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In the early days of my pipe crafting journey I screwed up several pipes, either by drilling too high or low or by being off center by a few thousands. I'm proud that I seldom screw one up nowadays.

I read somewhere, can't remember where at the moment, that a pipe will smoke badly if the two drill junctions are misaligned. I have kept and smoked all of the bad drills I have ever made. I can see absolutely no difference in the way a pipe smokes with a bad side to side drill. They smoke exactly like a perfectly centered one. One drilled too low smokes fine other than the difficulty of cleaning it. The only misalignment which doesn't smoke the same is one in which the draft hole enters the chamber too high.

Would like your thoughts on how pipes smoke with a misaligned draft hole.? Do you think there is a difference in how a pipe smokes which is drilled misaligned? Or is this another pipesmoker's myth?

bob gilbert

The first pipe that I made was drilled with the smoke hole slightly higher than the bottom of the tobacco chamber. It wasn't much but it was there. I had problems keeping the pipe lit at first which could have been my inexperience in smoking a pipe as much as the geometry. After I had a good cake built up I haven't had any problems. Again, this could be due to my increase in pipe smoking experience rather than the change in the geometry.

Hi Bob,

If a smoke hole is off center in the chamber, the pipe should smoke just fine. Same with too low, although you might get a little moisture buildup in the sump created there. Too low is pretty easy to correct. Just drill the bowl a little more.

Too high, and the main problem is getting it to smoke to the bottom, which I hardly ever do anyway. And again there might/will be moisture collecting in the bottom beneath where the smoke hole enters, since no air is being drawn through the bottom part of the load. They'll usually be wet smokers.

The main thing about pipes with misaligned drilling is that they are hard to sell. If you're making them for yourself, then I wouldn't worry too much about it. Most will smoke just fine.

Rad

Rad

Where should the hole be in relation to the bottom of the pipe. I have read a couple millimeters is where it's supposed to be, is this correct ?

I put it on the bottom.

Rad

buster wrote:Where should the hole be in relation to the bottom of the pipe. I have read a couple millimeters is where it's supposed to be, is this correct ?

That is if you are going to carbonize the bowl interiors. Otherwise, right on the bottom is fine.

Todd

I have a couple bad drillings that smoke wonderfully. One has the airhole to the left of center. The other had a 1/8" pilot drilling for the chamber that went too deep, so there's a hole (almost 1/4" deep) at the bottom center of the bowl. This one collects whatever moisture is in the bowl in the "sump".

I agree that it's a matter of perception for the buyer. If I were to buy a pipe (now I make'em instead), I'd check for all the little details that prove deliberate and careful craftsmanship. A badly drilled pipe for sale, even if it smokes well, is a sign of sloppiness or suspect ability.

I thought it was a good thing to be slighty above the bottom of the chamber, to keep moisture below the draft hole. Is there any truth to that? One thing that concerns me is elongation of the draft hole on bents. Should the hole be perfectly round? What do you do when the draught hole approaches the tabacco chamber on an angle that is tangent to the chambers bottom curve? thanks, Scot

I've heard reasoning that the draft hole slightly above the bowl bottom allows for cake build up, so a pipe cleaner inserted won't tear out the cake or forming cake. If there is moisture in the bottom of my bowl, I'd like to get at it with a pipe cleaner (though I often just whip it out the stem) but this becomes more problematic if the chamber bottom is lower than the airhole.

I don't believe there is a problem with the oval shape of an airhole/bowl junction in a bent pipe. I've heard of some high end carvers that won't drill the stummel airway all the way through to the bowl. Then they open the airway from inside the chamber using a small ball mill and/or riffler files, etc., which keeps the airway entrance into the bowl a perfect little circle. That seems like excessive fiddling to me.

On sharp bents, I often have to switch between airhole bit (in a hand-held jacobs chuck) and chamber bit, taking just a bit more material here and there to find a good meeting point. Don't take the airhole bit all the way into the chamber. I finish it off by "breaking" the little bottom lip betwixt the airhole and chamber and smoothing out with riffler files. This keeps the airhole entrance a reasonable size.