Kaywoodie Syncro-Lok Tenon Problem

[kaitlyn3837]

Just bought a lot of pipes and one of them is a Kaywoodie Super Grain Syncro-Lok 12B pipe. I cannot get the stem out of the shank. All it does is spin when I try to twist it out. I have searched the internet repeatedly for pictures of the tenon or anyone who addresses a syncro-lok problem but I have come up with nothing. I'm not familiar with this type of stem and tenon, so if there are any suggestions or advice on how to separate the two would be great! Or if any of you have pictures of the tenon that would be helpful too! Thanks guys!

 

[RDPipes]

Just bought a lot of pipes and one of them is a Kaywoodie Super Grain Syncro-Lok 12B pipe. I cannot get the stem out of the shank. All it does is spin when I try to twist it out. I have searched the internet repeatedly for pictures of the tenon or anyone who addresses a syncro-lok problem but I have come up with nothing. I'm not familiar with this type of stem and tenon, so if there are any suggestions or advice on how to separate the two would be great! Or if any of you have pictures of the tenon that would be helpful too! Thanks guys!

I'm not REAL familiar with Kaywoodies but, doing a search for the Syncro-Loc I found this image below. I have had a few of these come across my bench and  have found that sometimes the pot-metal there made of starts to deteriorate and instead of unscrewing like they suppose to do the threaded metal mortise spins within the the shank. Now it's my experience that there's a 50 / 50 chance it can be repaired but, sometimes this pot-metal just crumbles when you try to separate the stems tenon from the mortise. If you like I can take a look at it and TRY and repair it but, no promises.

 

[Fr_Tom]

I had a Grabow adjustomatic that did this. On the recommendation of the Grabow forum folks, I left it in the freezer overnight. In the morning a "smart" twist broke it loose.

 

[Richard Burley]

...or alcohol, if it's petrified gunk?

 

[docwatson]

Chances are that it's gunk like Richard Burley suggests. I'd pour alcohol into the shank by plugging the stem and bowl and letting it set for a while to see if that would loosen the connection. The aluminum fitments do corrode over time like Cart has said as well.
Another method which requires careful work is to take some emery cloth or sandpaper and grip the very small part of the fitment closest to the shank with pliers carefully not so score/scratch the aluminum. Then try to twist out the stem and ball fitment. What is happening is that the spinning part in the shank needs to be re-glued. Some are threaded and others are knurled. If it is threaded the whole fitment and stem can usually just be unscrewed and then taken apart. Hope this helps.

 

[DoverPipes]

Chances are that it's gunk like Richard Burley suggests. I'd pour alcohol into the shank by plugging the stem and bowl and letting it set for a while to see if that would loosen the connection. The aluminum fitments do corrode over time like Cart has said as well.
Another method which requires careful work is to take some emery cloth or sandpaper and grip the very small part of the fitment closest to the shank with pliers carefully not so score/scratch the aluminum. Then try to twist out the stem and ball fitment. What is happening is that the spinning part in the shank needs to be re-glued. Some are threaded and others are knurled. If it is threaded the whole fitment and stem can usually just be unscrewed and then taken apart. Hope this helps.

Jeez Andy!
Sounds like you know what you're talking about for a change! :lol!: 
               

 

[RDPipes]

Andy ALWAYS knows what he's talking about, it's just that he seldom sounds like it.

 

[docwatson]

:lol!: :lol!: 
Thanks for the kind comments guys. Was that me rambling on like that about a kaywoodie fix??? Must've been right after my morning coffee and the caffeine had me wired!!
Aren't you all just glad that I'm not a writer of technical instruction books???
 :lol!: :lol!: 

 

[RDPipes]

:lol!: :lol!: 
Thanks for the kind comments guys. Was that me rambling on like that about a kaywoodie fix??? Must've been right after my morning coffee and the caffeine had me wired!!
Aren't you all just glad that I'm not  a writer of technical instruction books???
 :lol!: :lol!: 

I thought you did.

 

[BigCasino]

be careful soaking stems in alcohol, I had one off of a grabow swell up and distort, and became unusable, not sure what type of material they use though, I don't know if the kaywoodie would do the same or not

 

[kaitlyn3837]

Thank you guys for all the suggestions. I'm going to try a couple of these ideas out today and see if I can get anything going for me! The picture is very helpful too, it's nice to come to be a part of a forum with some much more experienced pipe repairers than myself!