FAQ - Clay Pipes

[Allen Lloyd]

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Frequently Asked Questions
Clay Pipes
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This FAQ concerns clay pipes. This is a dynamic document subject to
change. If you have an addition, revision, or deletion that you think
needs to be taken, post your thoughts on this thread. The FAQ's will
be posted weekly. The source of this FAQ is from an archived version
dated about February 2005.

Visit the ASP website at http://www.aspipes.com/ for a version that is
easier to read and print.



The following is the complete text of Kevyn Winkless' classic post on
clay pipes.

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 flavor 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, flavors from
the curing oil in meerschaum) in your smoke will result in a brighter,
clearer flavor, making clay pipes an excellent way to sample new
tobaccos or simply to rediscover an old favorite. 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 flavors of Latakia and Perique fuller
in a clay pipe, probably due to less absorbscion 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 flavors. 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 labor 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 conscientious 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 pipe cleaner 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 pipe cleaner 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 discolor. 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
smoldering 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! (grin)

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 smolders 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 center 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 pipe cleaner through. If a pipe
cleaner 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 un-waxed, 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
indefinitely, 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 flavor 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, re-firing 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.

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.

[Bert Olton]

On 01/21/2012 08:02 AM, Allen Lloyd wrote:
> ***************************

[huge clippage]

> Frequently Asked Questions
> Clay Pipes
> **

> 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!

Hey Allen,

It's great to read these FAQs you're resurrecting. I'm one of the clay
pipe lovers in the crowd and got a kick out of reading Winkless's write
up again.

I'd just add to the "Fire Cleaning" section of the FAQ the possibility
of using a Microwave oven to clean clay pipes. Technically of course
this isn't 'fire' cleaning, but it is the use of energetic subatomic
particles in cleaning versus chemicals or solvents...

Some years ago I experimented with Microwave cleaning of a couple of my
clays - they were inexpensive slip casts. The first several times I did
it went amazingly well. The pipes came out completely refreshed.

But, I got cocky and increased the power level of the microwave.
Luckily, I walked away from the unit that time, so the explosion wasn't
as loud from two rooms away as it would have been in the kitchen. No
damage to the microwave oven, but the pipe was destroyed. The water
content in it of course boiled too quickly and the thing blew to
smithereens.

SWMBO hasn't allowed me to experiment further.

Best regards,
Bert
--
To those who have served or are serving the cause of freedom, whether in
peace or in war, at home or abroad, thank you. Si vis pacem, para
bellum. "Let's roll!", Todd Beamer, United Airlines Flight 93,
September 11, 2001. http://www.canaltownanvil.org

[David Griffith]

Bert Olton <arto...@rochester.rr.com> wrote:
> On 01/21/2012 08:02 AM, Allen Lloyd wrote:
>> ***************************

> Some years ago I experimented with Microwave cleaning of a couple of my
> clays - they were inexpensive slip casts. The first several times I did
> it went amazingly well. The pipes came out completely refreshed.

> But, I got cocky and increased the power level of the microwave.
> Luckily, I walked away from the unit that time, so the explosion wasn't
> as loud from two rooms away as it would have been in the kitchen. No
> damage to the microwave oven, but the pipe was destroyed. The water
> content in it of course boiled too quickly and the thing blew to
> smithereens.

> SWMBO hasn't allowed me to experiment further.

Cleaning a clay pipe in a microwave just doesn't sound like a good idea,
at least partially because of giving the oven unique smells.


--
David Griffith
davidmy...@acm.org <--- Put my last name where it belongs

[Bert Olton]

On 01/21/2012 08:12 PM, David Griffith wrote:
>
> Cleaning a clay pipe in a microwave just doesn't sound like a good idea,
> at least partially because of giving the oven unique smells.
>

Hello David,

Believe it or not, odors from the pipes were never an issue. On the
several successful attempts I made, evidently the process itself and the
exhaust fan adequately eliminated that problem. I wasn't using a
counter top microwave, but a full tilt boogie over-the-stove
installation with exhaust fan, ducting, filters and etc. So yeah,
you're probably right about that part of it. And, you're probably right
about the implied rest of the idea...not a good one! <grin>