An Old But Useful Reminder

[mso489]

Here's good advice I haven't seen mentioned in a long time but that is useful to all new pipe smokers.

Don't remove the stem of a pipe to clean it until a pipe is stone cold. Usually the next day is good,

just so you don't absentmindedly remove the stem too soon. Warm pipes tend to be more fragile and

you can easily crack the shank or stem of the pipe. This doesn't happen every time someone makes this

mistake, but it's not worth testing. For that thorough cleaning, when you take a pipe apart, stem from

briar, wait until a pipe is absolutely cold. Also, in most cases you don't have to do this until routine cleaning

is no longer sufficient. Depending on how often you smoke a pipe, I'd say this is weekly or monthly, or

longer if you have a big rotation of many pipes.

 

[geirove]

Thank you! I will remember that

 

[captainsousie]

Good reminder.

 

[darwin]

Another caution against removing a stem from a hot or warm pipe is that even if there is no breakage there is a possibility that over time a warm tenon can stretch enough to reduce its diameter slightly and thereby become loose in the shank.

 

[papajoe]

I wish it was a weekly or monthly rotine. Mine are mostly bent so I have to take my pipe apart for cleanning after every smoke.

Still, i love bent pipes. ::

 

[mephistopheles]

Good advice. I've always been very wary of this and try to let the single pipe I have rest for 8 hours or even a full day before I do anything with it.

 

[bulldogbriar89]

Words of wisdom from Mr.MSO the pipe guru ::

 

[woodsroad]

Not to rain on your pipeing parade, but I've been taking apart warm/hot/in use pipes for quite a while now, without incident. Yes, that's anecdotal data there, but it's what I've experienced. Yes, it's me experiencing this, and not you, so take it for what that is worth.
If a tenon is snug, and I have to work at it...I leave it alone. Always twist madly and pull gently on axis. Never force on re-assembly. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.

 

[mcitinner1]

I do the same thing as Woodsroad. Experience with your pipes will tell you if a stem is resisting coming free too much, then let it go cold. I always use some yellow beeswax on really tight tenons to lubricate them and it's most effective when warm. 8)

 

[bulldogbriar89]

I think what MSO was saying was one to be on the safe side to not have to worry about destroying your pipe, or if you are new to pipe smoking and don't know what the "experts" like Wood, or mcitinner know how to take apart a hot or worm pipe without destroying it. I'm not trying to insult anyone we are all pipe smokers and friends here.

 

[lostandfound]

If it's a pipe I'm smoking throughout the day, I'll run a couple pipe cleaners through that pipe after each smoke, leaving the second one in said pipe until I'm ready for another bowl. If that second bowl happens to be two or more hours after the first, then I'll take the stem out and really swab out the mortise. If I smoke that same pipe sooner than that, I'll leave the stem in.

 

[warren]

I do was woodsroad does. Also, I clean my pipes once a week, never after every smoke, that just seems like a lot of unnecessary effort.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

So, if it's ten or twenty degrees below freezing, I don't have to worry about the fit of the tenon, right?

(Just kidding)
I'm another person who just "plays by ear", if the tenon doesn't fit like normal I don't try, but I disassemble pretty much every pipe within half an hour of smoking it.

Having a "tinkerer" type personality may help (being accustomed to working carefully with your hands).
I also have a lot of army mounts, so the issue doesn't always apply.

 

[woodsroad]

Johnny Cochran taught me all that I ever need to know about pipes

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Army mounted pipes, like the Peterson System pipes, can be taken apart at any time. There is always an exception to the rule.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I remove my stems immediately after smoking every time, and have been doing this for years. I can't figure out the voodoo physics involved with this theory. But, all of that said, after watching other pipe smokers just rip the stems out of their pipes and jam them back in, I would hesitate to recommend this practice to most pipe smokers. You have to know how to gently twist out your stem. The material may be softer when it is warm, and just ripping the stem out like an ape playing with luggage will most definitely cause problems. YMMV, but I've never had a stem break nor a fit loosen in the least.

 

[natenice1]

I'm with lostand found, I use a couple of cleaners while smoking I smoke aro's exclusively and a cleaner soaked with Pipemasters or alcohol after the smoke, weekly they get a cleaning.

 

[mso489]

I (still) think letting a pipe get completely cold before removing the stem is good practice. Various

pipe repairs, like softening the glue to reposition the Drinkless stinger on a Kaywoodie or reshaping

many/most pipe stems, involve application of heat, which illustrates the power of heat to re-form or deform

the materials in a pipe. I think a gentle, trained touch (as with some Forums members) does get away

with removing the stem on a hot or warm pipe, but I still think the cold-pipe advice to new pipe smokers,

and pipe smokers in general, is good. I think some pipe makers include this with their printed instructions

on pipes, but I can't come up with the reference. Take it or leave it, but I think it's a good habit, not just

a bit of folklore or theory.

 

[pipebaum81]

This is good advice. You wont hurt anything letting it cool down anyhow. I like to sit back and relax after setting my pipe down anyways and leave cleaning for later.

 

[jitterbugdude]

While everyone is confessing about pulling out warm stems I might as well fess up and tell you all that I use a pipe knife in a freshly smoked meer to scrape away the tar/cake build up. Slow and easy, no issues after doing this for a few years.