carbonising or colouring inside bowl

abbeypipes · Post by **abbeypipes** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:41 am

hallo all
on pipes I colour I use a non toxic water based paint on the inside of the bowl,this tip was given to me by a pipe maker of 35 years experience it seems to be ok so far,no complaints yet!I have seen on certain pipes the bowls are carbonised ,does anyone have knowledge of how this process is carried out.In my younger days I used to heat up a poker and burn the inside of the bowl,some people shriek at this as if the pipe walls are too thin it can crack the pipe,however in 30 years of pipe smoking I never cracked one ,was I lucky ,what does anyone think? regards

Post by **Tyler** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:21 pm

abbeypipe,

Another good question.

The main ingredient in all the bowl coating recipes I know of is activated charcoal. This is available from health food stores as a remedy for food poisoning. I bought it in capsule form, and I just break open the capsules and pour out the charcoal.

I mix this with sour cream and buttermilk (of all things!), until I get a stiff, black paste. This I wipe into the bowl with a pipe cleaner. It dries into a very hard pre-carb coating that is very neutral in flavor.

I know of another recipe that involves activated charcoal and water glass (Sodium Silicate is the actual chemical term for waterglass, if I am not mistaken). I don't know the full recipe for that coating though.

The purpose of both of these recipes is to provide a protective insulative barrier between the ember and the wood so that the break in period is less dangerous in regard to possible burn out.

I hope that helps.

Tyler

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:56 pm

Sour cream and buttermilk? Really? Heck I can make that! Hehehee. Honestly, I would like to coat some of the uncaoted bowls I have. I seem to puff hard, and have had much better luck with coated bowls.

How long does the stuff keep anyway? Probably not too long I suppose.

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:00 pm

I use the same coating that Tyler describes and have had nothing but compliments on it. An advantage of it over the waterglass recipe is that the milk paint will stick to anything. If you get a little speck of wax in the bowl from buffing the milk based paint will still stick.

From what I have been told by other carvers, waterglass tends to peal off in areas that have any waxy residue on them.

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:41 pm

Tyler and Kurt,
What are the proportions you use in the mixture?

Jeff

Post by **Tyler** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 9:32 pm

I dunno the precise proportions. I just mix it until it looks right.

If I was guessing I do something like 5 capsules with about 1/2 Tblsp of sour cream and about the same amount of buttermilk.

The stuff is only good for about 12 hours because it dries up and gets hard. That's why its good for a coating.

I have kept it in the fridge overnight and added some buttermilk the next day to coat another pipe and/or patch up a bare spot that I had missed, but the next day it is hard as a rock and useless.

Like John, I have had lots of positive comments on the coating (and no negatives). It is very neutral in flavor. It is also much more rugged than it may sound. It stays put in the bowl quite well, and despite what seems intuitvely reasonable, it never gets a sour-milk smell.

Tyler

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 9:57 pm

How do you even out the coat once you put it in??

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 8:15 am

Probably a little sanding?

Post by **Tyler** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 1:20 am

I usually don't need to do any evening out. When I do notice some thicker spots or wavy-ness in the coating, I'll just "ream" the bowl with my finger after the coating has been drying about an hour or so. It will have hardened enough by then that you don't coat your finger, but it is still wet enough to move around and even out.

Tyler

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 1:24 am

Tyler wrote:I usually don't need to do any evening out. When I do notice some thicker spots or wavy-ness in the coating, I'll just "ream" the bowl with my finger after the coating has been drying about an hour or so. It will have hardened enough by then that you don't coat your finger, but it is still wet enough to move around and even out.

Tyler

Plus you can lick the beaters and your index finger when you're done.

Sodium Silicate forever!!!!!

Todd--who hates both buttermilk and Jello <g>

Post by **Tyler** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 1:33 am

I usually don't lick the beaters...thats what my daughters are for.

Tyler (who hates buttermilk too, but usually doesn't eat his bowl coating)

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 1:39 am

Tyler wrote:Tyler (who hates buttermilk too, but usually doesn't eat his bowl coating)

Let me tell you buddy, you don't know what you're missin'. There's just nothing better than a cool shot of water glass and a pinch or two of activated charcoal with a pumice chaser. It is *not* to be missed.

Todd

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 7:16 pm

Folks... what's the best way to keep the air way clean when coating the inside of a bowl?!

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 11:43 pm

That's what I was thinking but then my thoughts were:

How long do I leave it there?
Am I going to drag that stuff through the airway and stem?
will the hole end up as a clean circle or what?

marks · Post by **marks** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 9:36 pm

If you are careful, you don't need a pipe cleaner.

The first pipe I coated, I used a pipe cleaner, got some of the mixture on the pipe cleaner and drug it through the draft hole. The last pipe bowl I coated, I was careful and got none in the draft hole (didn't use a cleaner). If you do get some in the draft hole, you can clean it out with a pipe cleaner or two and possibly the drill bit you used to drill the draft hole. There may be better ways from folks who are more experienced than I.

pipemaker · Post by **pipemaker** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 11:32 pm

Here is the method that I use to pre-carbon a bowl.

I mix 3 parts corn sugar(dextrose) with 2 parts fructose and 1 part sucrose( table sugar)
These are the proportions and types of sugar that exist in flue cured Virginia tobacco.
I add enough water and heat this mixture until it forms a syrup similar in consistancy to pancake syrup. This mixture is useable for quite a long time, and can be made up and stored for future use.

Once cooled, I rub this into the tobacco chamber in a thin even layer, using my finger. After a minute or so, I fill the chamber with finely powdered activated carbon, and swirl it around with a dauber, the ones that come with leather dye work very well.

The excess carbon can be shaken out of the bowl, and after drying for a few hours, blowing through the draft hole removes the last traces of loose carbon.

Although a bit more complicated than other methods. this results in a thin even coating of carbon with a binding agent that also carbonizes in much the same way as the natural sugar in tobacco does.

For whatever reason, the thinner the application the better this method works. It noticably eases the break-in process, protects the briar, and provides an excellent foundation to build subsequent cake upon.

Mike

Oldred · Post by **Oldred** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 11:59 pm

I'll have to try this. Currently I use a method Brian Ruthenburg put me on to. Food grade charcoal, finely ground, purchased at health food stores. The binding medium is a mixture of buttermilk and sour cream. Mix all together into a paint-like consistency and paint the inside of the bowl. Dries within an hour but should set up for 24 hrs before loading tobacco. Supposedly a recipe used by the Danes.