Bowl Angle Impact on Smoking Quality?

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NorthernLights

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Hello All,

Does the angle that a pipe's bowl sits at affect the burn, and thus the smoke quality?

I have one pipe where the bowl descends straight down, and another where the bowl sits at a 45 degree angle. It seems logical to me that the tobacco would tend naturally to burn straight down, and so it would be important for the bowl to be straight vertical. But I have seen some VERY pricey pipes where the bowl clearly descends at an angle, and that made me question if perhaps my assumption was wrong.

Is it important, or can the bowl sit at an angle and still burn well?
 
People seem to like bent billiards well enough.

Even with Oom Pauls the gripe seems to generally be that they collect moisture in the airway more than that the tobacco doesn't burn evenly.

:face:
 
That's a good question.
If the bowl is at a 45 degree angle, I doubt that the tobacco knows that it should burn down at a 45 degree angle, but then, I'm certainly no engineer...
Hmm...
It would seem that the front of the bowl would get hotter on a pipe that is shaped that way.
Just guessing here.
 
when the old sailors flipped their pipes upside-down, how did the tobacco know to burn up?

The thermal dynamics of a small tobacco fire are much different than, say, a campfire because of the much smaller scale of the combustion and the much lower temperature. The small embers we barely keep lit (ideally) are only igniting the tobacco that is directly in contact with them, so the angle of a canted chamber, or an oom paul dangling from one's mouth is barely relevant as long as the tobacco is consistently packed. As far as the heating of one side of the bowl, the diffusion of energy is much more efficiently carried by the heated air out of the opening of the bowl rather than through the briar itself. Could their be a temp. difference? Yes. But functionally only a degree or two.
 
...are we talking "horn" or "cutty" shape, here, as well? I suspect like jefe in a roundabout way suggested, that the tobacco kind of follows its own path. Unless you find some reason the burning is uneven (which can happen in any shape, depending on how it is made), I wouldn't be concerned about it being an overall intentional "flaw." Smoke it and find out! It might take a while. Enjoy the process. :lol:

8)
 
:suspect: More stalking of the new guy! :cheers: :twisted: 

I know exactly what you mean by bowl angle. I have a couple of pipes that the chamber seems to be angled when compared to the outer bowl. I was wondering about the same thing when I purchased them but the angle doesn't seem to affect the quality of smoke at all. In fact they are some of the best smoking pipes in my collection. I don't know whether the angle of the bowl is the reason they smoke so well but it sure didn't hurt the quality of smoke.
 
Aside from not liking the looks of them, have never bought a cutty for that reason. Actually, expect it wouldn't be a problem though, since the burn is going to follow the airflow, ie, toward the draft hole.
 
alfredo_buscatti":dy7ur96m said:
Are we saying that gravity affects combustion?
Click to expand...
Not I. Gravity might affect the fuel, or oxygen mixture (at infinitesimal values considering a pipe), but fire will burn up, down and sideways depending on where conditions are favorable. The only concern might be that heat tends to rise, and if there's an angle sitting directly above, it might overheat the wall of a pipe...but still, negligibly so.

8)
 
This is the pipe. You can see that the shape is distinctly at an angle. Danish Sovereign.



The bowl inside descends down into the body, and significantly back towards the shank on the inside. It's also not really round, but more elliptical. It always used to smoke wet, and hot, and I couldn't seem to get a good smoke from it. I could get a better smoke from my Brigham 3 Dot. The Brigham has a perfectly round bowl, the descends straight down, and tapers towards the centre at the bottom, and the air hole meets exactly at the bottom. I was worried that the reason I couldn't get a good smoke from the DS was (what I thought was) the odd bowl shape and angle.

Then again, I didn't really know what I was doing. I'm REALLY hoping that it was just all my lack of skill, and that the pipe can smoke well. It was my father's pipe, and I really hope to be able to use it!

The air hole does sit up the one side a bit, and I'm tempted to raise the floor w some pipe mud. I've done that before to one of my favourite pipes, which I subsequently sold (stupid, stupid). However, I'm loathe to alter it in any way, because it was my father's. Perhaps I'll just practice like mad with my Brigham, and come back to it when I really feel I've got the hang of things.

Thoughts?
 
The stem could be the culprit, or bad airway drilling. Off-center draft holes to the chamber aren't usually a sign of a bad smoker, but can suggest there were other overlooked or careless methods used when the pipe was made.

Could be pilot error, too. <img class="emojione" alt="?" title=":shrug:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/1f937.png?v=2.2.7"/>

One thing is for sure, the angle of the bowl (and chamber) isn't likely the issue.

8)
 
Awesome info, thanks! Good to know it's not the bowl angle. Will look into the stem / air hole alignment issue. Possibly try to get it to a reputable repair guy to get it looked at.

Also, ENTIRELY possible it is strictly a "cockpit error". Just found it odd that I could get a better smoke from the Brigham. But it was likely still not a GOOD smoke, just slightly better. Perhaps the DS will smoke like a dream once I know what I'm doing, but the Brigham reacts better to being smoked improperly (hauling too much, packing too tight, tobacco too moist).

Will post in a few weeks after I've played with it a bit!

Thanks a bunch!
 
I think sometimes that pipe makers tilt the bowls based on historical shapes. Sometimes, they may tilt a bowl, because flaws in the briar have dictated that that particular shape is necessary in order to salvage a particular piece of briar.

In any event, the only issues I have had with such canted bowls, are that sometimes the cake will build up heavier on one side. It is irrelevant really, because I will even up the cake when I use my Kleen Reem.

As for smoking qualities, it seems that a canted bowl really delivers a great smoke, however it could just be my imagination based on the romantics of the shape. I just love the traditional shape of a cutty. It's really something special when an expert carver, turns out a masterpiece of briar, based on the inspiration of one of the old clay pipes.

When I smoke my Rolando Negotia Walnut cutty, there is a lot of satisfaction in the history behind that traditional shape.






 
Beautiful walnut cutty ...jus stunning.

On the other issue....pilot error is my take.
 
Take a half full glass of water and tilt it, and you'll find the water stays level in relation to the ground. Same thing with smoldering tobak, I'm thinking. But I've heard that radically canted pipes pose problems in drilling the air hold and maintaining even wall thickness, which can lead to hot spots and possible burnout.
 
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