Do You Dislike a Certain Stem Material?

[didimauw]

And I actually really like the grabow plastic stems. I take some sandpaper to them first, but they're very comfortable.

 

[cigrmaster]

I have only 2 pipes in my collection that have acrylic stems. One is the first pipe I ever bought, a Savinelli Linea Pui 5. The other is a Michael Butera estate pipe I bought assuming it had vulcanite. I was pretty stunned when I got it and realized it wasn't vulcanite. The shape of the button and the bend made clenching fairly easy but it was still acrylic.

All of my other pipes have high quality German vulcanite which don't oxidize and when I use Obidisian stem oil the stems are always nice and shiny . I got rid of any older pipes that were sulfur laden and oxidized if you just looked at them weird. If all vulcanite was like that I would use acrylic stems also.
My last 2 old vulcanite pipes I got rid of was an old Upshall and an old Lane Era Charatan. It was a shame getting rid of them as they both smoked great.

 

[Chasing Embers]

because I feel I shouldn't HAVE to fix the gross stems

Take care of them as you use them and you'll never have to.

 

[anotherbob]

Bong is such a strange word. Does it originate from Australia? sounds Australian. I'm not even sure what one is.

derived from Hindi I am pretty sure. Bhang is a drink made there that's super strong with the hash and stuff.
Oh and I prefer acrylics over other stems. But not enough to even look at what stem material is used in a pipe until after I bought it.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Bhang is a drink made there that's super strong with the hash and stuff.

Oh, I guess I totally had no correct concept of what this was.

 

[jewman22]

I'm no stranger to doing the hard clean up of Vulcanite, having done many estates, and probably around 40 pipes now with Vulcanite, this is the only one that has really started oxidize since. My old Brighams cleaned up quite well last year, and are still shiny, as are my old Petes.
But some, including both of my Brebbias are just oxidizing super quickly. All but 1 of my Savs are Acrylic, I don't notice them being hard on the teeth, but then again I dont tend to clench. But they are such low maintenance that I find them preferable.
I do have a cob with a cheap plastic that I dislike, as well as a porcelain pipe and a meer that have Bakelite stems which I'm kind of indifferent to.

 

[saltedplug]

I never paid attention to stem material. Both worked, and my teeth didn't care.

 

[olkofri]

Yes. I hate vulcanite. It's a deal-breaker for me.

 

[pipesandscotch]

Not to try to talk someone into buying vulcanite, because there are definitely some nice acrylic stems out there. But, if one should happen to be concerned about vulcanite oxidizing, check into buying a jeweler's cloth.

https://www.amazon.com/Polishing-Jewelry-Cleaning-Platinum-Silverware/dp/B082KLVY98/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=jewelers+cloth&qid=1632151749&sr=8-13

They are all a little different, but the in side white sheet in impregnated with polishing compound and the outer cloth has a microcrystalline wax in it. Start with a clean and nice vulcanite stem, and then each time you clean your pipe at night, just buff up the stem with the inside part and then when polished, use the outside part of buff it out, as it adds a micro film of wax to help prevent5 oxidation. I use one every night, and I never have oxides on my stems. YMMV

Thank you for this tip. I purchased a brand new one this week to dedicate to stems. Have already used it a few times and can feel the difference, much less see it. If only I knew it decades ago lol! Excellent!

 

[lawdawg]

I prefer vulcanite. I don’t see anything wrong with replacement stems. I’ve never had one made or bought a pipe with one, but I’d prefer a new stem on an old pipe over an original stem that has begun to oxidize or that has a lot of someone else’s chatter.