroups have been a backwater for some
years now. Rarely do we see a new contributor.
Add to that, most of the topics have been addressed time and time
again, and anyone who knows how to search in Google Advanced
Groups will find more than ample reading material.
Websites have multiplied. Where once there was the pipes web
page (www.pipes.org) that did a steady business, now there are a
number of sites with commercial backing: Pipes & Tobaccos
Magazine, Pipes Magazine, more than one purveyor of pipes and
tobaccos, the a.s.p. website (that I think is down at the moment,
see post Allen Lloyd? from Jim Murray 15 November), and I think
there has been something set up for pipe smokers on Facebook or
Twitter (who in their right mind wants to Twit? or be one?), etc.
a.s.p. serves mostly like the water cooler in an office, a place
for people to gather and chat. Ed Duncan and a few others keep
the place going, and on rare occasion there is an actual question
from an actual newbie. That does not happen often.
So, what's up with you?
Cheers!
jim b.
--
UNIX is not user unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.
Mark McKay
Random....am a proud owner of one of his picks....he does chime in from
time to time.....:)
random
in the front, puff on it to fill the barrel with smoke, then take your
hand off and suck it all in at once. It's been since the late '60s and
I don't remember whether it's properly called a carburetor or a bong or
just what, but it ain't designed for tobacco unless you're looking to
pass out.
> My guess would be a crack cocaine pipe, a variety I have never had
> occasion to even see.
themselves even if it kills them, go figure.
>> I expect that you might not have visited the site but just
>> replied in defense of traditional clay pipes rather than of
>> bongs. You want to have a few hard hits of those "old-fashioned
>> strong tobaccos" more power to you, but I expect those tobaccos
>> smoked in the pipes on that web-page would knock you right on
>> your ass.
>
> "tobaccos" ?
tobaccos". Just be sitting down at the time.
>> Never smoked a traditional clay myself, might like to try one
>> sometime. Any clay smokers out there?
>
> I have a few tavern clays, of Revolutionary War era design, and have
> smoked a few Dutch pipes that sort of approximate in shape an ordinary
> pipe.
>
> The tavern clays have a bowl on the small size, and tend to smoke hot
> (when I smoke them, at least). Cleaning required is minimal, and
> straight-forward: Put the pipe in a fire, on in an oven on high, and let
> it burn away the residues. If you have a kiln, you can refire the
> things, but that is really overkill.
>
> The larger Dutch clays likewise tend to smoke hot (for me -- maybe I
> should give them another try and see if another decade of practice has
> improved my draw significantly), and they season differently than
> briars. Taste will be different, but whether that is an improvement or
> a detriment might depend on the taster.
>
> The heavy ones are, well, heavy. I rarely hold the pipe in hand while
> it is stuck in my face, and the weight/leverage on the teeth is not
> good, IMHO.
seems like a tradeoff that doesn't have much upside unless you want to
wear welding gloves or have really strong teeth; one light enough to
clench would have to have pretty thin walls I'd guess.
>> And by the way (now that the topic is other than the smoke
>> de-jour) what the heck happened here since I left in... what,
>> 2006 or so? Used to be Tinsky was posting weekly new offerings
>> ads, Pease was participating in tobacco discussions, Art
>> (mingkahuna, forgot his last name) was particpating, etc. I see
>> that Ed Duncan and Paul Z are hanging in by their fingernails.
>> Seem to recall having seem a recent post from Jim Beard but might
>> have been exercising my old-guy-memory. So what's up, fellas?
>
> Mark still posts, but rarely. Likewise Art. I have not seen a post
> from Gregory in many months, or maybe a few years.
>
> The nature of communications habits on the 'Net have changed greatly,
> and USENET Newsgroups have been a backwater for some years now. Rarely
> do we see a new contributor.
convenience, that's just sad.
> Add to that, most of the topics have been addressed time and time again,
> and anyone who knows how to search in Google Advanced Groups will find
> more than ample reading material.
>
> Websites have multiplied. Where once there was the pipes web page
> (www.pipes.org) that did a steady business, now there are a number of
> sites with commercial backing: Pipes & Tobaccos Magazine, Pipes
> Magazine, more than one purveyor of pipes and tobaccos, the a.s.p.
> website (that I think is down at the moment, see post Allen Lloyd? from
> Jim Murray 15 November), and I think there has been something set up for
> pipe smokers on Facebook or Twitter (who in their right mind wants to
> Twit? or be one?), etc.
more commercial backing, it does surprise me that ASP seems to have
shrunk back as a place for artisans to advertise.
> a.s.p. serves mostly like the water cooler in an office, a place for
> people to gather and chat. Ed Duncan and a few others keep the place
> going, and on rare occasion there is an actual question from an actual
> newbie. That does not happen often.
>
> So, what's up with you?
I've been working on our water heater, since it was leaking icicles and
all. Hope to get done with that in a day or two maybe, some redesign
involved. The plumbing gods like to see me sweat when everything leaks. <g>
>
> Cheers!
>
> jim b.
>
random
names I never ever ran into before or after. If Ruppelt was his whole
name, it would probably be easy enough for me to remember, but his first
name being Art confuses my memory somehow.
I imagine that by now that Tinsky character is just too old and feeble
to get his walker close enough to the keyboard to type a whole message,
you know what I mean? <BSEG>
billf...@gmail.com
JtN ©2017
> Hi guys I found a clay pipe bowl in Edenderry Republic if Ireland. I was wondering if there I any way if dating it.The markings on it look like a circle with Peterson&Co merchants then the word Edenderry.any help would be greatly appreciated...Bill
BTW you are aware your asking a question on an at least 5 year old dead thread which was started over 15 years ago on an almost 99.7% dead newsgroup. If you really want an authoritative answer to your question by some of the most knowledgeable pipe people in the world of Clay Pipeology you should check out the chatroom at www.chatzy.com/thebriarpatch You wont find a more well spoken and knowledgeable source. Tell em Babaganoosh sent you and be prepared to be mesmerized by what you willlearn.
JtN ©2017