@motie2 OK let me know because if not I am going to make one. I saw one that said extreme cleaning and it was a basic pipe cleaning, I was kind of upset he used that title for a basic cleaning, very misleading!
For the purpose of this article, I will assume that you, the reader, already have a basic understanding of what carbon cake is and how it effects your pipe and it's smoking qualities.
I have heard many theories on what builds cake including, but not limited to, rubbing honey along the inside of the bowl, sanding the chamber to roughen up the surface, smoking only a third of a bowl for a few smokes then graduating to two-thirds, etc. While it is true that some pipes seem to cake faster than others, the same basic principles apply.
What will build cake is the burning of tobacco directly against the wood inside the pipe. This sounds simple enough but how exactly does one do this in a way that can produce more efficient results? What I, and other smokers I have spoke with, have found is to make the "Orange Ring". While this may sound like a pastry, it is actually the method of keeping the outer ring of the tobacco burning right up against the bowl walls throughout the duration of the smoke. To do this, one must tamp and relight often keeping the flame around the outer edges of the tobacco. One should lightly push some of the unburned tobacco towards the outside of the plug to maximize the outer ring's combustibility. Tamp in a circular motion when doing this and tamp light enough so that only the weight of the tamper itself is the only pressure applied.
You will know that you are doing this correctly if you see a bright orange ring in your pipe after a relight. Do not worry about having a glowing ember in the center. The purpose of this techniques is to build a strong even cake along the walls of the pipe. After puffing for a few minutes, let the pipe go out on it's own and slightly cool. Tamp lightly in a circular motion around the tobacco to flatten the ash and gently push some unburned tobacco to the outer ring of the plug. Light your pipe with the flame walking around the outer edges and then check for the Orange Ring. Try to get a complete circle of orange to avoid uneven cake buildup and the dreaded "hot spots".
With the proper care and skill, you should soon start to see a nice carbon caking all along the bowl of your pipe. Be sure to smoke the tobacco all the way to the bottom of the bowl using this technique.
When one is about halfway through a bowl of tobacco there is usually a good bed of ashes on top of the burning embers. One popular method of building cake is to spread some of the excess ash over the inside of the tobacco chamber. This is known as "Ashing".
The way this is done is to place one hand over the bowl of the pipe then gently shake the pipe and allow the fine ash to coat the exposed wood of the tobacco chamber. After doing this you can dump the remaining excess ash then gently tamp and continue smoking the second half of the bowl. Once the bowl is finished, repeat the ashing process one more time then dump the remaining ash. What this does is leave a good coating of tobacco ash along the interior of the bowl. This promotes the building of a good even carbon cake. Some folks will wipe out the shank with a pipe cleaner then smoke the pipe again (once cooled down) with the ash still coating the bowl walls. Doing this helps to "fuse" the ash and tobacco to the wood and therefore provides an excellent base for a good healthy cake.
Once you have built up a respectable cake, proper maintenance is necessasry to avoid the problems that can come from having too much cake. If a pipe has too much cake it can make the bowl heat up to the point where the bowl can crack open and end up as firewood. To avoid this you need to periodically ream the cake. This can be done with sandpaper or a pipe reamer.
The proper thickness for cake is equal to the thickness of a dime. When you cut the cake you should slowly and gently ream the bowl and remove the cake evenly and without creating a crack in the cake. Doing so will cause the cake to split and fall off in a large chunk leaving some exposed wood and an uneven cake. Dump the excess carbon powder from the bowl then whisk out the bowl with a bent pipe cleaner. Check the cake for proper thickness and uniform surface. Continue reaming as necessary.
With proper care and maintenance, you should have a pipe that smokes well and will last for many years.
<<Breaking in your new pipe is a crucial step in making a sweet tasting, long lasting pipe. It takes time, patience and skill. But it is an investment whose rewards will be reaped many fold.
The goal when breaking in a pipe is to develop a uniform cake around the wall of the entire smoking chamber or smoke hole. The cake is actually a carbon deposit left by the smoked tobacco rather than charred wood. The cake serves to insulate the briar and reduces the possibility of burning out your new pipe.
The cake also sweetens the pipe, since the carbon is formed from the sugars in the tobacco. The sweet cake absorbs the flavour of the briar and the result of smoking a pipe with a well formed cake is a mellow, sweet smoke. However, you can have too much cake which is discussed later.
The second and most important step is to fill the pipe only one-quarter full. Light the partial pipeful evenly. Tamp down the burning tobacco and again light the tobacco evenly.
