Bowl Coating
casualpiper
Newcomer
Does anyone have an idea of when pipe manufacturers started to make use of bowl coating? I picked up what seems to be an unsmoked Bewlay Thirty pipe, but the bowl had some mold in it and the bowl appeared black. Upon cleaning, the pipe cleaners came out purple. Part of this is just curiosity, the other part is trying to estimate the age of the pipe. Thanks!
Comments
https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bewlay
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/how-long-has-bowl-coating-been-around
Still not sure on the age of the pipe itself, but that's ok
Thanks, everyone, for chiming in!
That is a nice lovat. I’m not sure about the unsmoked part, but very well taken care of. The lovat and liverpool are probably my favorite shapes (at the moment, and for awhile now🙂).
I recently acquired a new Peterson with a heavy black bowl coating....👎🏻 I dislike bowl coatings anyway, but this stuff is thick and glue like. The very first bowl I packed the pipe full, but I had to cut my smoke short. I dumped the ash and capped the bowl with a piece of high density foam (works great in a pinch to keep ash and tobacco in the pipe in a pocket). Well, I did not get a chance to smoke it later, so I dumped the 3/4 bowl of tobacco.....eewww....a layer of un-burnt tobacco was “glued” to the sides. This did not seem very conducive to starting a nice cake, so I vigorously removed the remnants with my pipe tool scraper...this stuff was a bear to get out. I have since smoked this pipe a few more times, and it leaves tons of moisture in the heel of the pipe. Tonight I decided to remove the coating as I usually do with new pipes that are coated before I even smoke them. Much to my chagrin, it seems Peterson had covered a very “well stained” inner bowl with this sticky concoction. With some determination I cleaned the inner bowl back to mostly clean briar with strong bourbon and a bit of sandpaper. I am pretty sure the next smoke will be much better.
This pipe is also one that I chamfered the tenon because the shank to tenon gap was so large (about 1/8”). This pipe started out gurgling, the chamfer cured that problem, but it still had the problem of the very wet heel in the bowl after a smoke. I will see how it goes.
All of my best smoking, brand spanking new pipes have had nice clean pristine briar and no hint of coatings or stain. A couple I can point out are my Radice Silk Cut Dublin, a Luciano Squat Bulldog and the pipes I cut myself. Also, most of the old well used estate pipes I have refurbished do not have the issues with leaving a swimming pool in the heel of the pipe.
The previous iteration of Peterson bowl coatings were a nice thin hard coating that was easy to remove with a few swipes of high proof liquor, this new one sucks, just my two cents.
Any others have opinions about various bowl coatings good or bad?
Sugar is sugar: sticky and carbonizes great!!!!.
I still use honey for an initial bowl coating.
I reckon Caro Syrup (aka corn syrup) would work as well, but I just don't keep any in the house.
Coatings?... I can take 'em or leave 'em...
Besides, I always wipe the bowl out with a paper towel after each use as part of my cleaning regime...
Speaking only for myself, I apply a very thin coating of honey to a new bowl, or to a bowl after a radically reaming (down to the briarwood).
PS: Ya don't use a bowl coating with a meerschaum, but I like to do it to a cob, even though it's hardly necessary.
Pretty sure you would not want to "re-apply" honey or anything else after you smoke it once and get the cake going.
By the way, I have tried the honey/jam method....personally I will stick with Nekid briar if given or "able to create" the option
Bowl Coatings – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Parts 1 and 2
I wish I could remember what episode it was, sorry...
My pleasure is to serve!