Acrylic Stems vs Vulcanite Stems: A Comparison

[PipeSmokingDude]

Fellow pipe smokers,

I don’t have the slightest clue when it comes to acrylic vs vulcanite stems, which is why I’m appealing to you fine gentlemen who posses both the knowledge and experience when it comes to both.

I am in shopping mode for a nice briar and so far I am leaning towards a Peterson (yes, I am biased towards Irish pipes ) but my biggest question having never had a vulcanite stem is how well they compare to an acrylic one?

I do apologize in advance but I’ve only started smoking pipes less than 3 months ago and as me mum likes to call me I am a “city boy”.

 

[Sigmund]

Acrylic is black and will always stay black

vulcanite or hard rubber is black and sun and chemicals will oxidize it and turn it brown. You can sand off and buff old vulcanite to restore it to black but it takes work.

Acrylic is easier but some pipe smokers find vulcanite more comfortable. Acrylic is very hard and clicks on the teeth. Vulcanite has a hair of give and feels better on the teeth.

Its a trade off. Frankly, if you dont have a preference Acylic is a lot easier to maintain.

I use both. Many pipes only come in one type. Pete makes both but the specific pipe you want will have what they decided to put on it.

You can clean vulanite stems with alcohol. You should not subject acrylic repeatedly to alcohol.

 

[SmokeyJock]

Vulcanite is a bit softer on the teeth, and maybe it's worth branching out from peterson for a change just to see if there's other pipe makers you like more! Peterson tend to get a little gently mocked here, all in good spirits, but lots of folk recommend savinelli - haven't tried one myself yet mind

 

[BingBong]

My personal preference is vulcanite or ebonite, but it's marginal over acrylic. Apparently, using vulcanite every day for 500 years or something gives you cancer, so there's that to consider.

 

[PipeWI]

I strongly prefer vulvanite stems, a much more comfortable feel in the mouth from my point of view. I predominantly own Savinelli pipes and find their stems excellent. Not sure if this is because of luck or material capacity, but I also find that vulcanite stems are thinner in profile than acrylic stems, which I also prefer as an inveterate clencher. I have pipes with acrylic stems and while, yes, they stay prettier longer, that's not why I smoke a pipe

 

[BingBong]

I strongly prefer vulvanite stems, a much more comfortable feel in the mouth from my point of view. I predominantly own Savinelli pipes and find their stems excellent. Not sure if this is because of luck or material capacity, but I also find that vulcanite stems are thinner in profile than acrylic stems, which I also prefer as an inveterate clencher. I have pipes with acrylic stems and while, yes, they stay prettier longer, that's not why I smoke a pipe

Vulvanite??

 

[SmokeyJock]

Vulvanite??

The silkiest of stem materials

 

[Auxsender]

I prefer acrylic as it requires 0 maintenance. I don’t want to worry about sunlight exposure or sanding the oxidation away when it inevitably appears. I just wanna smoke my pipes and not worry more than I already do.

Most important to me is shape, then finish, then grain then stem material so take the above opinion with a grain of salt.
I will also say I do not care for soft stems as I chomp right through them. Not saying “vulvanite” is soft, just adding that preference to this pontification.

 

[telescopes]

Chalk me up for acrylic as well. Ease of maintenance is the number one reason. As for being too hard, I find one adjust to it easily enough.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My vulcanite stems never give me any problems. I just wipe them down with a jewelry polish rag after each use when I rack them. I keep them with the sun shining on them, and even the estate pipes that I've gotten and had to sand and polish back to black have never oxidized on me. I chock it up to living right, smoking right, and keeping them clean.

That said, when ordering a pipe, I don't give the stem material any thought. I used to be weary of acrylic, because early on they made my teeth feel weird because of how hard they were. But, now none of them bother me. Dosn't make a difference to me.

 

[krizzose]

All good answers above. It just comes down to your personal preference.