Smoke the pipe slowly and completely. Taking long, slow draws will help to form a good, even cake. It is important to smoke the pipe to the bottom to establish the cake all the way to the bottom. The cake at the bottom of the bowl is the most difficult to develop and this is why such care must be taken in the breaking in process.
After smoking a few pipefuls at one-quarter, move up to smoking at one-half full, then several at three-quarters. Allow the pipe to cool after each smoker and after a few pipefuls remove the residue from the bottom of the bowl. This must be done very carefully so as not to disturb the cake which you have obtained with your efforts. The purpose of gradually increasing the tobacco level is twofold – first, it will help form an even cake from the bottom to the top of the bowl and second, it ensures that the new pipe will not become overheated and burn out before it has a thick enough cake.>>
I've got a small ozone generator that I use once in a while on strong smelling pipes after cleaning thoroughly. I put it in a 12"X12" box with the pipe and leave it out on the porch for an hour(Suggested runtime.). It does reduce the strength of the smell. The only thing I can liken the result to is if you've let your pipe sit for 3 months or so, the scent is more pleasant, like a Ghosted Pipe.
If it wasn't for killing the finish I would soak a couple of my older pipes in one of the cleaner machines that is like an ozone cleaner, might be an ozone cleaner but the one I am talking about uses a cleaning solution or distiller water, I would be afraid it would ruin the pipe!
Found this and thought it was worth posting as I read somewhere on this platform about coating the bowl and building cake. This is an old Bond Street Tobacco ad that mentions the same process. Thought it was a cool advertisement as well.
@Corey562- with the advent of today's technology, you can save, resize and print it out in any size and on any color stock. I was thinking the same! Would look great in a nice dark wood frame.
Yello-Bole Corn Starch and honey mix is the best and only way to replace inner coating that I have found so far. I will keep researching this and update when and if I find another process. OR when I get back on here. Health and medical stuff come first.
<<I have heard many theories on what builds cake including, but not limited to, rubbing honey along the inside of the bowl, sanding the chamber to roughen up the surface, smoking only a third of a bowl for a few smokes then graduating to two-thirds, etc. While it is true that some pipes seem to cake faster than others, the same basic principles apply.
What will build cake is the burning of tobacco directly against the wood inside the pipe. This sounds simple enough but how exactly does one do this in a way that can produce more efficient results? What I, and other smokers I have spoke with, have found is to make the "Orange Ring". While this may sound like a pastry, it is actually the method of keeping the outer ring of the tobacco burning right up against the bowl walls throughout the duration of the smoke. To do this, one must tamp and relight often keeping the flame around the outer edges of the tobacco. One should lightly push some of the unburned tobacco towards the outside of the plug to maximize the outer ring's combustibility. Tamp in a circular motion when doing this and tamp light enough so that only the weight of the tamper itself is the only pressure applied.
You will know that you are doing this correctly if you see a bright orange ring in your pipe after a relight. Do not worry about having a glowing ember in the center. The purpose of this techniques is to build a strong even cake along the walls of the pipe. After puffing for a few minutes, let the pipe go out on it's own and slightly cool. Tamp lightly in a circular motion around the tobacco to flatten the ash and gently push some unburned tobacco to the outer ring of the plug. Light your pipe with the flame walking around the outer edges and then check for the Orange Ring. Try to get a complete circle of orange to avoid uneven cake buildup and the dreaded "hot spots".
With the proper care and skill, you should soon start to see a nice carbon caking all along the bowl of your pipe. Be sure to smoke the tobacco all the way to the bottom of the bowl using this technique.
When one is about halfway through a bowl of tobacco there is usually a good bed of ashes on top of the burning embers. One popular method of building cake is to spread some of the excess ash over the inside of the tobacco chamber. This is known as "Ashing".
The way this is done is to place one hand over the bowl of the pipe then gently shake the pipe and allow the fine ash to coat the exposed wood of the tobacco chamber. After doing this you can dump the remaining excess ash then gently tamp and continue smoking the second half of the bowl. Once the bowl is finished, repeat the ashing process one more time then dump the remaining ash. What this does is leave a good coating of tobacco ash along the interior of the bowl. This promotes the building of a good even carbon cake. Some folks will wipe out the shank with a pipe cleaner then smoke the pipe again (once cooled down) with the ash still coating the bowl walls. Doing this helps to "fuse" the ash and tobacco to the wood and therefore provides an excellent base for a good healthy cake.
