How To Fold and Stuff Flakes: Don't Bother (Yet)

[El Whedo]

Humm...

I haven't smoked a pipe for 45 years, but I do have a firm grasp of physics.

I not convinced of your claims, but do feel the need for an experiment.

I will set up an experiment when I get home if not too tired tonight, if not tonight I will do it tomorrow morning.

Something along the lines of two samples cut from the same St. James Flake weighed on a triple beam scale, then one rubbed out, and the other run through a herb grinder. I will smoke both (small) samples back to back (in the same small pipe)while using a stop watch to time each. I will take notes on burn rate, how hot it burns, tongue burn, flavor, etc.

Stand back! I'm gonna try Science!

[BryGuySC]

Humm...

I haven't smoked a pipe for 45 years, but I do have a firm grasp of physics.

I not convinced of your claims, but do feel the need for an experiment.

I will set up an experiment when I get home if not too tired tonight, if not tonight I will do it tomorrow morning.

Something along the lines of two samples cut from the same St. James Flake weighed on a triple beam scale, then one rubbed out, and the other run through a herb grinder. I will smoke both (small) samples back to back (in the same small pipe)while using a stop watch to time each. I will take notes on burn rate, how hot it burns, tongue burn, flavor, etc.

Stand back! I'm gonna try Science!

[El Whedo]

I cut identically sized triangles of St. James flake this morning, and got out the triple-beam to weigh them. My triple beam weighs to the gram, not the tenth of a gram like I thought.

Weighing flake tobacco to the gram isn't accurate enough by a order of magnitude for this experiment... but I got the problem solved! I called up a retired priest friend of mine down in Taos who used to be a chemistry teacher. He tells me he has a cabineted balance scale that is accurate to the hundredth of a gram! Yee-Haww!!! Two orders of magnitude will solve this problem.

The experiment is gonna be expanded to both me and Father Joe as smoking subjects, and he suggested we smoke the two small bowls a few different times throughout the day. He also suggested I bring a bottle of brandy.

The newly expanded experiment will go forward as soon as I have a day off... probably early next week when the managers get back. Until then, I'm working every day.

[Rocket Scientologist]

I cut identically sized triangles of St. James flake this morning, and got out the triple-beam to weigh them. My triple beam weighs to the gram, not the tenth of a gram like I thought.

Weighing flake tobacco to the gram isn't accurate enough by a order of magnitude for this experiment... but I got the problem solved! I called up a retired priest friend of mine down in Taos who used to be a chemistry teacher. He tells me he has a cabineted balance scale that is accurate to the hundredth of a gram! Yee-Haww!!! Two orders of magnitude will solve this problem.

The experiment is gonna be expanded to both me and Father Joe as smoking subjects, and he suggested we smoke the two small bowls a few different times throughout the day. He also suggested I bring a bottle of brandy.

The newly expanded experiment will go forward as soon as I have a day off... probably early next week when the managers get back. Until then, I'm working every day.

A retired priest/chemistry teacher who wants to participate in a smoking experiment...and drink brandy. He sounds AWESOME.

[El Whedo]

A retired priest/chemistry teacher who wants to participate in a smoking experiment...and drink brandy. He sounds AWESOME.

Yep. Father Joe is a great human being. The last time I hung out with him we downed a couple bottles of wine then sent a drum circle of hippies over to the lawn in front of the Catholic church to better hear the Taos Hum because, "several Ley lines cross there". Lol.

Anyhoo... I tried running a bit of fresh-from-the-jar St James flake through a Space Case grinder. It wadded up into little dense balls and was just about unsmokeable. I let some St James flake sit out for a good 20 minutes and ran it through the grinder and ended up with something much like I get when I rub out a flake by hand. After two hours of drying and being put through the grinder it was WAY too ground up and "fluffy". That bowl burned like gunpowder. So the same number of turns with different dryness of the same tobacco made for a WIDE difference in burning characteristics.

So I see more problems with the experiment. Namely, the dryness of the tobacco.

At this point I'm still willing to do an experiment, mostly because I wanna drink brandy with Father Joe, but my guess is that it will be WAY less effort to get a flake rubbed out by hand to my specs, rather than by a grinder, and I've already seen first hand that the grind did, in fact, change the burn.

[Mister Moo]

Yep. Father Joe is a great human being. The last time I hung out with him we downed a couple bottles of wine then sent a drum circle of hippies over to the lawn in front of the Catholic church to better hear the Taos Hum because, "several Ley lines cross there". Lol.

Anyhoo... I tried running a bit of fresh-from-the-jar St James flake through a Space Case grinder. It wadded up into little dense balls and was just about unsmokeable. I let some St James flake sit out for a good 20 minutes and ran it through the grinder and ended up with something much like I get when I rub out a flake by hand. After two hours of drying and being put through the grinder it was WAY too ground up and "fluffy". That bowl burned like gunpowder. So the same number of turns with different dryness of the same tobacco made for a WIDE difference in burning characteristics.

So I see more problems with the experiment. Namely, the dryness of the tobacco.

At this point I'm still willing to do an experiment, mostly because I wanna drink brandy with Father Joe, but my guess is that it will be WAY less effort to get a flake rubbed out by hand to my specs, rather than by a grinder, and I've already seen first hand that the grind did, in fact, change the burn.

Anything for science

[Lostmason]

Yesterday I had my first true success at folding the PS Lux Navy Flake.I had taken my Rolo pocket pie to my MIL's for dinner.The pipe has an oblong bowl,
so I tried just folding the flakes in half.I placed them in side by side rather than stacking,loose ends up.Three flakes made for a nice feel and smoked to a fine ash with a minimum of tamping.This pipe can be tricky to light due to the shape,but with a good charring light it then lit and smoked wonderfully.I know that with some of the other flakes this wont work,but for this combination it did.

[Bruck]

Yesterday I had my first true success at folding the PS Lux Navy Flake.I had taken my Rolo pocket pie to my MIL's for dinner.The pipe has an oblong bowl,
so I tried just folding the flakes in half.I placed them in side by side rather than stacking,loose ends up.Three flakes made for a nice feel and smoked to a fine ash with a minimum of tamping.This pipe can be tricky to light due to the shape,but with a good charring light it then lit and smoked wonderfully.I know that with some of the other flakes this wont work,but for this combination it did.

Getting flakes to burn right is a real art, but once you get it, it's a trip down mellow road

[JustTroItIn]

Yesterday I had my first true success at folding the PS Lux Navy Flake.I had taken my Rolo pocket pie to my MIL's for dinner.The pipe has an oblong bowl,
so I tried just folding the flakes in half.I placed them in side by side rather than stacking,loose ends up.Three flakes made for a nice feel and smoked to a fine ash with a minimum of tamping.This pipe can be tricky to light due to the shape,but with a good charring light it then lit and smoked wonderfully.I know that with some of the other flakes this wont work,but for this combination it did.

I find PS offerings burn very well fold and stuff method.