Double-Chamber Pipes

[Kyle Weiss]

Upon suggestion of a Brother, I was reading up and checking out these things:

http://acmepipes.com/Why-a-second-chamber-.php

...why? Because of the interesting experiences I've been having with my Peterson, my first, which has been performing quite differently than my other pipes (probably due to its "un-system" chamber drilled in the shank).

Any pipes I have smoked that I've felt like I've gotten a good handle on have been classic mortise/tenon setups, and even within that category, have been widely varying on quality and craftsmanship. Obviously, the better designs fit better, and I've gotten a few "holy grail" smokes out of the well-made models.

With the only Pete I have, Thurston, there's a dynamic there which I believe I'm: a.) not as familiar; because my smoking experience is limited to what I know (go figure) and b.) in need of exploring, to help offset "a."

So, the double-chamber pipe (or the stupid term of the design "reverse calabash," if that bears mentioning, too.) I'm not likely to get a traditional calabash unless circumstances allow--they're not my kind of pipe, but who knows what will cross my path. I can't discount anything at this point, and this intrigues me.

Who makes "double-chamber" pipes besides ACME? Who has 'em here? What's your experience? I do realize there was a thread recently about these, but it was mostly guys gnawing on theory rather than first-hand knowledge.


8)

 

[dougc905]

I'm a physics teacher. I love to gnaw on theory!

Don't have an acme pipe and I know I never will. I think it would be terribly damp and "gurgly". There may even be liquid sloshing around that second chamber after smoking a moist tobacco. Yuck.

I'd say that it can be argued that any pipe that has an irregular draft from the bowl to the lip would qualify as being similar to this acme pipe. Your drawing makes it look like there will be an extreme low pressure region when smoke passes from the draft hole to the 2nd chamber. That would cause condensation of moisture and hopefully a drier smoke. This effect is also spoken of in Peterson system pipes. In fact, any pipe that has a gap between mortise and tenon would display this condensation effect. That's why they gurgle or need a cleaner run through.

Sorry, got carried away gnawing...

 

[Mr. Doody]

Q: how do you even clean such a thing? a pipe cleaner isn't going to reach all the nooks and crannies of that second chamber, is it?

curious,
doody

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Doug: It's not my drawing, I only borrowed it as an example from the link on ACME's pipes above... :lol: I'm trying to gather intel on those that have one, mainly because I'm curious. Otherwise, everything you're saying is spot-on to what I've read and understand (which is minimal, admittedly)... :lol:

 

[kaiser83]

Q: how do you even clean such a thing? a pipe cleaner isn't going to reach all the nooks and crannies of that second chamber, is it?

curious,
doody

Coped from the link:
Cleaning the pipe
I wind a paper towel into the chamber, spin the pipe around a couple of times, and pull the paper towel back out. Wipe off the inside of the cap, and then put a pipe cleaner through the draft hole and stem.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I'd imagine it'd be similar to how a System Pete would be cleaned, just an extra step getting in there. Admittedly, with my "un-system" 80S Pete, which has some kind of chamber, I use q-tips and twists of tissue, but have never noticed excess filth and whatnot--especially after it dries. No sourness, no funk.

 

[dougc905]

Well, after looking at the website again. I will say the pipes are interesting and that he has good workmanship. If you like thick shanked pipes, then these are home runs. I like holding the shank of the pipe instead of the bowl and think these would have good "hand feel".

 

[Fishfuzz]

No offense to the creator of these pipes, but they look like mutants ready to burst, giving birth to a swarm of something.

 

[kaiser83]

No offense to the creator of these pipes, but they look like mutants ready to burst, giving birth to a swarm of something.

Darn you now I want one of them, purely for your description lol.

 

[Fishfuzz]

No offense to the creator of these pipes, but they look like mutants ready to burst, giving birth to a swarm of something.

Darn you now I want one of them, purely for your description lol.

This one seems to be the most, uhm, parturient...

 

[kaiser83]

They remind me of the balloons from Killer Klowns from Outer Space. I still think they would be interesting to smoke.

 

[Hermit]

This one seems to be the most, uhm, parturient...

Am I the only one who had to look that one up? :lol:

 

[monbla256]

No offense to the creator of these pipes, but they look like mutants ready to burst, giving birth to a swarm of something.

Darn you now I want one of them, purely for your description lol.

This one seems to be the most, uhm, parturient...

par·tu·ri·ent/pärˈto͝orēənt/
Adjective:
(of a woman or female mammal) About to give birth; in labor.
Noun:
A parturient woman.

Could be if you squint your eyes :twisted:

 

[acme]

I have a lot of things to say about this and that in the thread.

There are three particular qualities which make the pipe work, in my opinion.

