New Pipe Smoker With A Question? Ask an Old Fart

[TheTraveler]

Not a pipe newbie but I do have a question to ask for those older and wiser inmates. I've picked up a handful of estate briars at antique shops, yard sales and flea markets over the last year. All but two of them had a wad of unsmoked tobacco left in them and all but three had a crazy-thick cake on them. My questions are:
. Have smokers' habits changed that much in the last twenty years?
. Did 'old-timers' make a habit of leaving unsmoked tobacco in the bowl?
. Am I making too big a deal over these neglected pipes when compared to the (assumed) larger number of well-maintained pipes still in smokers' rotations?
. Why, oh why, did 'old-timers' leave such thick cakes in their pipes?

[Mister Moo]

...I've picked up a handful of estate briars at antique shops, yard sales and flea markets over the last year. All but two of them had a wad of unsmoked tobacco left in them and all but three had a crazy-thick cake on them. My questions are:
. Have smokers' habits changed that much in the last twenty years?
. Did 'old-timers' make a habit of leaving unsmoked tobacco in the bowl?
. Am I making too big a deal over these neglected pipes when compared to the (assumed) larger number of well-maintained pipes still in smokers' rotations?
. Why, oh why, did 'old-timers' leave such thick cakes in their pipes?

I've wondered about those guys too. My take is they weren't thinking too hard. I have purchased a couple of trashed estate pipes of real quality that were, fortunately, recoverable. Mostly, though, the trashed ones I see were pipes without any particular merit then or now.

Take a not-too-whippy Grabow from Sparta, NC, fill it with goop-oid aromatic drugstore stuff 10-15 times a week and, voila - caked thick and nasty in a year. Two years and maybe 11 pipecleaners later you're halfway thru a smoke and think, "Feh! This pipe tastes like dog pooter. I will go back to General Hardware and buy a new one." Old stinky, half-smoked and never cleaned, goes to the back of the dresser drawer until 40-years later when the kids are cleaning things out. I got a great Brakner like this recently - most of the rest have been Grabows or no-names.

[TheTraveler]

Thanks, Dan. I was thinking along those lines too. Hey, their loss is certainly our gain!

[alley00p]

By way of introduction, I used to smoke pipes back in the '70s, but sort of got away from the habit when my favorite tobacco disappeared from the scene. My pipes all got packed in an old cigar box and disappeared somewhere in the house when we did some major remodeling in the late '80s.

I decided to try pipe smoking again recently, but since I can't find my old pipes right now, and I missed out on some of the recent sales in the WTS/WTB/WTT thread, I headed over to Ebay. I picked up a couple of estate pipes that look decent and will try them out when they arrive.

While searching, I came upon this device: "PIPE CLEANING RETORT - Item #270434301489". Has anyone ever used something like this to clean pipes, especially estate pipes that are especially dirty?

Thanks in advance! I'm sure that I'll be back with more questions for you esteemed "Old Farts", as soon as my "new" pipes arrive next week!

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by alley00p

...While searching, I came upon this device: "PIPE CLEANING RETORT - Item #270434301489". Has anyone ever used something like this to clean pipes, especially estate pipes that are especially dirty?

A retort will clean out a pipe faster (a whole lot faster) than a conventional bowl treatment with cotton ball (or coarse kosher salt) and Everclear.

If you're a pro and need to regularly clean pipes and/or can't wait 12-hours for a salt/booze treatment a retort does the trick. I think salt (or cotton ball) and alcohol does as well, just slower. If I had to sanitize pipes often I use a retort; for infrequent (civilian) needs, a soak is less bother.

[alley00p]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

A retort will clean out a pipe faster (a whole lot faster) than a conventional bowl treatment with cotton ball (or coarse kosher salt) and Everclear.

If you're a pro and need to regularly clean pipes and/or can't wait 12-hours for a salt/booze treatment a retort does the trick. I think salt (or cotton ball) and alcohol does as well, just slower. If I had to sanitize pipes often I use a retort; for infrequent (civilian) needs, a soak is less bother.

Thanks, Dan! I know I read the kosher salt and everclear method here somewhere; do you have the link available without having to go through 9 pages of posts (if it's in this thread...)?

I'm hoping that my "new" pipes will be here next week, and I'll be able to join the ranks of CA pipesters!

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by alley00p

Thanks, Dan! I know I read the kosher salt and everclear method here somewhere; do you have the link available without having to go through 9 pages of posts (if it's in this thread...)?

I'm hoping that my "new" pipes will be here next week, and I'll be able to join the ranks of CA pipesters!

