semi-burnt chamber repair plan critique

Discussion of pipe restoration and sales, as well as pipe repair and maintenance tricks.
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GPipe
Posts: 43
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 10:37 pm
Location: Boise, Idaho

semi-burnt chamber repair plan critique

Post by GPipe »

Picked up an estate pipe. Full bent and the previous owner apparently liked to let it hang which caused the shank side chamber wall to burn and loose material. Over-reaming also left gouges in the walls. No burnouts evident. I don't smoke this pipe very often but would like to prevent further damage.

Please critique my repair/maintenance plan.

Coat chamber with mixture of powdered carbon, powdered sugar, and water to slightly build wall thickness.
Smoke pipe and gently tap out large loose material but try not to remove cake. Repeat this step a number of times.
Gently ream front side chamber so it doesn't get too thick (this side maintains near-original wall thickness).
Re-apply bowl coating to shank side chamber wall to build cake thickness. Repeat this step until cake thickness is sufficient to provide protection.

My only concern is getting the cake too thick and risking heat expansion during smoking which can result in cracking the bowl.

Thanks!
caskwith
Posts: 2196
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:00 am

Re: semi-burnt chamber repair plan critique

Post by caskwith »

Clean out charred material, coarse sandpaper is better than a reamer. Once you have a solid base add 2-3 coats of a water glass based bowl coating, let it dry in between coats.
Smoke it as usual, you will have no more problems. Any future cake that builds just knock it back with the coarse sandpaper again.
GPipe
Posts: 43
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 10:37 pm
Location: Boise, Idaho

Re: semi-burnt chamber repair plan critique

Post by GPipe »

Thank you Sir.
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