Once you have built up a respectable cake, proper maintenance is necessasry to avoid the problems that can come from having too much cake. If a pipe has too much cake it can make the bowl heat up to the point where the bowl can crack open and end up as firewood. To avoid this you need to periodically ream the cake. This can be done with sandpaper or a pipe reamer.
The proper thickness for cake is equal to the thickness of a dime. When you cut the cake you should slowly and gently ream the bowl and remove the cake evenly and without creating a crack in the cake. Doing so will cause the cake to split and fall off in a large chunk leaving some exposed wood and an uneven cake. Dump the excess carbon powder from the bowl then whisk out the bowl with a bent pipe cleaner. Check the cake for proper thickness and uniform surface. Continue reaming as necessary.
With proper care and maintenance, you should have a pipe that smokes well and will last for many years.>>
@motie2 - Good information. I do know more than a few pipe smokers that disagree with the "dime" thickness of the cake. They believe minimal carbon coating in a briar gives you more flavor from the tobacco and reduce the chance of ghosting.
On the other end, I have seen some otherwise beautiful estate pipes at antique shops that were severely abused and had cracks from too much cake. When I see one that you can't stick your little finger or a pencil in, I ask what the hell where they thinking.
Agter ever smoke I thouroughly clean my pipe and add Decanter Briar Fresh to both the bowl and the stem to freshen it up. Nothing worse that having stinky pipes in a rack. I can make the whole corner of the room when the pipe rack rests stink up the room.
Ash is mainly Carbon. I smoke a new pipe using the 1/3 at a time for three smokes which gets bowl feeling a bit rough. I then use a thin coat of Honey/Whisky mix to moisten it slightly, "Ash" it, smooth it with your finger and smoke it again. It builds a nice smooth cake very quickly.
Honey and/or Maple syrup can both be good to help ash stay on the bowl and both give a unique flavor to your smoke, on the flip side Bourbon or Rum can also help with ash and can also give a nice flavor. These flavors are temporary for the most part but can be enjoyable with the right tobacco.
Have not tried the corn starch and honey on the yello-bole yet, just don't think that is correct, I have an old pipe not worth anything, going to experiment with it first and see what I can mix up to give that yellow color to the bowl.
Russ and Dan talk about daily pipe maintenance and highlight the Decatur
Pipe Shield tools that will help you clean your pipe right! https://www.pipesandcigars.com/CLEANPIPE
@motie2 $40.00? I wonder if the seller had any takers? Looks more like $5.00 tops. I've found a few pipes in antique store in even worse shape for selling as high as that incinerated Carey pipe - and it makes me think the shop owners have no idea how to price a pipe. What they think is collectible or some kind of treasure is hardly worth displaying in your collection let alone trying to restore to smokable condition. I found a Dunhill with a burn-out hole in the bottom of the bowl big enough to stick my little finger through and he was asking something like $75.00 for. I said the pipe was ruined ... but he insisted it was a valuable Dunhill. I didn't want to be rude but thought ... "valuable to who?"
@ghostsofpompeii - the junktique shop owners have no real clue on pricing pipes. They just looked at a caked-up, beat-to-shit, dirty pipe and figure it's old so it must be worth a lot of money to collectors. I asked one why the pipe was so high and he said he researched the estate pipe prices from on-line retailers and decided these were worth at least 50% of the pipes he had seen.
I tried to explain to him that the names on the pipes make a difference as well as the condition the pipes are in. The on-line estate pipe dealers all carry name brand pipes and they have been professionally cleaned and restored. I also told him not to go by what eBay sells pipes for either.
I doubt that the seller has had any takers. I believe that pipe has been listed for 3 or 4 months on eBay with no interest and the price keeps fluctuating. Sometimes it's $44.44 and will go on sale for $40. *insert eye roll here*. I believe that same seller has a Carey freehand for sale that has a bowl burnout for the same price. Again, it's been listed for months.
That said, I've scored some nice pipes with high "buy it now" prices where the seller accepted a much more reasonable offer. As much as I'd like a Carey Volcano, this isn't the one that will entice me to part with my money. LOL
Hello all. I have a question about filters and inserts. I have several savinelli pipes that take the balsa filters, but I prefer to smoke without a filter. Does the insert that savinelli provides effect the cleanliness of the pipe? Is using it really needed? I prefer to leave them out, but I want to take the best care of my pipes that I possibly can. Thanks in advance.
