crooked ajustomatic

[Bugsahearn]

i've got a starfire ajustomatic very old unsmoked but when screwed all the way in the mouthpiece is at a slant. with the ajusto its either all the way tight or loose as a goose. is there a fix for this? I've tried to find one but i cant :scratch:

 

[alsmith52]

I think I have heard of people heating the stinger. the Dr Grabow collectors forum has a ssection on pipe repair. Seems like the metal expands and grips the plastic better. Never tried it myself. Al

 

[RDPipes]

i've got a starfire ajustomatic very old unsmoked but when screwed all the way in the mouthpiece is at a slant. with the ajusto its either all the way tight or loose as a goose. is there a fix for this? I've tried to find one but i cant :scratch:

An Ajustomatic I believe should turn till it's line up being the tenon/stinger is made to slip a bit, hence the name Ajustomatic. The others don't have the slip and from tightening them to hard after awhile they get off centered like what happens to the older meers with the threaded bone screw. Although yours might be just stuck with gunk. You could also run a alcohol soaked cleaner through it till it comes out clean and see if that helps first.
You certainly could heat the stinger with a heat gun like Al said and turn it till it alines correctly but, I'd be careful if your not use to doing things like this.

 

[alsmith52]

can you get the bit out, or does it just spin? If you can get it apart soaking with alcohol might help, as Cartaphilus suggested

 

[RobJ]

I have the same problem with a couple of my old Grabows which are the first pipes I ever bought in the early '70s. The stingers are long gone from these of course and I don't trust my skills well enough to try heating anything up to try to realign the stem and shank.

If anyone hears of someone who does this sort of repair please ping me.

 

[kaitlyn3837]

If it has "Adjustomatic" stamped on it, then it should do exactly what Cart posted. As long as no one tampered with the system (I have come across some where people glued it, or drilled into it to mess with the adjusto feature).

If it's not tampered with, then you grab the stem tightly, and grab the bowl, twist the stem clockwise. It feels weird, the first time my friend showed this to me, I thought he was going to just break the pipe, but sure enough, it spins around. You align it to where you want it and then you are still able to unscrew it for cleaning!

Also, if anyone needs some metal tenons aligned, I can do that sort of work. RobJ, pm sent.

 

[RobJ]

Thanks for the info and PM Kaitlyn, I'll give this a try and if I can't get it right I'll respond via PM. I have two old Grabows that have the same problem, unfortunately one of them is in a box somewhere and not handy at the moment. Neither pipe has been altered in anyway but the stingers are long gone; both were bought new, my first pipes, around '72-'73 and are stamped Ajustomatic.

I really appreciate the help!

:bounce:

 

[Bugsahearn]

Hey thanks guys yes it's a starfire with no stinger (if it had one I pulled it out but it looks like it didn't ). It's never been smoked so funk isn't the issue. The thing with it is the stem is lose until fully screwed in like adjustomatics but screwed in the stem is slanted down the right like tightened it is overturned. It might be the problem is the metal band shifted ?

 

[alsmith52]

an ajustomatic should keep tuning once it is flush to the shank so you can line it up wherever you want. I have had ajustos that were 'stuck' like a regular screw in. I have freed them up by turning clockwise quickly and then snapping back counterclockwise. That seems to loosen the mechanism up. Ajustomatics are like a Mercedes - when they work , they work beautifully. When they don' they are a pain in the ..... Good luck. Al

 

[RobJ]

Ok I tried to turn the stem, clockwise, and wow this thing is tight. So maybe some alcohol around the metal screw in on the stem side might help loosen it up? I thought I was going to break it when I tried last night. I'd be in tears if I broke this pipe, its been with me for a very long time.

 

[alsmith52]

probably an alcohol soak. but that is the way it feels - like you are going to break it. Also try sticking it in the freezer for half hour an hour. the metal should shrink at a different rate than the briar. Ihave literally saved  hundreds of pipes by sticking them in the freezer. Goodluck. Al

 

[RobJ]

Thanks for the advice Al, I'll try those methods when I'm home this evening.

 

[alsmith52]

RobJ, did you ever get your ajustomatics unstuck?

 

[RobJ]

No, just too busy every evening this week with no time to work on it. I hope to find time over the weekend. Thanks for asking Al.

 

[alsmith52]

Just take your time - I hate getting in a hurry and screwing something up. Al

 

[RobJ]

Amen to that!

 

[alsmith52]

"the hurrier I goes, the behinder i gets"

 

[Bugsahearn]

Kaitlyn that worked amazingly! I didn't even have to twist that hard! Thanks alot

 

[RobJ]

Success!
I soaked the stinger end of the stem in alcohol for a few hours, gave it another try and it broke free and turned easily. The stem is now aligned. Thanks to all for the help!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :cheers:

 

[eklektos44]

Success!
I soaked the stinger end of the stem in alcohol for a few hours, gave it another try and it broke free and turned easily. The stem is now aligned. Thanks to all for the help!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :cheers:

Glad you saved a favorite Rob! :cheers: