Carbonizing Bowls With Carbon (Soot) Idea

[Mike Messer]

"Elementary, my dear Watsmon, uh Watson."
Request Comments.

Still in elementary testing. Will post more later.
The Idea:
1. Put the flame of a butane lighter (or other carbon soot source) against a ceramic or glass dish and deposit a film of carbon soot on the dish. Might also use powdered Carbon Black artists' ink or paint pigment.
2. Repeatedly, wipe the soot onto your finger and rub it into the bare wood inside the bowl. It covers better if the bowl is smooth.
3. Wipe out the excess by repeatedly hard wiping the bowl with dry tissue, so it won't be coming off on things.
4. Repeat the above until the bowl is as black as you can get it.

The color is much darker than bare wood, okay, but still very thin and not deep black. Good? Bad? The wood surface detail is still clearly visible, so no one would think the coating is disguising a flaw.
This is purely for appearance purposes, to give the bowl a more finished look. It probably will not protect the wood or affect the break-in process.
I think it is not especially toxic or detrimental to the tobacco flavor, a small amount of carbon scrubbed into the bowl.
So, that's it, for now.

[jeff]

Seems very labor intensive. Why not just wipe activated charcoal powder on the bowl interior? Better yet, wet the bowl, wipe the charcoal powder on it. It accomplishes the same thing, takes less time.

Have fun.

Jeff

[Sasquatch]

The "soot" deposited will be fairly "unpure" I would guess. A mixture of unburned butane and other hydrocarbons. Probably tastes like crap. "Blackness" is not in and of itself an indication that you have carbon and carbon alone. You get that up to maybe 1500 degrees and we'll talk about what's left.

I coat my bowls with a thick layer of tobacco, and then light them up, or let clients do same.

[Mike Messer]

Thanks for the comments, Jeff, Sasquatch.
I will have to try some activated charcoal, see if it's fine ground enough, if it works, or some carbon black pigment. It does sound easier.
And the Sas.. comment does make soot seem like a bad idea. I haven't tried smoking one coated with soot yet. I don't have an actual pipe I would test it on, at this time.
I think what you are saying, is you "coat the bowls with tobacco and light them up", meaning you just smoke the pipe, normally, right? Or is this some kind of finishing technique using tobacco?

I can see how, from some perspectives, coating the bowl might be overkill. Trying too hard to create a "Finished Product," to impress potential customers, and, probably most enlightened customers are not impressed, and maybe the less savy customers are impressed by the superficial finish. Would that be about right or completely wrong?

[KurtHuhn]

I think you're on the right idea there, Mike. Trying too hard to create a "finished product" can backfire on you in some situations.

As Jeff said, it's extremely labor intensive. I would also add that it's of dubious value both functionally and cosmetically. The way you describe the proposed process, it seems to me that it would result in a layer too thin to provide a handhold for cake to form, too thin to provide any initial protection, and would look like the maker simply spilled black stain into the bowl. There are a handful of bowl coating recipes that are pretty much public domain. Any of these would be faster, provide some level of protection during break-in, and look better.

I think what Sasquatch was saying is that, instead of worrying about minutia like this, fill the pipe and smoke it - or let your customers do the same.

Now, please don't take this post as me trying to dissuade you from experimenting. I'm curious to see what you come up with.

[Sasquatch]

That's exactly what I was saying. A) I don't believe a bowl coating is necessary if you treat a pipe ANY kind of carefully for the first.... let's say dozen smokes. Just light er up! B) A labor intensive approach to getting an unknown product can't possibly be the best way to achieve "pure" charcoal/carbon - as Jeff mentioned, it's not tough to find suitable ingredients.

Personally , the only time I would really consider coating a bowl as being necessary would be if I was trying to hide some kind of flaw in the wood, in which case, it's UN necessary cuz the pipe is not going out the door.

I don't mind a pipe with a honey/ash pre coating. That does seem to work not bad, but I suspect the ash from a bowl of Best Brown Flake would do the trick as well as anything else.

I just got a Wiley with a coated bowl too, so I'm gonna go smoke that sucker and see what I think.

[KurtHuhn]

The subject of bowl coating is one in which there is little common ground. Some say it's completely unnecessary, and others claim it's needed. It's about as close to a holy war as one will find in pipedom. The problem is, very few folks have ever done any actual scientific research on the subject, and instead base their rantings on hearsay, opinion, misinformation, etc, and apply sweeping statements based on a very narrow set of experiences.

It's a touchy subject for sure. And it's started more than one flame war in forums around the Internet.

[Sasquatch]

Wow I didn't realize it was that touchy.

I've broken in many uncoated pipes and had no troubles, and they have all turned into nice smokers, so I have thought no more about it.

On the other side, I had a first smoke in a coated Wiley today, and it smoked just lovely.

[Mike Messer]

I've read about the sour cream/buttermilk/charcoal coating recipe. It sounds strange to me, but obviously it works, although I haven't tried it yet.
I think I will can the soot idea, altogether. It does look thin and seems useless.
May go with the no coating method, which is what I've been doing with all my experimental pipes, so far.
Subject is Not touchy, here, just kicking the idea around. Anybody, feel free.
M.M.

[KurtHuhn]

Where it sees the most flame is on forums frequented by smokers, not makers. Most makers agree that a coating is usually preferred when sending your pipes out the door, basically for consistency reasons during break-in. But even here there has been one or two curfuffles on the subject. It's been a couple years though, if I recall.

[jeff]

Mike,

I value the desire to experiment and contribute to the craft original ideas. Novel bowl coatings may be the right way for you to go, but I doubt it. The dairy based coating is widely used and is utterly flavorless when smoked. A minute portion of the collecting community claims to be able to taste it. Others use ones bound to the bowl walls with sodium silicate, which adds char protection to the list of features.

Invest the time saved by using traditional bowl coatings into creating beautiful pipes. Successful shaping experiments will turn more heads than bowl coating recipes.

Best,

Jeff

[T3pipes]

Question about the buttermilk coating. does it go bad if it sits for some time before it is smoked?

[KurtHuhn]

No.