I’m all acrylic:
- I know from experience that I will destroy a vulcanite stem
- Acrylic doesn’t bother my teeth, and I never found it to be less comfortable than vulcanite
- I can wash acrylic stems in warm soapy water on occasion (I’ve seen posters here claim that alcohol can cause micro fissures in vulcanite.
- a moot point because of the above reasons, but I always found vulcanite maintenance to be tedious. I know that it’s objectively no more tedious than my fastidious cleaning of the interior of my pipes, but I just hated it for some reason. I don’t like vacuuming, either, but find washing dishes to be no big deal

 

[krizzose]

Fellow pipe smokers,

I don’t have the slightest clue when it comes to acrylic vs vulcanite stems, which is why I’m appealing to you fine gentlemen who posses both the knowledge and experience when it comes to both.

I am in shopping mode for a nice briar and so far I am leaning towards a Peterson (yes, I am biased towards Irish pipes ) but my biggest question having never had a vulcanite stem is how well they compare to an acrylic one?

I do apologize in advance but I’ve only started smoking pipes less than 3 months ago and as me mum likes to call me I am a “city boy”.

Peterson has many lines with acrylic stems

 

[PipeWI]

Vulvanite??

I've was laughing for ten minutes before I could respond

 

[antonine]

I only smoke acrylic-stemmed pipes and have gone so far as to have custom replacement stems cut for pipes that I couldn’t resist owning but came with a stock vulcanite stem. As with everyone else, for me it’s the no-nonsense maintenance; I hate the weird sulphuric taste of an oxidized vulcanite stem almost as much as I hate cleaning them!

I do notice the slight difference in hardness between the two, but it’s never bothered me (and I clench any pipe that’s small enough to do so).

 

[PaulRVA]

I use Acrylics and Cumberlands.
Both have pros and cons and since I’m not a clencher in general it honestly doesn’t sway me either way.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Vulvanite??

Delores!

 

[georged]

Both materials fall on a quality spectrum that ranges from absolute crap to mind-blowingly good.

Trying to compare them categorically is meaningless at best, and misleading at worst.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Now I've got "Seinfeld" out of the way . . .

Plenty of info out there to be found on the differences between the two. Some here have expressed positive experiences with Juma. I have read about German ebonite - no idea if it is significantly different than "regular".

 

[PipeIT]

Acrylic is black and will always stay black

vulcanite or hard rubber is black and sun and chemicals will oxidize it and turn it brown.

My 1967 - 1969 Dr. Grabow Commodore 65 Zulu with a vulcanite stem never changes color.

I’ve had the pipe 3 years, and it’s always jet black shiny looking like this pic.



Whether we would say good quality vs bad quality, or the chemical makeup, I’m of the former to say, if it’s good quality, the vulcanite won’t turn color. Maybe it needs to have less sulphur…

P.S. @PipeSmokingDude Vulcanite/Cumberland are softer, but slightly more maintenance, acrylic harder, no maintenance, or less. But if someone wants to go the less maintenance route with acrylic, and wanting more comfort, you could always add a rubber bit on the stem.

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[minerLuke]

I have personally gone from being completely indifferent on stem material, to slightly favoring Vulcanite, to now having a pretty strong hate for any acrylic and going so far as for it to be a deal breaker for me. I am almost ready to draw the line at only hand cut Vulcanite stems for any new purchases, but perhaps not quite yet.

Since I mostly smoke while I work, and I clench, I have found for me that I just don't like the hard plasticy feel of acrylic stems. A properly hand cut Vulcanite stem is so much more comfortable for me to clench that there is no longer any contest for me. I have had a few not greatly shaped Vulcanite stems but nothing like some of the acrylic monstrosities I was enduring.

My personal experience is that the English generally pay the most attention to cutting a button that is comfortable to clench, the French usually do as well and the Danes, Germans and Italians are pretty hopeless and seem to regard pipes more as objects of art to be fondled and gazed upon then tools to be clenched in your mouth, perhaps for hours, while engaging in other tasks. Pipe smoking cultural differences i suppose. But YMMV.