when to ream

[MC]

How do you know when it's time to ream the bowl? I only have one pipe and a MM so it gets smoked often. Special tool?

 

[Dutch]

When to ream is a matter of preference, but most pipers recommend keeping it to the thickness of a dime or less. I prefer to keep mine to a minimum, since it is easier to taste the sweetness of the briar.

As for my cobs, they don't build cake as easily as briar, so I just use a q-tip dipped in bourbon to wipe them out after each smoke once I get a small amount of cake built up inside the wall of the cob.

My favorite tool is a vintage Kleen-Reem pipe reamer I purchased on ebay, but I also use a British Buttner for smaller pipes.. Here is a link where you can view an instruction booklet for the Kleen-Reem.....

http://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/kleen-reem-pipe-reamer-instruction-booklet/

 

[Kyle Weiss]

If quick, general maintenance is given to a pipe each smoke (or somewhere therein) you really shouldn't need to ream a pipe. I'm of the opinion and school that a cheap, aluminum pipe nail is about the perfect pipe companion ever devised: with its sharp-edged spoon to maintain the cake little by little, and the tamper-end to use mid-smoke.

The only reason why I own a Kleen-Reem tool is for pipes that I buy estate with more cake than I prefer. The drill bit with the hand grip hidden inside the handle is also a great bonus tool.

8)

 

[monbla256]

I have a" Reem-n-Kleen" tool I've used for years and since I now smoke more red Va flake 'bac find cake buids a bit faster than when I was just a Balkan smoker. I like no more than the preverbial dimes worth so when I do my monthly "clean-up" to that months 12 pipes I had in rotation, I usually need to use it to keep 'em "there" so to speak, but it's no big thing really, just a few steady twists of the reamer and it's done For me, it's really just a "maintanance" thing rather than a "ream". :twisted:

 

[KevinM]

None of my pipes has ever been reamed, and some are entering their fifth decade. (Obviously these were presented to me as nativity gifts.) I use the "chipping" method with a pipe tool as described above and occasionally smooth things out with a bit of sandpaper. After each smoke, I use a doubled pipe cleaner to brush out unburnt vegetatiion and debris. My cake is very thin -- less than a dime -- but serves to protect the briar, and the appearance of the pipes in the rack is neat and attractive. They don't look unmaintained, as if I'm content to let nature take its course. My strategy, FWIW, is to do the minimum needed to encourage a nice patina, without going for a tacky "better than new" appearance. But pipe maintenance strategy varies from piper to piper, which is fine by me.

 

[LIPIPE]

I use a senior reamer. Keep a thin cake on all my pipes. Reaming is a regular part of my cleaning routine.