The moral of this thread can be summed up as keep your toilet paper stocked, and in a larger sense, just learn how to smoke a fucking pipe. It ain’t rocket science.
Beat the Gurgling!! Here's how . . . . .
- Thread starter gord
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I most certainly will. Thanks! :D The simple solutions are usually the most effective.
Brilliant. I don't have the mechanical skills to do that though!I drilled a hole through the bottom of the bowl then installed one of those spring loaded brass spit valves like trombones have over the hole. Then when it gurgles, I seal the bowl top with my thumb, open the valve and blow through the stem.
I'm used to that lol. I'm an academic. I taught at UBC and several regional colleges in BC as a sessional instructor of both violin and piano for many years, as well as compostiion and analitical theory. As a sessional instrumental instructor, you are actually "unteaching" bad habits developed in high school so they can actually win an audition and enter the profession. Only 5% of Music Majors actually get to that level. The rest? Well, most go into the Department of Education where they proliferate those same very bad habits. Go figure. My doctoral work was done, not in music, but in Educational Curriculum, which is the High Church of Relativism, that is, judging things by your own personal opinion and feelings, which is now the de rigeur mode of our society. All my other degrees were in performance and composition.
Thanks for your well thought out and sensitive reply. We have been the architects of our own problems for sure! I'll continue to sojourn through my journey in the forum, probably doing what I do best. . . . . irritating people but making some fast friends along the way. Apologies in advance!
Signing off the topic now!
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Ok ok ok... one of the greatest myths in pipesmoking is that the draft must come up from dead center, very bottom of the chamber. UTTER BULLSHIT! Before even starting to explain that the greatest pipemakers on their top of the line bent pipes NEVER make the draft come up dead bottom, let me ask how on earth people think that a high draft would make this pipe gurgle? There is no sense in that explanation.
People mudding up the bottom of their pipes, why the fuck you doing that? God, I hate pipe mythologies. Makes people stupid as shit.
Ok, so go into a pipe shop that has some high end Danish and Italian pipes. Find the most expansive bent pipes from that group and look at where the draft meets the chamber. A bent pipe is guaranteed to go through a phase of gurgling, if not the entirety of it's life. This is because a bent stem creates turbulence inside the draft which condenses the water vapor to droplets of water. And, if the draft were to come up dead center bottom, there would be nowhere else for that droplet of water to go but set there and gurgle. YOU DO NOT WANT THE DRAFT TO HIT DEAD CENTER BOTTOM. But, if it came up a tad higher in the chamber, you could slightly blow and expel that droplet, or it could just naturally fall.
If this is a bent pipe you have, then of course it is going to gurgle, especially if you have no concept of how slow to smoke. Think... smoking with no visible smoke. Only slight wisps. Of course, you may choo choo the hell out of your pipe, and carry on doing doodads to fix the problem, as you waste tobacco into the air.
I suggest not getting a bent pipe, especially if a little gurgle is going to bother you. But, even a straight pipe "can" gurgle if pushed too hard or fast.
The OP said that the high draft hole was causing the gurgle. Not wanting to start a debate on whether that's true or not I simply took him at his word and gave him a solution for a high draft hole. That's all. No drama, no myths.
As far as other reasons one may want to mud a pipe with a high draft hole, I can only give you the reason I did it one one of my pipes. Quite simply, it annoyed me
With all due respect to all you pipe wizards and non-adepts alike, you’re all lost as last year’s Easter eggs.
The best treatment for a gurgling pipe is to smoke Harder. You’ve got to create enough pressure to suck all the moisture up through the mouthpiece, early and often. The only way to truly do that is to properly INHALE. This may be anathema to some of you Clinton strikers but be ye not deceived - real men inhale.
Now, if you are a true micro-lung, you will need to improve your diaphragm and intercosta strength. I advise heavy sets deadlifts immediately followed by sprints - with tape over your pie-hole to ensure you are breathing only through your nose. Only then will you have the requisite capability to properly enjoy your pipe. Visit my YouTube channel - PipeDick- for more helpful tips. You’re welcome.
The best treatment for a gurgling pipe is to smoke Harder. You’ve got to create enough pressure to suck all the moisture up through the mouthpiece, early and often. The only way to truly do that is to properly INHALE. This may be anathema to some of you Clinton strikers but be ye not deceived - real men inhale.
Now, if you are a true micro-lung, you will need to improve your diaphragm and intercosta strength. I advise heavy sets deadlifts immediately followed by sprints - with tape over your pie-hole to ensure you are breathing only through your nose. Only then will you have the requisite capability to properly enjoy your pipe. Visit my YouTube channel - PipeDick- for more helpful tips. You’re welcome.
I mean, it is about like hearing... "...because the stem is acrylic, the pipe gurgles..." and no one contested this?
You are easily annoyed by something you don't even have to look at while using the thing. There is medication for that... ha ha... JK.
And all this time I was under the impression that B.C. stood for Barely College.....apologies, to much corner gas in the diet.
