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The Frank Method - packing a bowl

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greenmonster714

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I've been smoking a pipe a few yrs now and have had issues with packing a bowl in the past. Never really paying much attention to how important it can be. I came across this shared video on packing a pipe at a pipe forum. The guy in the in the thread went on about how well it improves the burning of the tobacco and could often times get through a whole bowl without a relight.
So, I gave it a try. It's a messy way to load a bowl but I've found what the guy in the thread was talking about. Each bowl I've tried with this method has been a good even burn with with no relight if I don't have to sit down the pipe

Id not seen this mentioned anywhere here at FTT. So, I thought I'd share it for anyone interested.
 

Charly

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Re: The Frank Method

Depending on the pipe and the tobacco cut, some methods work better than others.

Sometimes, I use the "Frank method" (I learned it a few years ago), it works well.
There is another method which works well to ensure a good draw : the "palm roll packing method".
I find it even easier to learn and feel.

Here is a youtube video showing it :

I think it's a good method to learn how to pack a pipe correctly (not too tight or too loose).
I remember having hard times when I begun pipe smoking to achieve a good packing... It took me a lot of time to learn this !
 

greenmonster714

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Re: The Frank Method

Another good video. I agree packing is half the battle. I've had trouble in the past but not so much lately using the FM. I'll have to give this other one a try. It looks easy enough. Thanks Charly
 

davek14

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Re: The Frank Method

Load the bowl, tamp lightly. Load again, tamp more heavily. Fill above the top a bit and tamp even more heavily. Since we *are* doing imperfectly shredded/diced whole leaf, put bigger pieces in the bottom.

I guess the point of the Frank method is the same, less lightly tamped stuff on bottom.
 

deluxestogie

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Most discussions of packing a pipe ignore all the variables that dramatically affect burn and draw. The Bernoulli equation (nozzle effect) tells us that drawing through a narrow orifice requires more effort than drawing through a wide orifice.

variables:
  • what varieties of tobacco are in the blend (some burn better than others)
  • size of the shred (fine shred burns hotter than coarse shred, and tends to pack more tightly)
  • moisture content of the blend (dry burns better than wet. Duh!)
  • width of the bowl (wide burns cooler and draws better than narrow: Bernoulli equation)
  • depth of the bow (tobacco at the bottom gets wetter in a taller bowl: Bernoulli equation)
  • diameter of the smoke hole (larger hole admits fines more easily, but usually draws better: Bernoulli equation)
  • metal appliances within the shank (increase the condensate back-flow into the bowl, making tobacco at the bottom wetter: Carnot refrigeration cycle. Yikes!)
  • evil casings in the blend (most impede combustion, and require hotter temps and looser packing to burn)
I'm sure there are more variables. I think specific "methods" may be useful for a new pipe smoker to get a foothold on comfortable pipe smoking. Beyond that, and especially when moving beyond fine-shred, cased, commercial pipe blends, packing a bowl intuitively adapts to all those variables.

The easiest pipe in the world, at least for being forgiving about packing technique, is a fat MM corncob, because of the large diameter smoke hole. The easiest tobacco to pack usefully in any pipe is uncased leaf in a coarse shred.

Bob
 

Charly

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I agree with all you wrote Bob.
The good thing I found with the "palm" packing method is that it's really easy to get a correct draw (even more when you begin pipe smoking).

When I started, I used the "3 tiers" method (one pinch like a baby, one pinch like a lady, then a last pinch like a man), I found it hard to achieve... either the bowl was too loose, or too tight...
With the Franck method, if you don't select the right "pinch" of tobacco to fill the bowl, you end up with the same problem, and you can push too hard too.

But as you say, there is no perfect method, there are different methods that suit more or less depending on all the "variables" ;)
 

alPol05

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The beginning of this month is six months anniversary since I stopped smoking cigarettes and started my adventure with a pipe.

For many reasons, I had a problem with smoking a pipe - it was smoking hot, going out, I had to re-light often. Simply put it - a misery. I have been searching for answers. I watched these videos, explaining how to pack a pipe "properly," presumably to smoke better. None of the methods solve the problem, although small improvements were noticeable. During December (the second month into pipe smoking), last year, I started reading some forums and noticed that many experienced smokers mention about drying tobacco before packing a pipe. Aha!... I tied that and... Eureka! - It worked!

Since then, my routine is to dry tobacco before packing a pipe. I abandoned any specific pipe packing technique. I smoke four different types of pipe - 9mm pipes, "stinger" pipes, no-filer pipes and cobs. Every one of these requires somewhat different technique to pack it.

