Reaming a pipe's smoke-hole.
Most pipe smokers, myself among them, frequently run a chenille pipe cleaner through a pipe's smoke-hole to clean out the gunk. Water, alcohol or other "sweetening" solvent on the pipe cleaner does a fair job of removing most of the pyrogenic tars that would otherwise sour the pipe and eventually narrow the smoke-hole. I usually use a dry pipe cleaner.
At some point, though, the pipe tends to clog easily, and more aggressive methods are needed to remove the hardened deposits from the smoke-hole. If you've smoked a pipe for more than a few years, you've certainly experienced the frustration of trying to ream that tiny hole. For the past two decades, what I've used is a tiny steel rod with a triangular cross section. It's never worked particularly well.
Thanks to the metal working skill of leverhead, I now have the perfect smoke-hole reaming tool.
Leverhead's Pipe-hole Dream Ream.
The steel rod is 4-15/16" long, 3/32" diameter and springy like music wire, though it actually seems fairly rigid at this length.
Leverhead's Pipe-hole Dream Ream, handle side view.
The stiffness of the rod, and the 90º face of the tip (unlike the rounded tip of most pipe tool rods) allow me to remove even well hardened deposits from the smoke-hole. I've used it already on a dozen pipes, many dating to the 1970s. The shaft diameter seems perfect.
The tip is not chamfered, but is faced at 90º to the axis of the shaft.
One of my concerns was that it might gouge the wall of the smoke-hole in my meerschaum pipes. I noticed no problem with this. The briar shrugged it off as well.
One other concern was that the large handle was a bit of overkill. As it turns out, that handle is perfect for the amount of force that is sometimes required to push through the hardened crud.
The handle allows excellent control of the reaming force.
I just have to say that I love this thing. The one remaining question is why it took hundreds of years for someone to create such an important pipe tool.
Thank you, leverhead.
Bob
