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Well, I got some cool work done on my pipes over the weekend. One put through its final sanding, though not finished completely, and two others drilled and roughed out. Too much fun. I'll post a few pics if I can get a camera - my wife took ours to the beach with her. The nerve! I over drilled the bowl on one. I was so pissed. I'd done so well on the previous two. Nailed it right at the bottom. I drill the mortise and draught hole first and then the tobacco chamber. What I do is stick a pipe cleaner through the draught hole. While I'm drilling, I hold the end of the cleaner. As the bit gets closer, you definatly feel it vibrate. And when it hits you know it. Well the last pipe, the one I got through final sanding, was significantly more bent than any previous pipe I'd done. Consequently the draught hole hits the chamber at a much steeper angle. Well because of this, the bit hit the cleaner at a different point than what I was used too. And what felt "just right" was way deeper than it ought to be. BLLAARRGH! Oh well. I bit of pipe mud and it'll be just fine. Still pissed though. As long as I was using the pipe mud, I went ahead and coated the interior of the bowl. I seem to have better luck with coated chambers.

Hope you all had a great forth!

Nick

Pipe mud?

Pipe mud is a mix of water and cigar ash. You could use pipe tobacco ash I would guess, but the "official" method is to use cigar ash. The mix is very specific - jus enough water to make a paste. Too much water ruins the mud, and it won't stick to the bowl as it dries.

My 4th weekend was spent going to carnivals and parties, watching parades, and making some pipes. I was somewhat hampered by the death of my dremel, but I've got plans to replace it ASAP.

Oh. I'd never heard of it. I assume that it is used to fill in spots in the tobacco chamber that are messed up. Is that the case? Then, once the paste dries it is covered with a carbon coating or something?

Jeff

Thats the idear.

Jeff,

It essentially IS a carbon coating.

Tyler

Tyler,
So in that case it would be a substitute for the carbon mixture discussed in other threads?

Jeff

Jeff,

Not having ever made the particular recipe being spoken of, namely cigar ash and water, I can only speculate, but I do not think it would be a good substitute bowl coating. My speculation being that this mixture would tend to be flaky and not stick well to the sides of the bowl. Its insulative properties are probably just as good as any other coating, but it ability to stick well is, I suspect, poor. It works well as a homemade remedy for bowls that are drilled too deeply because, 1. the supplies are readily available, and 2. the bottom of the bowl doesn't require a mixture that will stick well.

Tyler

I second what Tyler said. The water and cigar ash would have little or no binder left once dry and would be very brittle compared to a traditional bowl coating.

Regarding pipe mud, I have two pipes where I have used it to raise the bottom of the bowl. I did both pipes a few years ago, and neither have needed to be redone. This stuff dries hard if the consistency is correct going in. I have salt/alcoholed the pipes, and reamed the pipes with no ill effect to the pipe mud. If you wanted, you could easily remove it with a reamer or pipe tool though. I don't think pipe tobacco ash will work, as it is way too fluffy, and I am not convinced that it will hold together like cigar ash (I have never tried pipe tobacco ash, though, so if anyone does, I would love to hear your results).

As far as using pipe mud for a bowl coating, I would not recommend it. Pipe mud tastes just like an old cigar, and the flavor comes through for several bowls of tobacco. If you sell a pipe with this stuff in the bowl, you will probably get a complaint from the customer. Once a few bowls are smoked, though, the cigar taste disappears, and all is well.

Could some one fire me a link to the coating recipe? I must have missed that.

Thanks,

NJ

Mix activated charcoal powder with sodium silicate solution (also called water glass) until you have a thick but flowable solution. Apply it to the bowl and let it dry. Both are available at chemistry supply stores.

You can also get your local pharmacist to order this stuff for you. I got mine from CVS, and they had it in a couple of days.

I actually found water glass (Sodium Silicate) on the shelf at one of my local pharmacies. It is an old-fashioned pharmacy with a soda fountain. They also still compound some of their own prescriptions, and I think that is why they carry water glass.

I asked at the WalMart pharmacy about waterglass and they looked at me like I had two heads. Finally one of the pharmacists told me to go look in the automotive section. They sell it to seal radiator leaks. That is not the type you want, BTW.

Tyler