Recently I’ve noticed a lot more bro’s getting into pipes & my recommendation is usually a cob or a less expensive Rossi or basket pipe. Cobs are obviously the most economical, but have some glaring faults for long term use. Very low quality stems, burning wood where the shank sits in the bowl, and after the shank burns out it can separate from the pipe even with the use of pipe mud. Otherwise, it’s cheap, it burns tobacco nice and clean, breaks in fast, and delivers great flavor if you don’t burn down to the wood. Most guys sit down their cobs once they get a few briars that they enjoy. It doesn’t have to be this way.
There are a few steps I take to make my cobs smoke as good or better than most of my briars. I wish I could take credit for these methods but they’ve been around forever. It may be more work than some are willing to do when you can grab a decent pipe for less than fifty dollars. However, if you’re a little crafty, and have an hour to burn (30m or less once you do it once or twice) you can really dial in a cob, and have a near perfect smoker.
I’ll leave it to YouTubers CaneRodPiper & Bare Pipe to show you their methods for modifying cobs with a couple suggestions from my own experience. The videos from CaneRod show the deconstruction, modifications, and reconstruction of the cobs. He’s made a mixture consisting of plaster of Paris, salt, and activated carbon, and is what I recommend if you intend to use the slight adjustment I’ve made to the modifications he describes in his videos. It’s far superior to pipe mud which is simply cigar ash and water which works just fine but isn’t as stable long term.
This is the cement mixture that CaneRod developed-
This is the first of a handful of videos he has on modding cobs. The rest are easily searchable on his channel-
Bare Pipe’s video isn’t about cob pipes, but shows a simple way to fix gurgling pipes. It happens to be an ideal method for shaping a cement/mud bottom bowl in a cob once you do the edits to the stem even though he is working on a briar in this video -
My own recommendations after a little studying to get your head wrapped around this very simple process are:
-use the microwave 10 seconds at a time to free the shank from the bowl. Remove the metal ring on the shank first of course.
- Cut the shank about 1/8” past the bowl wall instead of flush when using the cement (not the mud). There should be an indention/recess where you pack the cement into the bowl wall to insulate the wooden shank from the smoking chamber. I use a freshly sharpened pencil to mark the shank inside of the chamber & cut 1/8” behind that line. Use a file to slowly remove more wood after the initial cut if needed. You’ll never taste wood again once the recess is filled and shaped.
-I like to use Gorilla super glue to fasten the shank back into the bowl. You’ll have to one shot the reattachment of the shank because the glue dries very quickly. Dry fit the shank and make adjustments before you commit. This step is permanent.
- Use a Decatur style pipe ream to get the general shape of the chamber and clay sculpting knives to finish. Have your drill bit or skewer ready to form up your draft hole while shaping and finishing using Bare Pipe’s method to complete the modification.
- pick out a couple nice forever stems Vermont Freehand. They can really round out the look and feel of cob. I have them on all of my cobs.
I hope this is found to be useful, adds to the life and enjoyment of your cobs the way it has mine.
Remember. You don’t have to do all of this. You can get a fair level of performance with the mud method after chipping out the shank. But Bro’s… this isn’t about good enough. This is about perfection!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
There are a few steps I take to make my cobs smoke as good or better than most of my briars. I wish I could take credit for these methods but they’ve been around forever. It may be more work than some are willing to do when you can grab a decent pipe for less than fifty dollars. However, if you’re a little crafty, and have an hour to burn (30m or less once you do it once or twice) you can really dial in a cob, and have a near perfect smoker.
I’ll leave it to YouTubers CaneRodPiper & Bare Pipe to show you their methods for modifying cobs with a couple suggestions from my own experience. The videos from CaneRod show the deconstruction, modifications, and reconstruction of the cobs. He’s made a mixture consisting of plaster of Paris, salt, and activated carbon, and is what I recommend if you intend to use the slight adjustment I’ve made to the modifications he describes in his videos. It’s far superior to pipe mud which is simply cigar ash and water which works just fine but isn’t as stable long term.
This is the cement mixture that CaneRod developed-
This is the first of a handful of videos he has on modding cobs. The rest are easily searchable on his channel-
Bare Pipe’s video isn’t about cob pipes, but shows a simple way to fix gurgling pipes. It happens to be an ideal method for shaping a cement/mud bottom bowl in a cob once you do the edits to the stem even though he is working on a briar in this video -
My own recommendations after a little studying to get your head wrapped around this very simple process are:
-use the microwave 10 seconds at a time to free the shank from the bowl. Remove the metal ring on the shank first of course.
- Cut the shank about 1/8” past the bowl wall instead of flush when using the cement (not the mud). There should be an indention/recess where you pack the cement into the bowl wall to insulate the wooden shank from the smoking chamber. I use a freshly sharpened pencil to mark the shank inside of the chamber & cut 1/8” behind that line. Use a file to slowly remove more wood after the initial cut if needed. You’ll never taste wood again once the recess is filled and shaped.
-I like to use Gorilla super glue to fasten the shank back into the bowl. You’ll have to one shot the reattachment of the shank because the glue dries very quickly. Dry fit the shank and make adjustments before you commit. This step is permanent.
- Use a Decatur style pipe ream to get the general shape of the chamber and clay sculpting knives to finish. Have your drill bit or skewer ready to form up your draft hole while shaping and finishing using Bare Pipe’s method to complete the modification.
- pick out a couple nice forever stems Vermont Freehand. They can really round out the look and feel of cob. I have them on all of my cobs.
I hope this is found to be useful, adds to the life and enjoyment of your cobs the way it has mine.
Remember. You don’t have to do all of this. You can get a fair level of performance with the mud method after chipping out the shank. But Bro’s… this isn’t about good enough. This is about perfection!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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