I learned how to pack these by doing. Now I don't even think about it. My fingers know the drill for each pipe type, and intuitively I do it right. Sometimes it doesn't work, but in most cases, it's because I want to smoke right away and right now, so I break the rule - dry tobacco only!

Two other most important variable for me (mentioned by Bob above) - wider tobacco cut when possible and no casing or flavoring.
 

deluxestogie

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Two tools for when a good bowl goes bad.

Sometimes, when you pack your bowl perfectly, a little plug of tobacco may find its way into the opening of the smoke hole. The pipe won't draw.

I have two steel rods. One, presented to me by another forum member (leverhead), is intended as a smoke hole ream (and works wonderfully for that purpose). It's about 6" long, and has a 90° cut. It's diameter matches that of most briar pipes' smoke holes. My other rod is a thin thing, a little thicker than a toothpick, but also about 6" long.

Garden20130214_555_SmokeHoleReam_entire_500.jpg


When I pack a bowl that has a problem with its draw, I begin to remedy that by inserting the thin rod down the back inner edge of the pipe bowl. When it reaches the bottom, I wiggle it a bit. This usually relieves the block. If that doesn't work, then I remove the pipe bit, and insert the thicker rod down the shank and into the bowl. This never fails, but is something of a nuisance.

Bob

EDIT: Sometimes, just wedging the flat of a pipe nail down the packed tobacco can also loosen it sufficiently.
 

greenmonster714

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The beginning of this month is six months anniversary since I stopped smoking cigarettes and started my adventure with a pipe.

For many reasons, I had a problem with smoking a pipe - it was smoking hot, going out, I had to re-light often. Simply put it - a misery. I have been searching for answers. I watched these videos, explaining how to pack a pipe "properly," presumably to smoke better. None of the methods solve the problem, although small improvements were noticeable. During December (the second month into pipe smoking), last year, I started reading some forums and noticed that many experienced smokers mention about drying tobacco before packing a pipe. Aha!... I tied that and... Eureka! - It worked!

Since then, my routine is to dry tobacco before packing a pipe. I abandoned any specific pipe packing technique. I smoke four different types of pipe - 9mm pipes, "stinger" pipes, no-filer pipes and cobs. Every one of these requires somewhat different technique to pack it.

I learned how to pack these by doing. Now I don't even think about it. My fingers know the drill for each pipe type, and intuitively I do it right. Sometimes it doesn't work, but in most cases, it's because I want to smoke right away and right now, so I break the rule - dry tobacco only!

Two other most important variable for me (mentioned by Bob above) - wider tobacco cut when possible and no casing or flavoring.

Congrats on stopping the cigarettes. That's one tough monkey to get off your back. I quit about 8yrs ago and COPD still caught up to me. I hope you can Dodge that bullet.
Yes, drying out tobacco works well. Specially those heavy on the cake like Super Value brands. I usually pack a bowl hours before I smoke it. Works for me.
 

deluxestogie

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I'll take a tangent here, and use the C word. I always encourage new cigar rollers to roll one, then smoke it. I discourage rolling batches of cigars until the basic skills are solid. So, imagine learning to pack a pipe by packing 10 bowls at once (to give them time to "meld", of course), then finally discovering when you light up that first bowl whether or not you're getting the pipe-packing skill correctly applied.

Bob
 

Jitterbugdude

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I much prefer the Mark Twain method. From an interview he gave to a reporter...

"I was much impressed by the ingenuity with which Mark Twain fills his corn-cob pipe. The humorist is an inspired Idler. He is a lazy man, and likes to do things with the least trouble to himself. He smokes a granulated tobacco which he keeps in a long check bag made of silk and rubber. When he has finished smoking, he knocks the residue from the bowl of the pipe, takes out the stem, places it in his vest pocket, like a pencil or a stylographic pen, and throws the bowl into the bag containing the granulated tobacco. When he wishes to smoke again (this is usually five minutes later) he fishes out the bowl, which is now filled with tobacco, inserts the stern, and strikes a light"
 

greenmonster714

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I much prefer the Mark Twain method. From an interview he gave to a reporter...

"I was much impressed by the ingenuity with which Mark Twain fills his corn-cob pipe. The humorist is an inspired Idler. He is a lazy man, and likes to do things with the least trouble to himself. He smokes a granulated tobacco which he keeps in a long check bag made of silk and rubber. When he has finished smoking, he knocks the residue from the bowl of the pipe, takes out the stem, places it in his vest pocket, like a pencil or a stylographic pen, and throws the bowl into the bag containing the granulated tobacco. When he wishes to smoke again (this is usually five minutes later) he fishes out the bowl, which is now filled with tobacco, inserts the stern, and strikes a light"

That is an odd way of going about it. A bowl every five minutes after the last one. Wow.
 
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