free_byrd15":9wmuy1os said:
Howell-
Thanks for the info! I've never had a pipe that didn't have the carbonized inside, either new or otherwise....bare wood has always made me afraid i'd mess something up! I would be interested to buy an estate pipe sometime and ream it down to the bare wood and try to build a cake up, just cause it would come in handy if I ever buy an expensive pipe and need to break it in from bare wood. If you mess up a 20 dollar estate, oh well, but it you butch up a 1000 dollar straight grain, that would break my heart!
Yes, that's another topic -- bowl coating or no bowl coating -- that's gotten lots of play over the years. I think a bowl coating does offer some initial protection, but most customers don't want it, and those few who really are going to burn out a pipe are likely to do so, coating or no. I'm a strong advocate of starting with partial bowls in a new pipe. Pipes, in general, *don't* burn out in normal, careful use, so it's nothing to be too worried about. Smoking outside in strong winds, hooking a pipe up to a vacuum pump to break it in, holding a lit pipe outside a moving car and letting the wind blow the ember into a welding point, those are some examples of warranty-voiders. But I've had several discussions with smokers who say things like, "I loaded her up with Marlin Flake, and only tasted wood toward the bottom of the bowl." My assertion is that if they had smoked a third of a bowl of some nice, even ribbon or shag four or five times, then another four or five half bowls, they never would have tasted wood at all. What I think happens is that tobacco often is smoked a little too moist, and requires harder puffing or more relights at the bottom of the bowl. Partial bowls to build cake first at the bottom protect a new pipe from this.
Jack
