I've been lurking on here for a while now and thoroughly enjoyable as that has been I need some advice. I recently bought a lovely Petersons Donegal Rocky 120. Unfortunately the stem is so damn tight that I cannot get it to completely fit on the bowl. I was wondering if I should let nature take its course and with a bit of encouragement wrestle the thing into its proper place after a few smokes or apply some treatment. Any thoughts would be greatfully welcomed.
Tight Stem
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Beeswax is a great temporary fix. All natural and totally organic. I get the 1 oz blocks. Take the tenon (the part of the stem that fits into the pipe), press it into the block of beeswax, and turn the stem to apply a thin coat of beeswax onto the tenon. The beeswax will lubricate the stem and should make it easier to insert. You may need to reapply after about 6 or 7 smokes, but it is the only thing I have found that is completely safe for you and the pipe, and is a cheap fix. It also works great for tightening up a loose bit as well. Works wonders!
I had the same problem with my petersons churchwarden and i was afraid i was going to break the stem. You can use a very fine sand paper and twist the tenon in it to make it fit better, but you have to be careful for obvious reasons. Go slow one small twist wipe it off and check it. Go from there. Mine now fits perfect and i have done this with other pipes too.
Wow, great work gents, I knew I came to the right place. I have tried the beeswax method but as others have said this worked better for me with loose stems, I'll give the graphite method a go and see what happens. Thanks all, for such a lightening response.
I've had many pipes in the last few weeks that had bits that were too tight or too loose.
I got a Castello Sea Rock KKK in the mail Saturday that was so tight I couldn't remove the bit.
I had to wrap a cloth around it and use slip-joint pliars to get it out. It was a military fitment, so that might be a perfect candidate for lubrication. I'll buff it before lube and see if that solves it.
The ones that are too tight I wrap some 600 grit around the tenon and in a few seconds it's a perfect fit.
I did so little sanding that I'd advise being careful not to do too much.
Just buffing a tenon might be enough.
If I take off too much from sanding or buffing, I put it under a 500 watt halogen work light for a few minutes and press lightly on the end to fatten it back up.
Two weeks ago I did this and tried a fit while the tenon was still hot and twisted the tenon right off the bit.
Expensive lesson, but a lesson remember is very valuable for future use. I'll never do THAT again. Hah!
I only do this with the hard rubber Vulcanite/Ebonite bits.
Keep in mind that these are delicate things that respond rapidly do a light touch is needed.
I'd say it's 90% contemplation and 10% execution.
Banjo
I got a Castello Sea Rock KKK in the mail Saturday that was so tight I couldn't remove the bit.
I had to wrap a cloth around it and use slip-joint pliars to get it out. It was a military fitment, so that might be a perfect candidate for lubrication. I'll buff it before lube and see if that solves it.
The ones that are too tight I wrap some 600 grit around the tenon and in a few seconds it's a perfect fit.
I did so little sanding that I'd advise being careful not to do too much.
Just buffing a tenon might be enough.
If I take off too much from sanding or buffing, I put it under a 500 watt halogen work light for a few minutes and press lightly on the end to fatten it back up.
Two weeks ago I did this and tried a fit while the tenon was still hot and twisted the tenon right off the bit.
Expensive lesson, but a lesson remember is very valuable for future use. I'll never do THAT again. Hah!
I only do this with the hard rubber Vulcanite/Ebonite bits.
Keep in mind that these are delicate things that respond rapidly do a light touch is needed.
I'd say it's 90% contemplation and 10% execution.
Banjo
I know these posts are old, but just had to do the same to a new Dunhill where the stem was just too tight. The graphite worked perfectly. Went from too tight to correctly snug. Thanks so much.
Perry
Perry
Wait - don't force Peterson stems to fit flush (at least on System pipes), they are might to be a slip-fit that decreases the gap over time (Peterson's "slip-fit"), hoping that the OP didn't force the issue with that model.
I have found that cleaning the plastic tenon with alcohol (and probably the mortise where it would sit) is a good first thing to try. I have pulled thin, dry, "invisible" stain off of a plastic tenon, enough to mostly solve a tight stem on a new pipe. A little graphite powder burnished onto the mortise/tenon afterwards smoothed things out even more on that one.
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