In my starting journey into pipe making I have observed something important. A wide but short slot disperses the smoke along the palate in a way that takes the concentrated smoke from the tapered drilling and maximizes the flavor.
Two of my stems so far were made with wide and tall slots, this dilutes the taste, although the smoke hits the palate evenly and coolly, the taste is but a shadow of what it would be with a wide and short slot
The Slot Makes All The Difference
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The Slot Makes All The Difference
Acting like a loon in the front yard, close to the road.
Re: The Slot Makes All The Difference
A well cut slot, no matter how deep or wide will smoke equally well. The depth and width should vary slightly with the style of stem. A slot width in the ballpark of 3/8" seems pretty ideal. The depth will depend on how far back your stem is thin. A saddle stem will require a deeper slot than a taper. I tend to cut all my slots at least an inch deep but that's just me and on tapers it's not necessary to be that deep.
- PremalChheda
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Re: The Slot Makes All The Difference
In my opinion, the only reason for the slot is so the mouthpiece can be made thin & comfortable, graceful, and still have strength. A straight hole all the way through at 1/8" or greater will still provide a very good smoke. The size of the slot really does not matter as long as it is opened enough so the volume that is needed gets through. However, if there is a pinching where the slot meets the airway, there is a good chance when someone uses a pipe cleaner, the juices get squeegeed back into the stem when it is pulled out.
Premal Chheda
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http://www.chhedapipes.com - Just for fun
http://www.smokershaven.com - New & Estate Pipes
http://www.rawkrafted.com - Pipe Making Tools, Materials, & Supplies
Re: The Slot Makes All The Difference
That's a real good point, I've never thought about the point where the air hole meets the slot and it might be pinching a bit.PremalChheda wrote:In my opinion, the only reason for the slot is so the mouthpiece can be made thin & comfortable, graceful, and still have strength. A straight hole all the way through at 1/8" or greater will still provide a very good smoke. The size of the slot really does not matter as long as it is opened enough so the volume that is needed gets through. However, if there is a pinching where the slot meets the airway, there is a good chance when someone uses a pipe cleaner, the juices get squeegeed back into the stem when it is pulled out.
I'll certainly look out for that and probably go back and check my stems I've already done.
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