Greater Kansas City Pipe Club
Meeting November 20, 2014
 What
happens if you never sharpen a
knife?
 Clean
out your vacuum?
• After a while, performance is diminished
 The
same will happen to a pipe if not
properly maintained:
• Tobacco will not taste as good
• Pipe may smoke wet and/or sour etc
 Begins
with the very first smoke and how
you prep the bowl:
• Some moistening or protection advisable
• Slow and cool smoking required to avoid bowl
scorching
• Smoke the entire bowl from top to bottom
 Clean
the ‘ash hole’ completely with a pipe
cleaner. Same with pipe shank
 Avoid overworking the pipe & let it dry.
Clean rim and outside of bowl with soft
cloth
 Cake
retains flavor and protects the
inside of the bowl
 Optimal thickness between a dime and a
nickel
• If too much cake, bowl capacity reduced & may
crack the bowl
• If too little, may not retain flavor & may smoke
hot & wet
 Good
absorbent pipe cleaners
 Soft cleaning cloth
 Pipe cake/bowl reamer
• Caliper, knife, buttner scraper (rounded bottom
only)
 Alcohol
good quality drinking spirit (for
you). Everclear for the pipe (avoid
isopropyl/witch hazel). Breaks down tars
and resins from tobacco.
 Shank
Brush
 Warm coffee (cleans outside of bowl and
rim without damaging finish/stain
 Cigar ash – good silver polish
• Basis for pipe mud for hotspot repair or raising
bowl floor if draft hole is too high
 Kosher
salt or deactivated charcoal if
major/deep cleaning is required (seek
experienced person to help – may cause
damage)
 Buffing
wheel removes dirt but also
removes stem and bowl
material/nomenclature
 Sharp pointed ‘reamers’ may eventually
puncture the bottom of the pipe bowl
 Pipe cleaner use if too aggressive can
eventually wear a hole through the front
wall of the pipe bowl
 Dry pipe tobacco provides a sweeter
cooler smoke and less residual moisture
 The
more frequently you smoke a pipe
during the course of a day, it may not taste
quite as good with each additional smoke
• A good rule of thumb: ‘Smoke a pipe once a day then
let it rest for a day or two.’
 Tobacco
tastes better after a meal
 Lighter blends early in the day. Heavier
blends for later in the day or evenings.
 There are always exceptions and differing
opinions regarding the information noted
in this presentation!