Custom fit mouthpiece

[joeyv55]

Hey y'all, I came into my great grandfather's pipe. Did my best to restore it without ruining it but sadly broke the mouthpiece. Can anyone help me ID it and point me to where to buy one? Or can anyone here provide one?

The photo of it was before breaking. Since breaking, I lost it!

https://imgur.com/a/aOPGvkM

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

You cannot buy direct fit replacement stems for most pipes, stems are cut to fit each pipe individually at the time of manufacture. You will have to send it to a professional pipe repairman to have a new stem made for it. Cost is generally in the $40-80 range but hand cut stems can get even pricier.

 

[kcghost]

You'd have to tell us what nomenclature is on the pipe for us to make any kind of guess as to what the pipe is. And you'd have to give us an idea of its age.

 

[OzPiper]

If you use the “Search” bar at the top right hand of the page and put in “Stem Replacement” you will find numerous threads with the information you’re after

Good luck restoring a family heirloom

 

[joeyv55]

Gold grown

You'd have to tell us what nomenclature is on the pipe for us to make any kind of guess as to what the pipe is. And you'd have to give us an idea of its age.

Gold crown
Made in France
12kt Gold(plate?)
1930s/1940s

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

You can get pre-molded stems from Vermont Freehand but you will have to cut the tenon to size, file/sand the stem to OD and polish it.

 

[Hillcrest]

stems are cut to fit each pipe individually at the time of manufacture

I think some of that is myth to create a sideline replacement business... if you watch some factory tour videos you can see images of standard pipes in trays on the right side and fully pre-made their stems on the left side of the same tray. They may be slightly "fitted" but I seriously doubt, with the volume of pipes being made that each one is individually made on factory pipes. But then again, I have never physically been on a facotry tour and I know many here have been.

 

[orvet]

I have heard it said many years ago, that the way to tell the difference between a hand cut stem and a pre-molded stem is that the hand cuts stem has rounded corners in the opening at the end of the stem. I suppose that could be faked by filing out the square corners with a round Jeweler's file, but it's hard to fake the quality of the vulcanite itself. Having had a number of stems replaced in the 1980s, I noticed substantial difference in the quality of replacement stems, especially as compared to the original stem on older pipes such as Comoys and GBDs.
My experience with replacement stems varied from very good to very poor, depending on who the repairman was. I do hope that has changed over the years with more Craftsman getting into the business, as I do have a few pipes that need some repair work.