Yes, they (filters) help to keep the pipe cleaner. They also deliver an more dry smoke. I have many Savinellis and in some I use balsam filters in others don't, at the end, it is up to you use or not. The filter by itself do not affect the tobacco taste.
Well the Pipe season for me is starting up again, all my pipes were cleaned over the Spring and Summer but I am going to give them a wipe down before packing any of them to smoke, I am sure they have some dust in them, I personally do not want to smoke dust. lol I have been saving old wine Corks, when I get about 50 more I will put them in all my pipes to keep the bowls clean when I am not using them. Anyone else use something to cover their bowl when they are not using their pipe?
Dust? Well maybe..I just give it short blast before I pack it. Wipe it down, pack it, light it, smoke it. I have never had any dust in mine that did not just fly out. Then again, I don’t smoke greasy/oily Latakia.
Run the pipe cleaner into the mouth of the stem into the bowl of the pipe.
If the pipe cleaner cannot run into the bowl for some reason then remove the stem but be sure that the pipe is cooled or the shank might break!
Run the pipe cleaner in and out until its not brown/black anymore this might use more than one pipe cleaner. Don't be stingy with it, Pipe cleaners are cheap but pipes are expensive (unless it's a cob and even they have gotten pricey.....).
Twist the pipe cleaner into a U shape and rub the debris out of the walls of the bowl.
A common complaint of new pipe smokers is the hot pipe, and tongue bite. Together, we will review a few points which hopefully, will result in easing that problem.
Years ago, it was unheard of, to simply purchase a pipe, fill the bowl and smoke ‘pall mall’, going for broke. That seemed to make the old-timers laugh when they would see that. It had been commonly known throughout the planet where tobacco pipes are encountered, that any, new pipe, or overly reamed pipe, would require it to be broken in. It was called: The Rule of Thirds.
Making sure the pipe is clean, run your finger under water and completely wet the inside of the bowl, without drowning it, of course. Place not more than, 1/3rd of the capacity of the bowl filled with pipe tobacco. Remember, in this case, less, is more. So go easy and pinch your bowl offerings in a way that would make Uncle Scrooge smile with admiration.
Bring your source of flame to where you like it, and get the pipe lit, not a raging forest fire, just lit. Slowly, and easily, gently draw the smoke. Use your hand to make a flue damper on your pipe bowl chimney. You can use a thumb, the first two fingers, or the palm, to regulate the air flow. This is helpful especially if you over pack the tobacco too tight. Breathe with your stomach muscles. Slowly and relaxed. Draw the smoke easy with long volume, and you are now doing a number of things. You are teaching yourself relaxed breathing which will effectively reduce stress, and breaking in your pipe. The carbon will immediately form, from the 1/3rd mark to the heel. By pre-wetting, you reduce the possibility of burnouts. Repeat this at a very minimum of three times, better at five, best at ten cycles. Your pipe must rest and cool between smokes, a minimum of a half hour or until dead-cold to your touch. You can hasten the cooling off process simply by placing your pipe into a glass ashtray. Glass is a heat sink. Crystal, being best. Cold absorbs heat, for all the science majors. Next, repeat the process filling to 2/3rds, multiple cycles, then eventually you will reach a point where you can top off the bowl. Bear in mind, you must, smoke whatever the loading cargo of pipe tobacco, to the very heel, each time.
Only in recent years has factory pre-lined bowls lessened the need to break a pipe in, but I don’t know. All these pre-lined carbon offerings have a raunchy taste. A pipe needs to be properly broken in, no matter what. A pipe that smokes lousy, can be corrected by thoroughly cleaning it, and mildly leeching with food grade alcohol [190-proof Everclear, is best. Invite me over if you buy too much! >HickUp<]. Then follow the process to break in the pipe, using the Rule of Thirds.
Gurgly, wet pipes are a nuisance, like a dog that keep doing their business inside the house. You may need to lay paper out and place tobacco on top to dry out overnight, or a few hours. You may need to age other tobaccos a few months. You may need to remove any filter element that is not immediately serviceable. You may need to sand the bowl with 320-grit paper and remove the heavy and often shiny, finish. Your pipe should gently sweat, and breathe. If you must use varnish, the best one I like is Min-Wax Wipe On Polyurethane. Wipe it on, wait half a minute,then wipe it off. Allow the pipe to dry eight hours between applications. You may want to apply carnuba after te final coat has dried eight hours. I like Min-Wax Paste Furniture Wax. Rub the pad of your finger onto the wax and gently massage the wax onto the briar. A few coats will be needed. Buff, buff, buff. It cannot be overstated.
