I have not tried Comet so while I am sure it would lift the oxidation I am not sure if it would do more than that. I would try it on a basket pipe first just to be safe. Some use bleach so I cannot think of a reason why you couldn't do it but it might require buffing out on a wheel, which is what you would end up doing if you bleached it. Baking soda into a paste is fine. It works great for common stuff. If the oxidation is very heavy then try something a little harder.
Tried Frank twice last night. First bowl was perfect, not relights. Second one took a couple lol. Is it just me, or does it seem like the my perception is the bowl is not very full with this method? I am still going to try it a few more times, but I just felt like I could pack it down and put more in.
I've had the opposite experience, tend to overpack with it.
I don't care for them but I don't inhale. There are actually two types of filters the pass through, which allows the smoke to pass through the filter or a pass around made of wood to absorb moister. Medco is a pass through so it removes particles and other matter thus reducing the flavor but making it much smoother especially if you inhale. So smoother and cooler yes but try the blend in a pipe without a filter and the flavor profile will be fuller. However, since your pipe requires a filter don't just remove it that would cause it to smoke wet. You can however buy an insert that will not filter the smoke but takes the place of the filter to help prevent the pipe from smoking wet. If you inhale then by all means use a filter!
I used to use them, but eventually stopped. It always seemed to me that the filter started adding a rank taste after the first bowl or two. That's too many filters if you keep changing them. Once the pipe is well broken in, the moisture problems seem to go away, for me anyway. Could be the tobaccos I use, I suppose.
A very good article about the various types of filters. I have used them in MM pipes etc. I prefer to go without myself but as the article said your mileage may vary.
Cake should not get any thicker then that of a Quarter, once it gets to this point, you want to ream it back to that of a dime. Personally after ever smoke I wipe out the bowl with a napkin and it keeps the cake rather even and doesn't allow it to build up to much.
I guess that's it. I used to religiously roll a piece of paper towel and wipe after about every second bowl, but had a couple new pipes I wanted to cake-up, a couple old ones I'd reamed to nearly the wood, and got out of the habit. I'd also seen advice, on here somewhere, I think, that you shouldn't ream unless the caking was inhibiting your smoking. Guess I'll go back to the old way. I wasn't sure, since it was really my cheapest pipe, although it's been a great smoker. Still is. Will be reaming shortly.
Reamed that pipe out, must have been 3/16" thick! And still hadn't hit wood. Smokes better, checked out the other pipes and had nearly as much in one of them. Got to be more careful!
So for the last 6 weeks or so I have been crazy busy. It happens from time to time. I knew it was going to be that way and I also knew I had too many tins open. Anyway, this makes sense when you think about it. Tobacco likes to take on the surrounding RH levels. I decided that the best way, without emptying tins into jars was to not add any tobacco back into the tin that I had taken out. I am guilty of drying too much for a bowl and then just adding back into the tin, which is fine if you are going to smoke it in a week or 2. By not adding back, I have noticed that the tobacco has stayed moist far longer than when I do. At 6+ weeks on an open tin I would normally have to rehydrate, jar, etc. Keeping the dryer tobacco out has prevented it from pulling the moister from the rest of the tobacco in the tin.
I have Peterson Christmas 2009. The tins are not sealed. I smoked about 20 to 30 bowls from this tin and I swear it looks as full like it did the day I opened it. I busted it open the other day and noticed the tobacco was really dry. Packed my pipe and I smoked beautifully. Still full of flavor and heck it even smoked better. People say aromatics do not age well. I do have some Holiday Spirit in mason jars and it seems to still be wonderful. Some Autumn Evening in some mason jars as well but it didn't fair as well. These are all from tins I opened 2 years ago. I need to smoke more but I was impressed with the quality of the Peterson's even after it dried out.
Sorry, after posting above I realized that I had not got to the second issue of bowl size. I don't think it matters based on the size of the cut (e.g., broken flake, ribbon, etc.) as much as blend type. I like narrow bowls for VA's and broader bowls for Lat. blends. I am not a big aro guy but broader seems to do better for me there too. Flakes do need to have a bowl big enough to take them when folded if you like to fold instead of rub out, however. Flake also seems to puff up more on the false light so I always leave a little more room at the top than I do with other types.
There is always a right, or best time for nearly everything. As cigar smokers, we all know our favorite times and circumstances for smoking a cigar. For me, the perfect time to smoke a pipe is on a cool cloudy fall morning, walking through the woods as the leaves are beginning to turn, after a night of rain. McClelland's Dark English was the choice today, and it fit the mood wonderfully. Nice.
Another thread had me thinking about moister levels and aging. If you want to age your tobacco it is important to get the moister content to the 15-18% mark. Less than this while it is good for smoking will not allow some of the the tobacco oils to marry as well or at all. So for those of you who like Dan's Ham. Veer. for example, I have found that it comes too dry and to age it needs to be removed from the tin or bad and re-hydrated to this mark and then placed in jars. Sam Gawith's blends come at the right levels so nothing needs to be done with them.
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