precarb bowl coating

Juan Delacroix likes to say that “God leads every pipeman by a different path,” and in that spirit I thought I’d share a few DIY thoughts. The first, from Prof. John Schantz, CPG on how to create a bare chamber in a new K&P that has the “new” bowl coating; the second, an update on how you can replicate K&P’s pre-carb bowl coating for yourself.  CREATING A BARE CHAMBER A bare chamber can be a dangerous thing, leading to scorch marks, spider webbing and (shudder) even burn outs. That’s why virtually no pipe maker offers one. They’d rather provide the insurance of a precarb or glass-impregnated and impenetrable bowl coating, which keeps them from economic loss and a bad name and the pipe smoker from anger and frustration. However. For those with a taste for adventure and pipe nirvana—and I am not recommending you try this for yourself so please don’t send me hate mail—there is a special bliss that that can be experienced when breaking in a pipe with a bare chamber, a heavenly taste and otherworldly smoke. I suspect it has to do with the nothingness of everything, but that’s a theological (or philosophical) discussion best left for another time. I can only testify—along with Prof. John, who is the True Believer here, that when I’m up for the thrill of it, it’s amazing, if also a bit dangerous. It doesn’t last forever, but the strange thing is, that a pipe broken in with a bare chamber just seems to smoke better and better with repeated use. John makes everything look easy. This is his 4AB with the precarb removed. Caveats The big danger factor comes in the fact that I’m not nearly as self-aware as I ought to be when breaking in a new pipe. I get all excited about the process, promise to retard my cadence, slow down and concentrate on sipping through the first few bowls. But it’s me that tends to be retarded, as I forget what I’m doing, get caught up in the book I’m reading or movie I’m watching (even worse), and before I know it I’m chuffing away as per normal and look up to ask my wife if she smells something burning. A second danger factor concerns those who, like myself, adore virginias and va/pers. With their rich sugar content, these tobaccos burn hotter than aros or English mixtures, and as the ember of tobacco burns down, can cause some hot times that are best avoided. Method The pipe I’m working with today is one of my favorites, the Rathbone from the SH Return series, in the (for me) drop-dead gorgeous and wonderful-to-hold new rustication as featured in the 2021 Christmas pipe. I’ll turn this over to Prof. Schantz: John: If it is the new water based coating, I just use a 1/2 sheet paper towel and fold it and twist it to chamber size. Then I run it under some hot tap water and squeeze out the excess. If…