First off, the size of the chamber is of paramount importance. There is a qualitative change that occurs when the air chamber reaches a certain volume. I don't know exactly where that change happens. I measured a bunch of calabash - I have 20 or 30 of them. I found that while there were extremes, 40 to 70 CC (Cubic Centimeters) was a good ballpark and is enough to cause the qualitiative change. My impression is that the change is a result of the air space, but also the amount of surface area of the inside surface of the chamber.

A small chamber, like the Peterson pipes, acts only as a moisture trap. The air chamber is only 2 or 3 CC. Most of the condensation occurs in the stem, and then the moisture drains into the trap. There really isn't any cooling happening.

I stay above the 40 CC volume because I know it is enough.. Most of my pipes range from 50 to 100 CC. I sold one in at the Chicago show which had a second chamber of about 250 CC volume. To give a little perspective, I had a 200 CC displacement motorcycle when I was in school.

The second important quality is that the draft hole and the stem have to be seperated enough to give the smoke a chance to move inside the chamber. If they are too close together, the smoke simply gets sucked in and out of the chamber without a chance to swirl around.

The third difference is getting the heat-producing tobacco chamber out of the air chamber. The time-honored second chamber pipe, the calabash, has its heat producer inside the cooling chamber - that is a problem from an engineering perspective.

I am still experimenting a lot with shapes, but I am pleased enough with the function of the high-volume air chamber, that I have no inclination to turn back. It is most definately a case of function dictating, or at least limiting, form.

As to gurgling and sloshing, I was concerned about that when I started making these. That is the main reason that in the diagram in this thread, the draft hole is high up from the bottom of the chamber. It turns out that I can't get any free liquid in the chamber until the third or fourth back-to-back smoke. Even then it never gurgles as it never approaches the draft hole. You never have to do any of the moisture remidies like blowing the liquid back into the tobacco chamber, insert pipe cleaners, or as I heard someone describe once, flick the moisture out by swinging the pipe around.

At the start, I cleaned the pipe after every smoke - remember I said I was concerned about collecting moisture in the chamber. Now, I have a habit of doing so after two or three bowls. I clean the pipe by unscrewing the cap at the end of the chamber, twisting a paper towel into a rat tail, and twisting it into the chamber. Rarely does anything more that a little dampness on the portion of the towel which touches the inside of the chamber haqppen. There is no "gunk."

There is a flaw in the design, though. You have to practice getting the pipe cleaner across the chamber and into the draft hole. The inside of the chamber darkens with use.

Probably more to say, I really do like how they are working, but I need to get back to the shop. The Kansas City show is in only a couple of weeks, and Chicago depleted my inventory.

anthony
acmepipes.com​

 

[acme]

The image of the pipe was posted as I was writing a reply, and I have to respond. It is a giggler. I call the shape of the "parturient" pipe, the pregnant guppy. That is the shape of pipe I made for the magazine article.

anthony

 

[dougc905]

Hey. Thanks for responding Anthony.
Doug

 

[MisterE]

This one seems to be the most, uhm, parturient...

Am I the only one who had to look that one up? :lol:

Yes, I'm afraid you are.

Everyone else here is all lidderit and elokwent and stuff.

 

[Hermit]

I am really drawn to the pregnant guppy. :shock:
It's a truly unique shape. It's at the very
high end of what I'm willing to spend on a
pipe, so I'm gonna have to think about it.

 

[Fishfuzz]

The image of the pipe was posted as I was writing a reply, and I have to respond. It is a giggler. I call the shape of the "parturient" pipe, the pregnant guppy. That is the shape of pipe I made for the magazine article.

anthony

+10 points for you! As for the word, I was trying to think of a term that wasn't quite pregnant, so I ran it through Google and loved the mouth feel of Parturient. So technically, even I looked it up.

I like your concepts, but as a (re)beginning pipe smoker, would I readily notice?

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Anthony/ACME:

Thanks much for your response. All of this started because I happened to notice my very first Peterson (an 80S with some kind of chamber, as I was calling it the "un-System") was giving me a moister smoke than I was used to. There was some discussion and forwarded threads on other forums about enhanced flavors, but moister smoke, concerns about chamber moisture, and eventually, it led me to your pipes--which are whimsical, unusual and totally my style (well, some of them anyway--Checkmark and Pick Ax being two with which I could get down)...and possibly teaching me more about what pipes smoke how and why.

Whether or not they work was something I was hoping someone who has had experience with them (and not necessarily making them; as if you'd say, "...yeah, my pipes smoke like a doorknob" :lol: ). Call it a lightly-controlled experiment. I know why they should work, and I believe you, but sometimes the smoker (in this case, me) might be inept enough to defeat the purpose of them. Learning to smoke a standard mortise/tenon design has taken me the better part of nine months, and I only feel now am I getting used to it.