repairing a crack in a burl pipe

joeyw1

i have several Capt Black  burl pipes that have cracks  in the bowel .  I have to hold my fingers over the crack to draw smoke   my question is do they make a product that can seal the crack up,  I have used these for 30 some odd years and own around 20 different pipes and i notice fine cracks in most of them but some have become severe  openings.  i really enjoy the smoke i get from them but capt back does not sell these anymore.   joey wilson 71 year old pipe smoker since 30 years of age.  

Woodsman

I've seen some people use bailing wire or a piece of wire hanger wrapped once around the bowl and twisted tight to close up the bowl, then cut the wire down to 2 twists. The ones with small cracks can be saved by scraping the carbon buildup from inside the bowl down to the thickness of no more than a Nickle. The reason your bowls have cracked is most likely because of too much carbon built up, The carbon expands more than the wood  which causes the wood to crack.

joeyw1

thank you for the advice   i do clean scrap the inside prior to  filling up .  i will try the wire and perhaps a clamp or vise to draw it tight. I know they use fillers  for imperfections on pipes.  i was hoping for some type of filler .  i also thought it was caused by smoking it hot which i try to switch every day from pipe to pipe.  i will try on one as i have 4 that need the help  grin  thanks again joey

piperdave

@joeyw1 I am like you I would think there could be some type of filler or super glue that could be used in the crack and then clamp the pipe together and let it sit to cure for a while. I am not sure if you have any pipe repair shops around you or tobacconist that could give you an idea if possible or not depending on the crack size. Might even be able to email a pipe maker directly and see what they say if none on the forums reply. Best of luck I hate to see a good smoking pipe disposed of.

Woodsman

There is a High Temperature Epoxy called Hysol 9658 for wood up to 350 Degrees. Resorcinal seems to be good too as they say it will move with the wood at 300 degrees.

Woodsman

A good clamp for a pipe is a screw type hose clamp of the right size, pad the inside with a thick rubber band with plastic film between the glue and the padding to prevent the entire thing being glued to the pipe.

motie2

@KA9FFJ

‘Twould be nice of you to repost your crack filler formula here, for future generations…..