Bending acrylic (propionate/ lucite) stems

[corncobwillis]

I recently acquired a MM Mizzou- one of their smaller bowled (though not as small as the "mini") pipes, with a no- filter "slim" stem. As most of their pipes, it comes in a bent- and straight-stem version. Mine is the bent. After the first smoke, I went to run a pipe cleaner through it and noticed the bend in the stem was sharp enough to offer significant resistance - in fact, the wire of the pipe cleaner scratched the inside of the airway. That bothered me. I thought of two solutions: 1) bend a small "U" in the end of the pipe cleaner, so as to avoid scraping the sharp end of the wire against the inside of the airway at the bend. 2) unbend the bend. Since I wanted the look of a slightly more gradual curve anyway, I proceeded with #2, with full success:

1.Boil 3 inches of water

2. Thread wire through the stem

3. Use pliers to grip the wire and submerse the section of the stem you wish to adjust. Easy does it - too long a dunk may result in more deformation than you like. About 2 10-second dunkings did the trick for me.

4. Use a silicone gripper, gloves, or hands (carefully) to bend the stem to your desired shape. Keep the wire in to minimize changes to the inside topography of the airway.

5. Dunk in cold water to set the shape once you're happy with it. Worked well for me!
Note: I suggest you avoid exposing the tenon of the bit to the hot water - it may deform.

 

[aldecaker]

Pretty much the way I do mine, except without the wire involved. I install straight Danish bits on all my MMs and bend them as desired.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Don't try this procedure on vulcanite, or you will have an instantly green stem. I always just used a lighter, but the water will prevent scorching.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I install straight Danish bits on all my MMs and bend them as desired.

Me too.

 

[georged]

The wire-in-the-airway thing is a myth. It "feels right" because of everyone's childhood experiences with drinking straws, garden hoses & etc, but isn't how pipe stem materials behave.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

The wire-in-the-airway thing is a myth

The wire in the airway prevents it from closing up when bending the stem.

 

[georged]

The wire in the airway prevents it from closing up when bending the stem.

THAT'S the myth. It doesn't happen. There is no need for a wire (or anything else) in the airway when bending a stem.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

THAT'S the myth. It doesn't happen. There is no need for a wire (or anything else) in the airway when bending a stem.

I've made the mistake of bending a stem without one, and the airway did indeed close up.

 

[Chasing Embers]

It's not the bending, but the unintentional squeezing of a stem if it is too hot when shaping. I crushed a vulcanite stem like that years ago.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

It's not the bending, but the unintentional squeezing of a stem if it is too hot when shaping.

exactly, because if the stem itself becomes maleable enough to bend why wouldn't the airway become maleable enough to squeeze closed?

 

[georged]

I've made the mistake of bending a stem without one, and the airway did indeed close up.

I've bent many thousands of them and never had it happen once.
The only way I can even imagine it happening would be from massively over-heating the material until it's noodle-soft. Which would introduce a great number of other problems and is absolutely not recommended under any circumstances.
So let me re-state what I said earlier: No wire or similar is needed unless you plan on borderline-melting the stem when heating it in preparation for bending. :lol:

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

So it is not a myth... it just hasn't happened to you. I will continue using a wire when I bend my stems to be on the safe side, and would recommend others do the same.

 

[drwatson]

I pick my dog crap with a neat little scooper I picked up at Menards for 20 bucks, some just use a shovel and that works for them...Either way the crap gets picked up.. If it works for you do it, if not don't.

But for the record I shove 2 thin pipe cleaners down the stem to keep my hole nice and open. :D

 

[georged]

exactly, because if the stem itself becomes maleable enough to bend why wouldn't the airway become maleable enough to squeeze closed?

What happens when a THIN tube like a drinking straw or garden hose is pinched closed? The sides move outward. Two semi-circles are now two straight lines. The widening MUST happen for the "closing geometry" to work.
A pipe stem is not thin walled, though. Quite the opposite. The "sides" of the airway tube flatten way out and are several diameters thicker than the airway itself.
For a pipe stem airway to flatten closed from bending, ALL that material---the side wall material--- would have to flow and shift laterally a significant amount, and then stay there after it cooled. Meaning all bent stems would look like a garter snake that swallowed a chicken egg when viewed from the top. But they don't. And the reason they don't is because the force required to bend the material vertically is insufficient to shift the material laterally. Result? The sides stay where they are, and the airway remains round.

 

[georged]

So it is not a myth... it just hasn't happened to you. I will continue using a wire when I bend my stems to be on the safe side, and would recommend others do the same.

Your stubbornness-for-the-sake-of-it is unbecoming.
"I will continue to wear my 500 pound suit of armor whenever I leave the house, even though I now know that checking for approaching cars before crossing the street is all that's necessary to avoid getting hurt by them."
:lol:

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Your stubbornness-for-the-sake-of-it is unbecoming.

It's not stubborness for the sake of it. I'm going on my own experience, and the fact that I've heard more advice concerning bending a stem for having a wire in the airway as opposed to without. I'll err on the side of caution as it seems most others do as well.

 

[cally454]

Reminds me of visiting pizzeria Bianca (holy grail) and this dude was telling them they were cooking their pies wrong.

 

[aldecaker]

This is why people are leaving pipe forums.

 

[toobfreak]

This is why people are leaving pipe forums.

Who has left? New folks join every day. If everyone has to absolutely agree on everything here otherwise they storm off in a huff leaving the group, then maybe the forum deserves to close!

 

[aldecaker]

Kind of an inside joke, Toobfreak. A couple times while I've been engaged in some, uh, "spirited" back-and-forth, Georged has dropped that comment. Just figured it was my turn to do it, somewhat tongue-in-cheek.