Drunk Stem???

addamsruspipe · Aug 28, 2017

So I have been working on refurbishing an estate pipe I got in a lot. Never heard of the manufacture before, it is stamped Willard. The briar cleaned up fine no issues, re-stained it, polished it, looks good, kind of looks like a Dr Grabow knock-off. The stem I assumed to be a straight forward clean up job. So dropped it in everclear overnight figuring to run some pipe cleaners the next night and maybe polishing a little on the buffer. Well when I took it out of the everclear tonight the logo had completely dissolved leaving a hole where it used to be and the stem now bends/flexs like a soft piece of rubber. I have done a fair amount of stems, never seen this happen before. Any thoughts out there on this?

sasquatch · Aug 28, 2017

Why on earth would you soak a stem in everclear?

piffyr · Aug 29, 2017

Willard was a Grabow sub-brand. A carryover from their HLT heritage if I remember correctly. They were budget pipes in all respects. Sometimes they were even freebies packed in with two-packs of RJR pipe tobacco. The straight stems are made of a plastic composite that will deteriorate when exposed to alcohol, as you've discovered. Only the bent Willards have vulcanite stems.
And, yeah, what Todd said. Soaking a stem of any material in Everclear is unnecessary.

alexnorth · Aug 29, 2017

That's a bummer!

addamsruspipe · Aug 29, 2017

The stem was too clogged to get a pipe cleaner through and I have found that soaking in everclear will usually let me get a pipe cleaner through to start the cleaning. So should the stem stiffen up again if I just let it sit or is it going to be bendy forever?

cortezattic · Aug 29, 2017

My impulse would be to bake the stem in a 300° oven for an hour or so. However this is just a WAG. OTOH, what have you got to lose?

piffyr · Aug 29, 2017

So should the stem stiffen up again if I just let it sit or is it going to be bendy forever?

You can let it sit for a few days and it may get some rigidity back, but it's likely that at least some distortion is permanent.

My impulse would be to bake the stem in a 300° oven for an hour or so.

Best not. Bad for the stem. Bad for you. Bad for the oven.

cortezattic · Aug 29, 2017

I do have a poor track record when it comes to impulsive decisions.

But hey! Doing something is better than sitting back and hoping things will miraculously improve on their own.

mso489 · Aug 30, 2017

If the briar is anything in terms of shape or grain, or you want to keep it otherwise, you might be able to get a stem replacement in acrylic done so the screw-on stem fits the shank, or re-done as a push bit, for not too much. I'd estimate $35 to $40, or you could do the same work yourself for experience. Your basic push bit replacement with no stinger involved runs about $27 plus shipping. Is the pipe worth it, fixed up? Only you can tell. I was going to guess it was a house pipe done by Dr. Grabow; I didn't know it was a sub-brand. Some of those old factory pipes have notably good grain.

addamsruspipe · Aug 31, 2017

It's got some good grain on the briar. So I think I will just hang onto to it until I'm good enough to try to make a new stem for it. Thanks for all the info.

cortezattic · Aug 31, 2017

How in the world will you make a stem with a stinger?

Also, if you're going to wait until a new stem can be made, why not try baking the old stem?

After all, we're not talking Dunhill here -- it's a Grabow second for Pete's sake.

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