I purchased a nice looking Oom Paul on ebay. It draws well, so it is not clogged. But, I cannot get a cleaner to make the bend. I have bent the tip, and have also tried wire brushes with bent tip.
@jsmassoc Maybe use a heatgun….slowly and carefully…straighten the stem, then use a small flexible file like what is available at Vermont Freehand, or carefully drill (I would suggest by hand with a pin-vise) the airway from the tenon side with a suitable tapered drill bit or a normal drill to slightly open the stem’s airway. You could use a small bit and/or the flexible file from the button side some as well. Once it passes a pipe cleaner to your satisfaction, insert a pipe cleaner fully in the stem’s airway heat up the stem with the airgun and re-bend the stem to your liking and hold it in the shape you want while it cools.
I will assume you are talking about the airway at the bottom of the bowl and not the stem. Oom Paul’s are basically fully bent pipes. When I smoke the one I have, I do a water rinse to flush out any particles and then put a bend in a pipe cleaner and insert it into the airway from the bowl side.
@PappyJoe I did not think about that side. None of my Oom Paul’s have a problem passing a pipe cleaner through the shank to the bowl with the stem removed. I don’t expect any bent pipe to fully pass a pipe cleaner with the stem in place either. I have many that will, I just don’t expect it. I guess it would help if we knew where @jsmassoc was having the troubles?
I have a nice pipe, similar to what y'all are talking about. Nice to look at, but a pain to smoke. This is the first pipe I want to sell at the next pipe show.
I have a Savinelli 620 that has a hard bend in it, I put a mild bend about 40 degrees on the cleaner about 1.5" long so it fits in the mortice and just enters the entrance to the bowl, the mortice is 1 CM and just allows it to enter at the correct angle.
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Maybe use a heatgun….slowly and carefully…straighten the stem, then use a small flexible file like what is available at Vermont Freehand, or carefully drill (I would suggest by hand with a pin-vise) the airway from the tenon side with a suitable tapered drill bit or a normal drill to slightly open the stem’s airway. You could use a small bit and/or the flexible file from the button side some as well. Once it passes a pipe cleaner to your satisfaction, insert a pipe cleaner fully in the stem’s airway heat up the stem with the airgun and re-bend the stem to your liking and hold it in the shape you want while it cools.
I did not think about that side. None of my Oom Paul’s have a problem passing a pipe cleaner through the shank to the bowl with the stem removed. I don’t expect any bent pipe to fully pass a pipe cleaner with the stem in place either. I have many that will, I just don’t expect it.
I guess it would help if we knew where @jsmassoc was having the troubles?
enters the entrance to the bowl, the mortice is 1 CM and just allows it to enter at the correct angle.