Old pipe stems.

stefank · Mar 2, 2015

Hello.
From what materials were pipe stems made in days past? Bone, ivory, woods? What woods lend to be themselves good pipe stems if that were the case? I've been researching and finding bits and pieces of information but its always better to have pipe enthusiasts speak about the details.
Thank yoU!

menuhin · Mar 2, 2015

Hi stefank! Welcome.
I'm not a big pipe enthusiast, but it may help to clarify your question.

How long is 'days past'? 20 years ago? 50 years? 80+ years?
Current trend of pipe stem seems to be acrylic because it's more maintenance free.

The older generations may love vulcanite / ebonite stems because they are softer to the teeth and that they can be refresh to like new condition easily.

And even earlier pipes can have their stem made of various material, including amber (Bernstein) which is still used in some of the meerschaum pipes produced today.

While I have seen horn stems, it seems to be not a major practice.

The oldest of pipes were mostly made of clays and wood (but not briar) and their stems are crafted out of the same materials.

fishnbanjo · Mar 2, 2015

In my opinion you can't beet briar itself for a good feel in the mouth pipe stem, I have 2 and they are wonderful, of course if you clench like the Tasmanian Devil it may not be for you.

banjo

puffy · Mar 2, 2015

In old days in the south a good many folks made their own pipes out of wood from a fruit tree.Take a short stem from certain trees and the center of it soft.If you run a hot wire down that soft center it opens up an airway.The same can be done with bamboo.I'm sure that pipe companies used other materials for their pipes.

stefank · Mar 2, 2015

Exactly what I meant was before the advent of "modern" polymers. Those pictures are quite spectacular Menuhin!!!!

menuhin · Mar 2, 2015

Another noteworthy older material for pipe stem is albatross wing-bone. They were used in some very old luxury pipes as stem extensions.

1900_Briar_Amber_Reading_Pipe_Albatross_Extension-772x348.jpg

http://www.pipecluboflondon.com/PCoL_CC_Briars1850-1900.html
And of course, for bamboo-stem enthusiasts, there has been a long tradition to use bamboo and metal as part of the pipe stem, similar to the style of Tsuge's Ichirin pipe.

Brooklyn_Museum_-_E-Goyomi_%28Lady_Smoking%29_-_Korinsai.jpg

(This last picture dated 1785 from Wikipedia citing a research paper in Japan.)

menuhin · Mar 2, 2015

Tsuge's bamboo churchwarden

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stefank

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stefank

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menuhin

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