Pipe Reamer Question
ocpunk714
Master
Does anyone have a recommendation on a good pipe reaming tool they use? There are a few choices on tobaccopipes.com and I am looking to purchase one since my first briar has caked up a bit too much.
Comments
I have an old pocket knife just laying around here somewhere.
Once you get the tip and edge ground down, make sure you do the sides so there are no sharp spots.
https://www.amazon.com/Scotte-pieces-tobacco-reamer-cleaners/dp/B071P77PPZ
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073VLKC3P/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B073VLKC3P&pd_rd_wg=z1xrb&pd_rd_r=0554ZNV6MZNW77VX506X&pd_rd_w=LDXch
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Rosewood-Tobacco-smoking-Scraper/dp/B00OH163CW/ref=pd_bxgy_121_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00OH163CW&pd_rd_r=2EYAAT7M7H9X6HBBZZ2K&pd_rd_w=0HYce&pd_rd_wg=jY7TG&psc=1&refRID=2EYAAT7M7H9X6HBBZZ2K
I've used them all, as well as sand paper, to ream out the bowls as I'm bringing gunked up old estates back to life.
After refurbing em though I haven't had the need to re-ream any of them. Most likely because of the fact that I twist up a piece of paper towel and ream out the bowl after each and every smoke, as well as running a pipe cleaner through the stem and shank.
The ol "Ounce of Prevention worth a Pound of Cure" approach. ;-)
I have a “Brunton” style that I purchased with my first pipe. It is a piece of crap and will tear the hell out of the top inner rim of a tobacco chamber if not used very, very, very carefully. (I do not recommend this style at all).
I have a “Senior” style reamer, which I bought early on, I use it rarely now for reaming pipe bowls. I use the drill bit to clear nasty shanks/stuck gross paper/carbon filters. I do use the adjustable reamer as a “handle” when staining pipes often. (The drill bit is very handy, the reamer is ok, but it does not clean the bottom of a tobacco chamber well).
I have a “Pipenet” style with the four different sized four blade heads, which is my first “go to” reamer. I start with the smallest and slowly work my way up, making sure to not go too big. It will tear the hell out of a tobacco chamber as well. (Very good reamer).
I have an old two sided Kaywoodie that looks similar to the “Pipenet”, but only has two sizes, and are tapered/cone shaped. (It is a good reamer for some pipes, such as those with tapered chambers).
I have an old Yello-Bole that works kind of like a “Brunton”, but way better, gets down to the bottom of most bowls, and does not eat the top inner rim. (Good reamer).
I have an old “Rogers Hedgehog” which I got in an auction lot of items, which I never use. I think it would tear the hell out of a tobacco chamber, (gnarly looking device...bad juju, I have never, and will never use it).
The final, and best “final clean-up” reamer is a “Rocket Reamer”. It works well once the heavy stuff is dealt with (usually with the “Pipenet” reamer). The “Rocket Reamer” cleans the chamber sides very well without thrashing the top inner rim (useing a modicum of care), and gets to nearly the bottom of the chamber as well. The spring loaded bars conform to the chamber walls without digging in.
For the one-two punch, “Pipenet”-“Rocket Reamer”, and as the coups-de-gras Yello-Bole or Kaywoodie to get to the very bottom. These four reamers work very well in concert for all but my very smallest pipes and my very largest pipes. I have an old Charatan “Executive Extra Large” that I think I can get two golf balls stacked in in😉...... ok, not quite, but none of my reamers even get close to the chamber walls in this pipe. I have a few other pipes with very large bores these reamers won’t touch. I also have a few “Salesman Samples”, very small pipes these reamers won’t work with either. For the small pipes I carefully use a Richard’s pipe tool with a knife blade that had the tipped snapped off which I rounded over evenly and dulled the rounded tip edge with a sharpening stone.
As as far as wiping the bowls out after each smoke, this kind of defeats the purpose of building a nice protective and sweet smoking cake. Personally, I look forward to building (my) nice fresh cake in a pipe. After a smoke, I dump the ash/coal (if any) and I “tap-dat-ash” on the palm of my hand. Holding the pipe by the bowl and NOT the shank OR stem. Then I remove the stem, run a clean pipe cleaner through the stem, use that pipe cleaner to clean the air-way. Then, from a short distance, I blow through the shank to get rid of any loose ash or tobacco remnants in the bowl. I get a new pipe cleaner, clean the stem again, fold it in half and clean the shank, then if the pipe cleaner is not too dirty, I run it through the air-way folded in half if possible. If it is still wet, I get another until they come out essentially dry. I remove the pipe cleaner, reassemble the stem to the shank and set it on my pipe stand or pipe rack (bowl down/stem up) to dry.
After a daily smoke, I just use a plain tissue to wipe out the bowl. Just make sure it's not one of those with a lotion or scent embedded into it.
So good
https://www.smokingpipes.com/smokingpipesblog/single.cfm/post/how-ream-pipe