High draft holes are not uncommon with bents. It's not an accident. Though I mostly smoke straight pipes, I do have a few bents that I enjoy from time to time. Gurgling isn't an issue with any of them because of the dryness of the tobacco and the packing. And on the rare occasion that a pipe gurgles I really don't care. Just tells me that I didn't dry down the tobacco enough.The OP said that the high draft hole was causing the gurgle. Not wanting to start a debate on whether that's true or not I simply took him at his word and gave him a solution for a high draft hole. That's all. No drama, no myths.
As far as other reasons one may want to mud a pipe with a high draft hole, I can only give you the reason I did it one one of my pipes. Quite simply, it annoyed me
This is getting absurd.
Every smoker who didn't start smoking a pipe yesterday knows the best and ONLY way to solve "gurgling" is with an oxyacetylene torch dialed to a perfect neutral flame, its tip inserted through the center of the tobacco to gently warm the bottom of the chamber to 6000 degrees F.
THAT TEMP MUST BE MAINTAINED FOR THE ENTIRE SMOKE.
The problems start when people get twitchy about the process and remove the torch too soon, or try to use a cutting tip as a shortcut.
I cannot believe the endless, exhaustive, non-stop alternative "discoveries" on boards like this one to keep a pipe dry. THERE AREN'T ANY.
(Not yet, anyway... there are some portable fusion-reactor-powered laser pistols in the works that might to the job if they're ever perfected. But until then an oxy torch is it.)
Every smoker who didn't start smoking a pipe yesterday knows the best and ONLY way to solve "gurgling" is with an oxyacetylene torch dialed to a perfect neutral flame, its tip inserted through the center of the tobacco to gently warm the bottom of the chamber to 6000 degrees F.
THAT TEMP MUST BE MAINTAINED FOR THE ENTIRE SMOKE.
The problems start when people get twitchy about the process and remove the torch too soon, or try to use a cutting tip as a shortcut.
I cannot believe the endless, exhaustive, non-stop alternative "discoveries" on boards like this one to keep a pipe dry. THERE AREN'T ANY.
(Not yet, anyway... there are some portable fusion-reactor-powered laser pistols in the works that might to the job if they're ever perfected. But until then an oxy torch is it.)
True...The best medication I've found for things that annoy me is to either fix them or make them go away. In this case, I really like this pipe and so decided to spare it's life
Oh and by the way, it's an absolute known fact that acrilyc stems gurgle. I read it on the interwebs. Not a myth.
I use aquarium pellets: Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/Acurel-LLC-Economy-Activated-Pellets/dp/B000YIWT0M/
Talking about putting a ring in the bowl reminds me of the Falcon pipe: Falcon Pipes - Tobacco Pipes from GQ Tobaccos - https://www.gqtobaccos.com/falcon-metal-pipes
Talking about putting a ring in the bowl reminds me of the Falcon pipe: Falcon Pipes - Tobacco Pipes from GQ Tobaccos - https://www.gqtobaccos.com/falcon-metal-pipes
How does one properly pack when using an oxyacetylene torch? I want to make sure that I'm doing this properly.
Asbestos is for rookies. Ideally you want to use a little thermite or phosphorus in the bottom third of the bowl (which incidentally work way better than pipe mud for filling in below a high draft hole in order to manage tongue bite).
Gord, if I am not smoking a cob, then I am most likely smoking a deeply bent pipe. Clenching a pipe while typing is how my dissertation got written. I tried fixes like some suggested here (admittedly, not to the same extremes). In the end, they did not fix anything for me.
This debate has already ground on too long, but the academic in me insists in must continue to keep the literature from becoming moribund.
As others have said, the problem is most likely not the draft hole, but that draft hole glares up at you, daring you to find fault in it. My experience tells me you are just going to have to relentlessly smoke that pipe until she gives up her secrets. I have had some go that way.
The beloved and departed James Scott wrote about the value of metis - practical knowledge derived from long and context-specific practice. Smoking a pipe is something that can only be mastered with metis. Even pipemakers’ efforts to perfect the engineering of pipes is a matter of metis, not bumbling iterations of trying to follow a received and technically perfect master plan.
Stick with her as-is. If you can’t make things work, move to a state with no-fault divorce. Then, buy a Falcon.
This debate has already ground on too long, but the academic in me insists in must continue to keep the literature from becoming moribund.
As others have said, the problem is most likely not the draft hole, but that draft hole glares up at you, daring you to find fault in it. My experience tells me you are just going to have to relentlessly smoke that pipe until she gives up her secrets. I have had some go that way.
The beloved and departed James Scott wrote about the value of metis - practical knowledge derived from long and context-specific practice. Smoking a pipe is something that can only be mastered with metis. Even pipemakers’ efforts to perfect the engineering of pipes is a matter of metis, not bumbling iterations of trying to follow a received and technically perfect master plan.
Stick with her as-is. If you can’t make things work, move to a state with no-fault divorce. Then, buy a Falcon.