Cool corncob idea

[LL]

I was never interested in smoking cobs myself because of their cheesy plastic stems. The idea/design didn't bother me, but the execution did.

Seems I wasn't alone. A guy recently asked me to make two stems each for the bent and straight models he liked, saying they'd be interchangeable/usable forever because the pipe's mortises were always the same size. I was skeptical---wasn't sure how a decent fit was obtained by the factory that way---but he was right. The "slop" is built into the plastic stems they come with (there are little raised bumps that are easily trimmed to fit the mortise), and the mortises are all the same size.

Here's the result. Cool enough that now I'm actually tempted to try one of the things. By all accounts they smoke great.

 

[Winslow]

That looks very neat,what does it cost? :drool:

Winslow :sunny:

 

[kilted1]

Way cool :cheers: Are the stems Vulcanite or Lucite? I ask because I've found my latex allergy has crossed over and most of my Vulcanite stems I can't smoke anymore. The stem is worth more than the corncob obviously, unless you value a no fuss bowl, but the one size fits all is great!



ipe:

 

[LL]

Kilted -- vulcanite in this case

Winslow -- $20, same as any other Standard grade vulc stem

 

[TallSmoke]

Way cool. I have been flirting with getting some cobs to try new tabacky's with. This puts cobs in a whole new perspective.

 

[J_Rock]

What a great idea!

 

[vaperfavour]

how about churchwarden stems?

 

[dbreazeale]

Hey, I like that! Nice work on the stems!

 

[Anonymous]

That is a great idea! You've created a whole new side to your business.
Are these designed to fit Missouri Meers? Would we still need to send you our cob to make sure it fits?

 

[LL]

Are these designed to fit Missouri Meers?

They aren't sold by my supplier as that, no. I just thought they looked OK, and cut/finished them accordingly.

Would we still need to send you our cob to make sure it fits?

Definitely. Achieving proper fit is a tricky business, regardless of the value of the pipe or material of the shank. The only way the factory gets away with it is the built-in slop via pebble-textured tenons.

 

[LL]

how about churchwarden stems?

I just checked, and found a batch of cw stems that match the bent cob in the pic quite well.

I know MM makes a number of other styles, so can't say about those. The shank diameter would be the main problem. If larger than the bent in the pic, definitely no.

Also, the blanks themselves cost more, and the work required to finish them would be greater, so a Standard grade cw stem would run $30.

 

[Anonymous]

And they laughed when I proposed the Unistem . . .

:face:

 

[Dubbya]

how about churchwarden stems?

That would be absolutely awesome. I've got a bent McArthur that smokes forever. That bowl with a nice cooling churchwarden stem sounds like a great idea. It gets a little hot toward the bottom.

 

[Justpipes]

Great idea and nice work!

 

[niles]

LL - this is great...

Is this something a handy dude like me could accomplish or would I need special pipe-making tools? I just recently busted my little cob's stem (the one in the pic) and went and got a new MM, kind of a medium sized Macdaddy - if I could fit a nice stem in the little older (and smaller) guy I certainly would...honestly, I haven't messed around with pipe-doctoring much at all, but maybe testing some skills on a cobber is the way to start...?

 

[LL]

Niles --

The problem is cutting a tenon. It must be exactly cylindrical, and sized to within about a thousandth of an inch. I don't know of any way to do that without specialized, expensive equipment. Shaping the rest of the stem can be done a number of ways using semi-common hand tools. (Not quickly, but if done as a side project and not as a business, that wouldn't matter.)

 

[Anonymous]

At the risk of being annoying : Military bit principle.

Two matched reamers. One male to cut the correct taper into the shank (the metal ring being an important feature), and one female to taper the tenon of the stem correspondingly. Similar to the standard set used for violin pegs.

Actually, since the lucite stem tenon is never going to wear out, all you'd need would be the one to taper the interior of the pipe shank.

The Unistem :bounce:

:face:

 

[Mikem]

Here are a few cob's that I have made. I replaced the shanks and just used the cob bowl. The stem to shank fit is a push type stem like a normal briar type pipe.