Pipe forums and other discussion groups are full of posts asking about crack repairs, especially to pipe bowls. Bowl cracks are generally the result of either accident, abuse or neglect – accidental drops or impacts can crack the wood, as can outright abuse like whacking the pipe against a hard surface to knock dottle out of the bowl. Cracks caused by neglect are usually due to a failure to maintain the level of cake (carbon buildup) inside the tobacco chamber.

Cake forms on the walls of the chamber when the pipe is smoked. Tars, ash and carbon combine to form a dense, heat resistant layer that is actually beneficial to the briar pipe up to a point. The ideal cake thickness is about the thickness of a dime, at which point it adds a layer of insulation to the tobacco chamber that helps protect the briar walls from burnouts. Too much cake…