Bent stems

[frostyforge]

First off, I apologize if this was already covered, I did some searching but couldn't find anything on this.
I've made a few corncobs this past couple years, but I've got a TON of oak that I want to turn into some pipes. But I'm getting tired of using wood stems (they leave a weird taste in my mouth after a while) and wanted to get some "real" stems. The only problem is, I want to make some of them bent, but my local tobacconist (sp?) doesn't carry any stems, and I can't find any place online that carries bent stems. Am I looking in the wrong way? Or is it just that its way to early and I've been up way to long and my brain stopped using what few cells I have left and I missed something obvious?

 

[recurl]

Bend the stem yourself after you fit it up. Just take your time and heat it slowly with a heatgun or propane torch.

 

[duncan]

I would think for the "bend it yourself" method you can heat the stem up in boiling water to keep it from burning the stem.

 

[surfmac211]

Would putting it in boiling water mess up the fitting of the stem into the pipe?

 

[frostyforge]

The boiling water would probably work best, thanks ya'll. Surfmac: if I put a small rod the same size as the hole that would keep it from warping.