Pipe Mud
So, I've always been bothered by the amount of unsmoked tobacco in my estate pipe which I've put down to the bottom of the bowl being lower than the draft hole. I mixed up a batch of "pipe mud" from cigar ash and water and put a patch in the bottom and we'll see if this fixes that and any gurgling. I needed very little to fill in the hole.
Here's a how-to video and I used the tip in the comment with some pachinko balls in a mason jar to break down the cigar ash into a powder:
"Drew LCH
9 months ago
I have a mason jar I keep my cigar ash in for mudding. My trick for braking down the ash is two 1/4” steel ball bearings. I’ll cap the jar and spin the bearings around and bounce them lightly and it works fantastic. Also I can spoon put exactly how much I want with a Czec tool and keep the rest."
Here's another good reference site: http://www.stemandbriar.com/repairs/pipe-mud
Comments
Thanks for sharing @Yakster. I have a couple of pipes that need this
"Any cigar smoker is friend, because I know how he feels." Alfred de Musset
"A fine cigar is just like a woman. If you don't light it up just right and suck on it with a certain frequency, it will go out on you." Unknown
“A pipe is to the troubled soul what caresses of a mother are for her suffering child.” Indian Proverb
I'm curious if this is working for y'all? I've tried it, with moderate success, sort of. Moderate may be a bit of overstatement. It kinda worked, but required re-doing after every bowl.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
Just get the ash as fine as you can, put a spoon full in a zip lock bag or small dish, add a drop of water as a time and stir it in until you reach the consistency of spackle. I use a pipe nail to spoon it into the bowl, and pack it hard. Dries as hard as stone. A wet pipe cleaner can be used through the shank to make sure your draft hole is still clear or around your bowl walls. It works best on virgin pipes.
If applying to estate pipes where virgin mating surfaces are not an option, a light roughing of the bowl may help the mud stay bonded
Testing the pipe mud. Early results are success smoking all the tobacco now that I filled in the U shape below the draft hole; no gurgling either.
@Stubble stand
The pipe mud fix is holding up well, so far. Still have to see if it's a long term fix, but I wish I'd done this sooner.