Broken Stem Bulldog

[BriaronBoerum]

My local club had a bag of pipes donated by a former member, and was selling them for $10, I picked up this Wilke despite the busted stem because I liked the shape, and didn't have a bulldog in my collection.

When I sent it off to get a new stem, I was told what should have been obvious, that the cost of a new stem was much more than the pipe was worth. I've tried to smoke in it, and it's not a bad pipe, but the stem is almost impossible to clench. I'm curious to hear what people would do: keep it, trash it, get a new stem despite the cost?

 

[BingBong]

Can you cut it back and fashion a sort of button out of the cut end?

 

[Auxsender]

I’m curious who you sent it to.
Tim West has, in the past, charged me about $30 for a new stem.
What was the quote you got?

I buy pipes to smoke em. I’m not a collector and, with 1 exception, none of my pipes cost more than $150 with most of them being around $60.
I’m not gentle with my pipes but I do keep them clean. To me, $10 for the pipe and another $30 for a replacement stem is worth it to have a cool $40 pipe.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

If I like a pipe and it has no other damage, I think it is worth the cost of stem replacement or repair.

 

[craig61a]

I’ve spliced some of mine…

 

[John C.]

A few years back I paid $10 for both pipes. The top one is a Weber, the bottom one is a Shelton(???). I sent them to Briarville and probably spent $30+ on each one.

 

[Dshift]

My local club had a bag of pipes donated by a former member, and was selling them for $10, I picked up this Wilke despite the busted stem because I liked the shape, and didn't have a bulldog in my collection.

When I sent it off to get a new stem, I was told what should have been obvious, that the cost of a new stem was much more than the pipe was worth. I've tried to smoke in it, and it's not a bad pipe, but the stem is almost impossible to clench. I'm curious to hear what people would do: keep it, trash it, get a new stem despite the cost?

View attachment 396046

If you were in Europe I would have loved to give repair a try. It’s very ambitious but definitely doable, especially because the button is not completely gone. It’s not worth the effort but it would be a really fun challenge.

 

[telescopes]

For a pipe worth smoking, a 30-40 dollar stem replacement is bargain. Considering you may smoke more than 100xs - that’s 30 cents a smoke.

 

[BriaronBoerum]

A lot of good responses, thanks!

A part of me is wishing I had gone ahead -- Mitchel from MBSD said he'd be happy to make a new stem if I wanted, but I hadn't tried smoking it at that time, and I was worried about spending money on something I had no real attachment to. I think I need to let this percolate a bit, and maybe smoke it again, before I make a decision.

I did buy another pipe from MBSD, a 4th Gen Klassik Prince, so the Wilke rode home free and in good company!

 

[BriaronBoerum]

I’ve spliced some of mine…


View attachment 396061View attachment 396062

Craig61a,
You must have done a really good job, because I can't see where the repair was made, can you say more about how you did it?

 

[Briar Lee]

My local club had a bag of pipes donated by a former member, and was selling them for $10, I picked up this Wilke despite the busted stem because I liked the shape, and didn't have a bulldog in my collection.

When I sent it off to get a new stem, I was told what should have been obvious, that the cost of a new stem was much more than the pipe was worth. I've tried to smoke in it, and it's not a bad pipe, but the stem is almost impossible to clench. I'm curious to hear what people would do: keep it, trash it, get a new stem despite the cost?

View attachment 396046

Try these:

 

[BriaronBoerum]

Try these:

Ok, now that's so simple it's genius, thanks! But wait, if I buy a couple of these bits, shouldn't I buy some more tobacco while I'm putting in an order??

 

[Auxsender]

Of course you should.

 

[Choatecav]

I had my dads old Medico pipe from the late fifties that had a bad break where the shank joined to the stem. I sent it off and had it repaired. No way that the cost would have been worth it for any other pipe but because this was my dad's, it was the sentimental value that drove the decision.
If there is no sentimental value, you just gotta make the call yourself.