Acrylic Stem Question

[mick92]

Gentlemen,

I'd procured a Borkum Riff 013 pipe recently. I broke it in today and noticed that towards the very end of the session, the bowl got slightly hot and after clearing the dottle, I noticed the bottom of the chamber was clearly wet.

I waited until the bowl cooled and lightly dried out (approximately ten minutes) and took out the stem for cleaning. I inspected the tenon closely for any deformation and ran my fingernail along the inner rim, which caused some of the arcylic to smooth out from how malleable it was.

Is the pipe ruined? This is the second time an issue of this magnitude arose and I'm simultaneously frustrated and confused.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sounds like you're smoking way too hot and fast. It takes more heat to soften acrylic than vulcanite and if the tenon was still soft after ten minutes, I'm surprised you didn't burn a hole in the pipe and your tongue.

 

[mick92]

I suppose the butane lighter is much too hot. I only got tongue bite towards the very end, and even then it was minimal. I made certain to delay several times throughout the session so the pipe wouldn't overheat either.

To clarify, the tenon wasn't molten or drooping when detached. The chamber appears visibly unharmed save for the beginnings of cake. I'm miffed at the idea of ruining another pipe, yet I suppose sulphur matches will have to suffice from now on.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I mainly use BICs.

 

[sablebrush52]

I use a BIC or matches. A soft flame is best. Also, from your description, not only are you smoking too fast, creating a fair amount of heat, your tobacco needs to be much drier. I find smoking tobacco that has been given significant drying time much easier to keep lit at a slow pace.
I primarily smoke Virginias and Va/Pers and I get better flavors when the tobacco is smoked just shy of bone dry, dry to the touch when squeezed betwixt thumb and forefinger while still pliant.

 

[weezell]

Yes, you're smoking like a freight train brother.Dry it more, smoke it slower. I'm a guy that smokes a little fast, but if your melting the stem you need to whoa up some...

 

[hawky454]

Borkum Riff Pipes? Weird, I didn’t even know they made pipes.

Anyway, I suspect that something else is at play here. Most acrylic stems are fitted with Delrin tenons but either way you’d have to smoke blistering hot to warm the tenon enough to soften it if it was either of those materials. I’m thinking that it’s probably a plastic tenon, I have some basket pipes that I’ve been gifted over the years by well meaning friends and family but the stem material on those are complete shite. I had a loose stem on one so I took the heat gun to the tenon like I’ve done on hundreds of tenons over the years and this one started melting within 30 seconds. But, even if that were the case and your tenon is made of cheap plastic, you’d still have to smoke blistering hot before it would melt the tenon... I would think but who knows, if that is the case than yeah, slow down mate.

 

[gerryp]

MM cobs' stems don't even do that, and they have pretty cheap bits. Easy bite marks, yes. Melting, no. Never. I'm with hawk, I'm guessing that the problem is with the pipe, not the smoker.

If you can spare 24 bucks plus shipping, MM has the Charles Towne Cobbler and a similar model, the Emerald, in stock. You won't find a better pipe for the money.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I'm guessing that the problem is with the pipe, not the smoker.

Not his first pipe to do it.

Mild Concern About Stem :: Pipe Smoking Basics & Beginner Questions

Hello all, smoked my Crown 733 briar pipe yesterday and cleaned it. Noticed that on the stem, specifically the part that inserts into the shank, some deformation and bubbling has occurred on the rim near the hole (presumably from too much heat.) Is it still safe to smoke out of?

pipesmagazine.com

 

[gerryp]

Not his first pipe to do it.

Mild Concern About Stem :: Pipe Smoking Basics & Beginner Questions

Hello all, smoked my Crown 733 briar pipe yesterday and cleaned it. Noticed that on the stem, specifically the part that inserts into the shank, some deformation and bubbling has occurred on the rim near the hole (presumably from too much heat.) Is it still safe to smoke out of?

pipesmagazine.com

I read his post to mean that it was the second time for that pipe. If I was wrong, mea maxima culpa.

 

[gerryp]

By the way OP...don't remove the stem while the pipe's hot. Maybe you'd have never known there was a problem if you hadn't...

 

[Chasing Embers]

I read his post to mean that it was the second time for that pipe. If I was wrong, mea maxima culpa.

First go round was a Crown, this thread was a Borkum Riff.

 

[mick92]

@sablebrush52

thank you kindly for the suggestion. I'll try leaving tobacco out on a plate long enough to dry it out before pouching it.

