Bowl Coating Magic

[GBMorris]

Hi Folks,

All the bowl coating recipes I've seen have no quantities on them; they just list ingredients. (For example, this one.) Are they typically mixed in 1:1 ratios? Is it something you just have to figure out for yourself? Any tips from you guys who regularly coat your bowls?

Thanks,
Greg

[Mike Messer]

The recipe I've seen here a lot is sour cream and buttermilk mixed 50-50, then add pharmaceutical charcoal capsules (dumped out) crushed to a fine powder and mixed in until you get a good opaque paint-like material (quantity?). Then you apply it with a tiny artists paint brush.

But I don't use this. I use Maple Syrup, and I burn little slivers of Briar scraps and then crush them to form a fine powder and then mix and apply, as above.
I use a flat artist's brush. about 1/4 inch wide with short, stiff bristles. It's kind-of like a tiny, very flexible, putty knife effect. The paint is thick and lumpy.

The Maple Syrup recipe (probably similar to the sugar and water recipe) will dry like a paint, but can be removed with damp Q-Tips or a cloth, before smoking the pipe. Some people think bowl coatings are used to conceal flaws in the wood, and with a removable coating they know they can remove it and can see what they have. Also, they may not like the idea of smoking a bowl coating.

[KurtHuhn]

There's not too much magic to it. I use a recipe that Trever Talbert (IIRC) clued me in on several years ago, and I seem to recall a few other pros use it as well.

1 part activated carbon
2 parts fine pumice
and enough sodium silicate to make a thick "glaze"

Too thick and it won't adhere to the bowl very well. Too thin and it will be rather translucent. It's that fine line that you need experiment with. I mix and measure by eye, having done it for so long, and never have a problem. If a customer requests it be removed, it's easy to do with the same bit you drilled the tobacco chamber. Follow up with a bit of 180 or 220 grit sandpaper spinning in a slotted dowel on the lathe (Bruce and Todd have a special name for this ), and it's nice and clean.

[GBMorris]

That clears things up nicely! Thanks, gents.

Greg

[Sasquatch]

Bowl coatings?


BOWL coatings?



We donneed no steenking bowl coatings!

[Mike Messer]

Bowl coatings?


BOWL coatings?



We donneed no steenking bowl coatings!

True. I forgot to mention that. If the pipe looks good without a coating, you can skip it. I try to skip it whenever posible.
"Real Pipemakers don't use bowl coatings." (not true, some of the greatest pipemakers around use coatings)
Sometimes to cover some inevitable, sloppy stain work, maybe, or if the wood color inside the bowl does not look good with the pipe color, or it just looks unfinished, and if this is important to you, it's a personal choice, I think.

[caskwith]

Very "lively" debate about bowl coatings on Smokers Forums at the moment.

[e Markle]

Very "lively" debate about bowl coatings on Smokers Forums at the moment.

I can't follow the logic. Apparently only crooks and liars use bowl coats? Since bowl coats don't help the break-in process, minimize the risk of burn-out or add an aesthetic component that many of us prefer, the only possible explanation is that coated bowls are the direct and undeniable evidence of an intent to deceive.

I have no problem with someone not wanting a coated bowl - I get that. However, I do take issue with the notion that it's there to deceive or present a false image.

Anyway...

[Sasquatch]

Well... I'm 50/50 ... I do think some bowl coatings, or the vast majority of coatings, are put on there to hide stuff. It's no accident that Peterson didn't coat their smooth pipes but DID coat the rustics and sandblasts. Cuz the briar is ugly!

There's obviously other reasons, but being fairly firmly in the no-coat camp, I really appreciate the arguments for leaving it bare.

[KurtHuhn]

You could MAYBE argue that bowl coatings are designed to hide flaws in the chamber. Maybe. If you're talking about $40 factory pipes.

However, when you're speaking in the context of artisinaly crafted pipes, all arguments fail. The bowl coating is there to provide an aesthetically pleasing look, protect the pipe during break-in, and minimize the likelihood of burnout prior to break-in. Period, the end, thank you.

[RadDavis]

artisinaly?

Rad

[KurtHuhn]

Sounded better than craftsmanly.

[TreverT]

I saw that thread. Posting a poll about bowl coatings and then specifically saying pipemakers should not vote or comment was like having a debate about climate change and barring actual climatologists from participating. I'm thinking of writing a bog article on the subject but I'm not sure I could do it without offending about a million people. OTOH, all those hard-core anti-coating people will never buy pipes from me anyway, so does it matter?

[LathamPipes]

how long does the coating take to dry typically? Im experimenting on some throw aways, and made some paste last night, still a sticky mess....

[KurtHuhn]

That... depends.

If you use the waterglass recipe it takes no time at all. If you use the buttermilk one it can take a little longer. And I have no idea how long grape jelly takes to solidify.

[wdteipen]

It depends on your recipe. What are you using?

I use water, honey, and activated charcoal and it takes a few days to really harden. Milk paints tend to dry faster. Waterglass mixtures dry the fastest in my experience.

[andrew]

Waterglass is the fastest drying of the ones mentioned. A honey mix takes a min of 12 hrs or so out here, but we have negative humidity so...

If you use sour cream and activated charcoal it'll take 12 hrs or so. The biggest difference between the honey, waterglass, and sour cream options for me is appearance. The sour cream coat is matte, the waterglass one is slightly shiny, the honey recipie can be very shiny (at least that's how they came out for me).

[wdteipen]

Waterglass is the fastest drying of the ones mentioned. A honey mix takes a min of 12 hrs or so out here, but we have negative humidity so...

If you use sour cream and activated charcoal it'll take 12 hrs or so. The biggest difference between the honey, waterglass, and sour cream options for me is appearance. The sour cream coat is matte, the waterglass one is slightly shiny, the honey recipie can be very shiny (at least that's how they came out for me).

Interesting. The honey mixture I use is matte and it's black as opposed to the milk paint mixture which is gray which is why I prefer the honey mixture. I'm guessing it has to do with the ingredient ratios as to whether you get a matte or shiny finish.

[Charl]

Just by the way, where do you get waterglass from? I asked my pharmacist and his eyes just glazed over
Been using the buttermilk/sourcream recipe for years, but I'm not very happy with the results.
Oh, and another one: when using pumice, just to make sure, the black version is used?

[KurtHuhn]

I got my waterglass online. It might have been from thechemistrystore.com, but it was so long ago I can't remember.

The pumice I use is grey. The activated charcoal makes the resulting mix black.