I've read in several places that you could fix a loose tenon by cautiously heating it via boiling water, steam or flame.
Having the problems with two pipes, I decided to give it a try, first on my little Sebastian Beo Rhodesian. I heated the Vulcanite tenon carefully under a lighter flame, rotating it to evenly heat. After heating, pressed the tenon on counter top surface. Took a couple of times but worked fine.
I then tried it on an inexpensive Spitfire that I hadn't finished breaking in. Using the same heating technique, I pressed it to the counter. The stem must be made of some inferior grade rubber - it flattened to an accordion shape.
I talked with repair and pipe artisan Rich Lewis, in Minneapolis, who said that drilled, rubber tendons are becoming more common with the mass produced pipes. I'm shipping the pipe to Rich and he'll give me a price to fix it right.
I'd say fortunately, it was only a $45.00 pipe BUT if it was a higher quality pipe, I wouldn't have had the issue.
Having the problems with two pipes, I decided to give it a try, first on my little Sebastian Beo Rhodesian. I heated the Vulcanite tenon carefully under a lighter flame, rotating it to evenly heat. After heating, pressed the tenon on counter top surface. Took a couple of times but worked fine.
I then tried it on an inexpensive Spitfire that I hadn't finished breaking in. Using the same heating technique, I pressed it to the counter. The stem must be made of some inferior grade rubber - it flattened to an accordion shape.
I talked with repair and pipe artisan Rich Lewis, in Minneapolis, who said that drilled, rubber tendons are becoming more common with the mass produced pipes. I'm shipping the pipe to Rich and he'll give me a price to fix it right.
I'd say fortunately, it was only a $45.00 pipe BUT if it was a higher quality pipe, I wouldn't have had the issue.