Remember: Anything that you do to your pipe will result in changing the way it will taste and smoke. You may shift where the flavor tones rest. From the top of your tongue, to the back of your mouth, or to the roof of your mouth. In fact, what you light your pipe with, also accounts for taste. I cannot use butane. I simply can’t stand the taste of butane, so I use a fuel Zippo. Scorches the rim of the bowl, but I am a longtime and serious pipe smoker, so it doesn’t bother me. On many of my previous pipes, I colored the rims, black.
With this information, many of the newer and perhaps a few older pipe smokers, may want to purchase other type of pipes. Rosewood, Pearwood, Cherrywood, Maplewood, Lemonwood, Etc. All very nice pipes.
Now you know how to properly break a pipe in. Now you know how to correct a pipe that does not smoke well. Now you know how to correct a pipe that does not taste too good. It’s worth the effort. A pipe that smokes beautifully, is priceless to its owner.
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When one is about halfway through a bowl of tobacco there is usually a good bed of ashes on top of the burning embers. One popular method of building cake is to spread some of the excess ash over the inside of the tobacco chamber. This is known as "Ashing".
The way this is done is to place one hand over the bowl of the pipe then gently shake the pipe and allow the fine ash to coat the exposed wood of the tobacco chamber. After doing this you can dump the remaining excess ash then gently tamp and continue smoking the second half of the bowl. Once the bowl is finished, repeat the ashing process one more time then dump the remaining ash. What this does is leave a good coating of tobacco ash along the interior of the bowl. This promotes the building of a good even carbon cake. Some folks will wipe out the shank with a pipe cleaner then smoke the pipe again (once cooled down) with the ash still coating the bowl walls. Doing this helps to "fuse" the ash and tobacco to the wood and therefore provides an excellent base for a good healthy cake.
Once you have built up a respectable cake, proper maintenance is necessasry to avoid the problems that can come from having too much cake. If a pipe has too much cake it can make the bowl heat up to the point where the bowl can crack open and end up as firewood. To avoid this you need to periodically ream the cake. This can be done with sandpaper or a pipe reamer.
The proper thickness for cake is equal to the thickness of a dime. When you cut the cake you should slowly and gently ream the bowl and remove the cake evenly and without creating a crack in the cake. Doing so will cause the cake to split and fall off in a large chunk leaving some exposed wood and an uneven cake. Dump the excess carbon powder from the bowl then whisk out the bowl with a bent pipe cleaner. Check the cake for proper thickness and uniform surface. Continue reaming as necessary.
With proper care and maintenance, you should have a pipe that smokes well and will last for many years.
I've got a small ozone generator that I use once in a while on strong smelling pipes after cleaning thoroughly. I put it in a 12"X12" box with the pipe and leave it out on the porch for an hour(Suggested runtime.). It does reduce the strength of the smell. The only thing I can liken the result to is if you've let your pipe sit for 3 months or so, the scent is more pleasant, like a Ghosted Pipe.
<<I have heard many theories on what builds cake including, but not limited to, rubbing honey along the inside of the bowl, sanding the chamber to roughen up the surface, smoking only a third of a bowl for a few smokes then graduating to two-thirds, etc. While it is true that some pipes seem to cake faster than others, the same basic principles apply.
On the other end, I have seen some otherwise beautiful estate pipes at antique shops that were severely abused and had cracks from too much cake. When I see one that you can't stick your little finger or a pencil in, I ask what the hell where they thinking.
Have not tried the corn starch and honey on the yello-bole yet, just don't think that is correct, I have an old pipe not worth anything, going to experiment with it first and see what I can mix up to give that yellow color to the bowl.
Oh, hell no.
I tried to explain to him that the names on the pipes make a difference as well as the condition the pipes are in. The on-line estate pipe dealers all carry name brand pipes and they have been professionally cleaned and restored. I also told him not to go by what eBay sells pipes for either.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Carey-Magic-Inch-Freehand-Israel-Imported-Briar-Pipe-Ebonite-Stem-ESTATE/192435289354?hash=item2cce097d0a:g:wXcAAOSw3wVaXRFY&_sacat=0&_nkw=carey+pipe&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC7.A0.H0.Xcarey+pipe.TRS5.TSS5
That said, I've scored some nice pipes with high "buy it now" prices where the seller accepted a much more reasonable offer. As much as I'd like a Carey Volcano, this isn't the one that will entice me to part with my money. LOL
I have been saving old wine Corks, when I get about 50 more I will put them in all my pipes to keep the bowls clean when I am not using them. Anyone else use something to cover their bowl when they are not using their pipe?