What C'Cut said about a retort - use carefully and consider it has a learning curve.

This site gives a good look at a professional approach with some helpful photos.

I was a gifted retort (home made from test tubes and surgical tubing) but my sorriest used pipe purchases - I mean ultra-grungies - have so far ended up clean and sweet with kosher (non-iodized) salt and 190-proof Everclear treatments. I suspect stories about cracked bowls and salt involved treatments using higher water content fluids (like 80-proof booze or maybe 70* rubbing alcohol) and extended soaking but I dunno, really. All I know is my method has been good for years and dozens of pipes. The booze and cotton ball guys never report a problem so who knows. I think that Everclear-190 and a wicking pipe cleaner pulls crud out of the pipe and then evaporates so fast that the briar won't saturate with residual water and, thus, has no opportunity to swell and crack.

My pipes get stinky enough for a cleaning with alcohol about once or twice a year. The nose tells all. After reaming, if needed, I use a method like this:

1. stick a loose-fit fluffy thru the stem and down into the bowl;
2. nearly top the bowl with kosher coarse salt (or cotton) - don't top it off or you might not see rising alcohol until it's too late and overflows;
3. secure the pipe at an angle, stem end slightly higher than the rim of the bowl, such that it won't move or tip;
4. carefully eye-dropper Everclear into the bowl quitting before an overflow;
5. come back in an hour and see brown grunge wicking up the fluffy from the stem; carefully remove the fluffy and replace with a clean one; refill the bowl with Everclear as needed.
6. Repeat until pipe cleaners are coming out clean(ish).
7. Assuming the salt (cotton) goes pretty brown allow the bowl to dry out (a few hours or overnight) dump the salt (cotton) and repeat the process. Take care the bowl is dry when removing the salt (cotton) so no alky dribbles on the pipe finish.
8. Finish the stem and shank with alky-dipped bristle cleaners.

Voila.

For my once a year deal, this usually takes one load of salt, several pipe cleaners and a couple of booze toppings while reading, surfing or watching TV over a couple of hours. For a screwed estate pipe that was globbed with aromatic I-don't-know-what it might take several replacements of salt (cotton) in the bowl and 20-30 pipe cleaners. For the totally screwed pipe (or for a pro who doesn't have hours to monitor and sanitize a pipe) I can see why a retort is a time-saving tool. I'm not sure one is worth the effort for just-folks like me who thoroughly cleans a pipe or two mon,th while slouching around the den.

Spit and a paper towel (or soft toothbrush) cleans rims.

A few hours of bleach soaking cleans the most oxydized vulcanite (assuming there are not logos on the stem that bleach will ruin);
some swear by Magic Eraser to clean vulcanite - it never works for me;
wet sanding with Micro Mesh polishing paper is the bees knees (grit 3500 to 12000) to clean vulcanite for me;
rubbing gritty toothpaste (Arm & Hammer) with an electric toothbrush (not the one you stick in your mouth that evening ) or damp wet paper towels cleans less nasty stems and polishes very well;
a final wipe with olive oil and things look spectacular.

I am not a carnuba waxer but, if you have a low speed flannel wheel, it'll lay on a shiney hard finish. Beware standard buffers - they can melt stems and remove pipe nomenclature in a blink.

[Curly Cut]

Originally Posted by alley00p

While searching, I came upon this device: "PIPE CLEANING RETORT - Item #270434301489". Has anyone ever used something like this to clean pipes, especially estate pipes that are especially dirty?

i own a retort and have used it a few times (need to use it again soon).

you end up boiling the alcohol in the end of the retort, the vapors go upward into the pipe, then turn back to liquid (which is plenty hot/steamy), and it does a better job of penetrating the pores of the wood and whatever type of gunk is built up inside the stem areas. it helps remove the 'ghost' a whole lot faster/better than a standard "salt/alcohol" treatment, or the old fart way of "smoking out the ghost" does.

be careful if you do it. you can melt the end of the stem (button) and the insided of the bit. let it cool before you go reaming the stem/bit with a bristle cleaner (or any cleaner), or you could end up with stem goop blocking your airway, and then the pipe isn't smokeable unless you send it to someone who can open up the airway of the bit again.

i need to use it more often, not that my pipes need it, rather to get better at it. there have been some moments while using it. all the vapor comes out the top of the bowl, through the cotton ball, reforms into liquid on the outside and ruins the finish; i melted the button on my Big Ben; almost messed up the inside of my Karl Eriks airway by running a cleaner through it too early.

i'd suggest getting one if you smoke often; change blends in pipes often; or are looking to refurbish a lot of older estate pipes.