Passed on Pipes

[Anonymous]

Near-boiling water with a five-year-old Peterson Premiere caused no problem at all back around 1980 or so.

I'd suspect (with no vast reservoir of experience to support it) that your stem was either really crappy vulcanite OR old and touched-up (oiled) to look black with brown underneath it.

:face:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Hell, I have this new Brebbia with a vulcanite stem that will NOT stay black. Five minutes after the normal polish/wax/treat situation, it's back to chocolate brown again, and the button looks green. It doesn't even smell or taste bad, just lots of sulfur in the mix, methinks. My next trick for it is Obsidian Pipe Oil, but I ain't holdin' my breath. :lol: It'd probably turn white if I put it in boiling water for whatever reason.

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[Anonymous]

Crappy vulcanite, then.

:face:

 

[scotties22]

I pulled the calabash apart last night. The cork looks great. Just needed to be cleaned up a little. I am going to get the stems cleaned up this week. My husband is putting in a new circuit in the garage for all of my tools, so I am down for the count until some time tomorrow.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I figured your husband would be sitting around while YOU re-circuited the garage, at least he's doing something for your efforts. :lol!: Glad you got the 'bash apart and it was minimal maintenance. You now have vast knowledge over me in their construct and workings!

Yak, sad but true... it looks pukey but it doesn't taste bad, so... Meh.

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[Anonymous]

Maybe one of those soft bit thingies would solve the problem ?

What made the light come on for yr. obt. svt. was getting a pipe with a lucite stem, smoking it, and being struck by something : it didn't taste like "stem !"

Census here is lucite = 7, vulcanite = 5 (more than 12 crosses the greed line here) (YMMV). Both are enjoyed. But the stem thing's real.

IMHO

:face:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

It'd be worth a try. I've found the softy bits do a great job keeping a heavy pipe in the teeth, but are kind of gummy feeling. I'm considering the shrink-tube technique some guys here are swearing by.

I taste the stem, I truly do, it just doesn't bother me. It's a flavor to me as innocent as carbon pieces that seem to happen with grilling food over fire. You know it's there, but it's just part of the deal (well, it doesn't have to be...). I don't pass up pipes simply due to stem. I might have passed on the Brebbia had I known the stem was going to be a problem child, but meh, it's with me now.

I much prefer lucite/acrylic stems. They're almost trouble-free.

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