@hawky454

wouldn't be surprised if it were another moulded plastic stem or some other dubious substance. I tried researching the pipe online to better understand its material composition but to no avail. Methinks it's some kind of cheap promotional item.

@gerryp
Was thinking of an estate pipe for my next purchase, but the Towne Cobbler looks like a solid intermediate design. How long should I wait before disassembling my pipe for cleaning? As I'd wrote above I'd waited ten minutes, enough for the bowl to cool, before sliding the mouthpiece out.

 

[didimauw]

Yes dryer tobacco also helps with a harder cake, and a cooler smoke. Before I started drying my tobacco my cake would be like a thick goo, and my pipes would gurgle and smoke hot all the time.

 

[mso489]

I don't remember a post about melted stems, acrylic or otherwise. The materials used are usually appropriate for the temperatures generated in a tobacco pipe, and the stems simply don't melt, or soften, or deform. Smoking crazy fast, using high heat lighters and moist tobacco could contribute, but still, I've never heard of this. It could be a product defect or something extreme you are doing. I guess my point is, it certainly sounds unusual to me.

 

[gerryp]

@gerryp
Was thinking of an estate pipe for my next purchase, but the Towne Cobbler looks like a solid intermediate design. How long should I wait before disassembling my pipe for cleaning? As I'd wrote above I'd waited ten minutes, enough for the bowl to cool, before sliding the mouthpiece out.
[/QUOTE]

The wooden shank expands while smoking due to the heat and moisture steaming the wood, so removing the tenon while it's too warm can damage the shank. The airway is the important thing to keep fairly clean, since the smoke you're tasting has to pass through all the gunk when it's all nice and warm and moist, which can affect the taste of whatever you're smoking at the time.

Before removing the stem, the shank should not only be cool, but dry as well. Me, I wait at least a day after smoking a pipe before removing the stem, Idk if that's ideal or not.

The good news is you're probably working harder than you have to. You don't have to remove the stem for an adequate routine cleaning. I am a former victim of Pipe Cleaning OCD (I'm pretty sure it's in DSM-V...Google it), and I take the stems out maybe once a month.

*NOTE: Most of the above does not apply to Peterson System pipes.

You're going to love the Charles Towne Cobbler. It's not intermediate by any means. You will probably have it for a very long time if you take reasonable care of it, as you would a briar. Any of the MM cobs with the hardwood plugs smoke like a dream and seem to be very durable, and the ones that include acrylic stems are the best pipe bargains out there, in my book.

 

[olkofri]

Don't be too quick to remove the stem to clean it. I usually leave the pipe alone for at least an hour after I finished smoking to begin cleaning it. This, regardless of the type of pipe—briar or cob.

Do note that some tobaccos leave moisture in the bowl: this is NORMAL. The amount of moisture varies based on the type of blend, components, smoking cadence, ambient temperature and humidity, and other factors too numerous or too obscure to mention here. Don't sweat it. A filtered pipe, especially one using balsa wood filters can help with this moisture 'problem'; you might wanna keep that in mind for your next purchases. Instead of the Town Cobbler, maybe just order a couple of the basic Missouri Meerschaum filtered cobs and some of their balsa filters.

I second the opinion of drying the tobacco prior to packing it and smoking it. Alas, there's no set rule/procedure for this either, as this is just one more of those things dependent on external factors such as relative humidity of your place or geographical location. Plus, aromatic blends can't be dried too much lest they lose flavour: you have to pack it and light them whilst they are still slightly moist. This—the optimal moisture—is one of those things you'll have to learn on your own through trial and error.

Success in pipe smoking is about 25% pipe and 75% user, or so says my local tobacconist. I agree.

 

[anotherbob]

I knew two pipe smokers that had this problem. One they smoked fast and used bics. Use matches or a zippo or a soft flame lighter, even if you didn't smoke fast enough to harm pipes, it's still more enjoyable to use a lighter that doesn't burn as hot. The advice that helped the one guy is graphic and rude but it worked at helping him keep (so stop reading here) the advice that helped with his cadence was "remember when smoking a pipe you're not sucking dick you're making love". Oh by the way that pipe smoker was me back when I started 25 years ago (wow).

 

[Chasing Embers]

Oh by the way that pipe smoker was me back when I started 25 years ago (wow).

Thirty year BIC user myself and have yet to damage a pipe with one.

 

[olkofri]

Cap'n, not everyone has managed the martial art of lighting a Bic upside down and puffing to make the flame go downwards and releasing the finger from the fork miliseconds before stopping puffing! ?