Breaking In a New Pipe
http://www.notsoboringlife.com/food-and-drink/pipe-smoking/breaking-in-a-new-pipe/
A common complaint of new pipe smokers is the hot pipe, and tongue bite. Together, we will review a few points which hopefully, will result in easing that problem.
Years ago, it was unheard of, to simply purchase a pipe, fill the bowl and smoke ‘pall mall’, going for broke. That seemed to make the old-timers laugh when they would see that. It had been commonly known throughout the planet where tobacco pipes are encountered, that any, new pipe, or overly reamed pipe, would require it to be broken in. It was called: The Rule of Thirds.
Making sure the pipe is clean, run your finger under water and completely wet the inside of the bowl, without drowning it, of course. Place not more than, 1/3rd of the capacity of the bowl filled with pipe tobacco. Remember, in this case, less, is more. So go easy and pinch your bowl offerings in a way that would make Uncle Scrooge smile with admiration.
Bring your source of flame to where you like it, and get the pipe lit, not a raging forest fire, just lit. Slowly, and easily, gently draw the smoke. Use your hand to make a flue damper on your pipe bowl chimney. You can use a thumb, the first two fingers, or the palm, to regulate the air flow. This is helpful especially if you over pack the tobacco too tight. Breathe with your stomach muscles. Slowly and relaxed. Draw the smoke easy with long volume, and you are now doing a number of things. You are teaching yourself relaxed breathing which will effectively reduce stress, and breaking in your pipe. The carbon will immediately form, from the 1/3rd mark to the heel. By pre-wetting, you reduce the possibility of burnouts. Repeat this at a very minimum of three times, better at five, best at ten cycles. Your pipe must rest and cool between smokes, a minimum of a half hour or until dead-cold to your touch. You can hasten the cooling off process simply by placing your pipe into a glass ashtray. Glass is a heat sink. Crystal, being best. Cold absorbs heat, for all the science majors. Next, repeat the process filling to 2/3rds, multiple cycles, then eventually you will reach a point where you can top off the bowl. Bear in mind, you must, smoke whatever the loading cargo of pipe tobacco, to the very heel, each time.
Only in recent years has factory pre-lined bowls lessened the need to break a pipe in, but I don’t know. All these pre-lined carbon offerings have a raunchy taste. A pipe needs to be properly broken in, no matter what. A pipe that smokes lousy, can be corrected by thoroughly cleaning it, and mildly leeching with food grade alcohol [190-proof Everclear, is best. Invite me over if you buy too much! >HickUp<]. Then follow the process to break in the pipe, using the Rule of Thirds.
Gurgly, wet pipes are a nuisance, like a dog that keep doing their business inside the house. You may need to lay paper out and place tobacco on top to dry out overnight, or a few hours. You may need to age other tobaccos a few months. You may need to remove any filter element that is not immediately serviceable. You may need to sand the bowl with 320-grit paper and remove the heavy and often shiny, finish. Your pipe should gently sweat, and breathe. If you must use varnish, the best one I like is Min-Wax Wipe On Polyurethane. Wipe it on, wait half a minute,then wipe it off. Allow the pipe to dry eight hours between applications. You may want to apply carnuba after te final coat has dried eight hours. I like Min-Wax Paste Furniture Wax. Rub the pad of your finger onto the wax and gently massage the wax onto the briar. A few coats will be needed. Buff, buff, buff. It cannot be overstated.
Remember: Anything that you do to your pipe will result in changing the way it will taste and smoke. You may shift where the flavor tones rest. From the top of your tongue, to the back of your mouth, or to the roof of your mouth. In fact, what you light your pipe with, also accounts for taste. I cannot use butane. I simply can’t stand the taste of butane, so I use a fuel Zippo. Scorches the rim of the bowl, but I am a longtime and serious pipe smoker, so it doesn’t bother me. On many of my previous pipes, I colored the rims, black.
With this information, many of the newer and perhaps a few older pipe smokers, may want to purchase other type of pipes. Rosewood, Pearwood, Cherrywood, Maplewood, Lemonwood, Etc. All very nice pipes.
Now you know how to properly break a pipe in. Now you know how to correct a pipe that does not smoke well. Now you know how to correct a pipe that does not taste too good. It’s worth the effort. A pipe that smokes beautifully, is priceless to its owner.