Pipe Stummel Swelling?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

allan

Lifer
Dec 5, 2012
2,429
7
Bronx, NY
6616387_zpsa2d6efbd.jpg
[/url][/img]
img
Just recently I've noticed that my pipe stems do not fit easily and smoothly into the pipe stummels. This is happening across the board, from Dunhills through the American artisans.
It came to a 'head' when I noticed that my Jerry Crawford squashed bent apple stem was sticking out way farther than the picture shown here. I looked under a microscope and it was easy to see that lately I've not been paying attention and the stem is sticking out around 3/8 of an inch furthur that it should be-I can see the 'line' of where the tobacco stain is inside the stummel and a nice distance from where it should meet the correct area
I store my pipes in my lower level of the house (I live in the Northeast) where the temp is about 66 degrees.
I thought this issue of sticking stems was mostly in the humid summer, not the winter.
Any ideas?
Thanks

 
Dec 24, 2012
7,195
456
Yeesh, I don't know for sure Allan. I will say that I have had this issue on only a couple of pipes, and what I did was gave them a good long rest and that seemed to help. I was smoking the pipes I had the issue in very frequently, and I had surmised that the wood was swelling with the moisture and I wasn't give the briar enough time between smokes to properly settle. I am curious to know what others think about your situation, though, since it doesn't sound like you just weren't giving a couple favourite pipes enough resting time, since you are experiencing this across all of your pipes.

 

pitchfork

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
Interesting. I've had a number of pipe stems all go loose for a few days, assumedly weather related, but never the opposite. Still, it could be weather related or maybe the humidity inside is higher than normal. We had a pipe leaking behind a wall once (slowly, for months), but once it was fixed there was a noticeable drop in the humidity inside certain rooms. I dunno -- very strange.

 

allan

Lifer
Dec 5, 2012
2,429
7
Bronx, NY
Thanks peck and pitchfork for answering
It has been suggested to me by another forum member that possibly my setting of 65 degrees where the pipes rest may be too cool for them.
I raised the temperature to 68 and I'll see in a few days if that makes any difference
Just trying to keep the oil bill somewhere just near 'outrageous'. LOL

 
I put the stummel in the freezer before banding them, because briar really reduces in size. More so than heating a silver band will increase in size. Maybe, it's just too cold.
Get this Allan, you'll appreciate this, being a jeweler also. All over the blog world of pipe repair people say that heating a silver band with a heatgun will make it increase in size. Ha ha!!

 

allan

Lifer
Dec 5, 2012
2,429
7
Bronx, NY
Junkyard:
temperature they are under right now contracts the shank, thus your difficulty to put the stems back in?
Exactly--I can't put the stems all the way in. I raised the heat in the lower level to 68. Making it warmer just isn't feasible because our oil bill is so high, I just don't want to mention how high it is. At $4.39 a gallon plus tax!
Cosmic:
All over the blog world of pipe repair people say that heating a silver band with a heatgun will make it increase in size. Ha ha!!
Hey, if its on the internet, it has to be true, right? LOL

 

mikestanley

Lifer
May 10, 2009
1,698
1,126
Akron area of Ohio
I can't imagine slight variation in temp between 65 and 78 would create a problem. It has to be something IMHO. Could it be the tenons a too long by a mm? If your tenon touches the end of the mortise and you smoke the pipe, the heat will sometimes cause the tenon to push away from the mortise end a bit. When I made pipes, I always tried to eliminate any gap. Sometimes I had to shorten the tenon just a smidge because I got the tolerance too close.
Mike S.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.