Anyone Ever See A Tenon Like This?

[agnosticpipe]

I picked up this old sorry looking little WDC apple shape the other day for under $10. It was pretty rough, with some bad rim charring, chewed up stem, and the white triangle had come out. When I started to clean it, I took it apart and found this odd looking tenon on the stem. It looked like it was supposed to screw in, but the mortise had no threads, and the wire "threads" on the tenon were flush with the tenon surface. There was a crummy looking stinger on the end that I pulled out, and tossed. It looks factory made, and the aluminum tube sticking out the end of the tenon goes into the stem about an inch. I don't have any idea how old the pipe is because the nomenclature was pretty much non existent. The WDC in the triangle on the shank was barely visible using a loupe, and there was nothing else to see. It's a small pipe, maybe group 3, and the top of the bowl was rounded to begin with, so I left it that way. Smokes really nice, enjoying some Germain's Plum Cake in it now, but I have no idea what the purpose of the inlaid wire in the tenon is.

Thoughts?

 

[gtclark]

It's almost like a stinger/condenser is built directly into the tenon....

 

[cosmicfolklore]

That's a sweet looking pipe. I am no help on the tenon. I've never seen one like it either.

 

[danielplainview]

Nice work Orley. It looks as good as new.
I've never seen a tennon like that. My guess: to strengthen the tennon?
WDC most certainly patented that design if they invented it. Finding a patent date could ballpark the age.

 

[xrundog]

I agree with Dave G. I'd guess it's a late 20s-30s pipe. It appears that WDC experimented with a lot of gimmicks.

 

[agnosticpipe]

Yeah I agree Dave, it would be nice to have a patent date, but there was literally nothing on the pipe itself, save the faint WDC logo. Hard to figure how all the nomenclature could disappear as the finish looked original, and was plenty dirty, unless someone buffed the tar out of it years ago. Oh well, I may try to see what I can find anyway. Thanks for the input though guys.

 

[edgreen]

Maybe the metal expands upon heating, making a tighter fit during smoking and a looser fit when cool for removing and cleaning.