A Question About Acrylic vs Vulcanite
- Thread starter cigrmaster
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Give me an Arcylic stem any day, I find them more comfortable than vulcanite stems .
All so less maintenance.
All so less maintenance.
Good quality Vulcanite polishes up nicely for many years, but it does take some work. After twenty years or so, some Vulcanite will polish up, to a degree, but it takes more work. It's unusual that decades old Vulcanite holds a polish for many smokes, but I guess it happens. Some restorations on Forums bring totally cruddy Vulcanite back to looking new. If you can use acrylic, especially with pipes of modest weight, it certainly makes maintenance quicker and easier, year after year, if your old teeth bear up.
ukbob, do you clench? We can argue all day about what looks better and whether the maintenance is easier or worth it, but I've never heard someone claim that acrylic is actually comfortable.
Crash- I think George D makes that very claim. Me, I am agnostic as to type. Comfort is key, and fat bits don't do it for me when I clench.
After decades of this conversation, I'm pretty sure that EVERYONE is "right."
The differences in stem hardness perception are because humans' teeth vary. Ask any dentist, they'll tell you that teeth fall into a range for everything from enamel thickness and hardness to sensitivity.
Me? Genetically good choppers run in my family. I've never needed serious dental work, and my parents and grandparents on both sides (who were born in the 19th century!) kept all theirs for their entire (and long) lives.
One of the fringe benefits of that? As long as the shape & thickness is the same, I can't really tell the difference between vulcanite and good acrylic. A bit of pipe smoking genetic luck, that. Like someone who wants to be a gymnast being born flexible, or someone who wants to be a military pilot being born with exceptional eyesight.
The differences in stem hardness perception are because humans' teeth vary. Ask any dentist, they'll tell you that teeth fall into a range for everything from enamel thickness and hardness to sensitivity.
Me? Genetically good choppers run in my family. I've never needed serious dental work, and my parents and grandparents on both sides (who were born in the 19th century!) kept all theirs for their entire (and long) lives.
One of the fringe benefits of that? As long as the shape & thickness is the same, I can't really tell the difference between vulcanite and good acrylic. A bit of pipe smoking genetic luck, that. Like someone who wants to be a gymnast being born flexible, or someone who wants to be a military pilot being born with exceptional eyesight.
A little off track but just a comment ... I don't think acrylic faux Cumberland stems look like the authentic Vulcanite versions, but I think they are attractive in their own right. Any experienced pipe person is going to spot the difference, but the general effect is pleasing in acrylic to me.
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