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Pipe tool
Introduction
A pipe tool is any of a variety of small gadgets designed to aid in packing, smoking, and emptying tobacco pipes.
A typical pipe tool consists of a reamer, a tamper, and a scraper:
- The reamer is a narrow rod or pin that can be used to loosen tobacco or empty a pipe.
- The scraper is a flat instrument shaped like a dull pen-knife blade or a flattened spoon, used to scrape ash and unburned tobacco off the sides of a pipe, and to reduce the cake of ash on the inside of the bowl.
- The tamper is a blunt instrument, either a simple dowel or shaped like the top of a nail, with a flat end for tamping down the tobacco when the bowl is being packed, and for crushing the ash together to aid relighting.