Burning the top of my bowl

jacobramsey74 · September 2022

I am having a hard time lighting my pipe without burning the top of the bowl. My corn cobb is black. I am currently only using matches and a BIC lighter. At some point I want to get a true pipe lighter, but that will have to wait.

vtgrad2003 · September 2022

@jacobramsey74

The tops of all my bowls are torched. Happens mostly when I'm fishing but I don't worry about it. I use Bic lighters too, nothing wrong with them in my opinion. I used a Zippo a long time ago but it was a pain in the ass filling it all the time so I stopped using it.

jacobramsey74 · September 2022

@vtgrad2003

I am about to buy my first high quality pipe and hate the idea of it looking like my corn cob!

KA9FFJ · September 2022

@jacobramsey74
I never fill my bowls to the top. Always leave about 1/4" showing.
I then carefully use a pipe lighter to prelight my tobacco, purposely staying away from the edges/rim of the bowl. Then gently tamp it which slightly lowers the tobacco level even more while working some of the unlighted edge tobacco towards the middle of the bowl with my tamper.
Now my pipe lighter has room to get INTO the bowl to give it a good light, and every relight consequently, is done with the flame being below the rim. Charring is then held in check for quite some time.
Unfortunately, over time buildup/discoloration on the rim will eventually occur, but treatment of that problem is another story...

opipeman · September 2022

@jacobramsey74;
You have the words from the master @KA9FFJ.

vtgrad2003 · September 2022

@jacobramsey74

Sounds great, and good luck with it.

I learned a long time ago that with my pipe smoking habits it's not practical to buy a pipe over $100. If I ever get to where I can settle down, though, and treat my pipes better, I would get a Claudio Cavicchi 4 or 5 - C...he's my favorite carver by far.

mfresa · September 2022

I think it helps if you move the flame around the surface of the tobacco as you make your first light. That way heat doesn't build on the rim any more than necessary. Make a circular motion with it.

RockyMountainBriar · September 2022

@jacobramsey74
You might be holding the flame too close to the top of the tobacco? Keep the flame 1/4” or so off of the top of the tobacco, and draw the flame into the pipe.

mapletop · September 2022

On the pipes I really care about I proceed similarly to the way @KA9FFJ described, however, there are a couple of additional things I do to prevent torching my Pipe Rims.

First I put several coats of Paragon wax an the rims of the pipes I am trying to preserve, Paragon wax's melting point is 30+ percent higher than carnauba wax.

I reapply the paragon wax and buff as is necessary to preserve the rim. I would also note you do not need a buffer to apply it.

Zouave · September 2022

@mapletop that's great advice

Burning the top of my bowl

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