How Do I Remove Stinger?

[alexnc]

Trying to clean it up to being a smoker, but how do I get the stinger out? Tried turning it gripping it with a needle nose thru a few layers of paper towels and still scarred it up. Do I need to cut it?
This is supposed to be “THE GUILDHALL London Pipe 87 Comoy's England Bent Dublin”

Edited by jvnshr: Title capitalization.

 

[danielplainview]

Lefty loosy. Righty tighty.
Someone may have glued it in if that’s not working.

 

[alexnc]

won't budge, afraid I'm going to break it. Anything wrong with cutting it? I'm going to sell it, so I hate to alter if from original if I can help it.

 

[weezell]

^^ Then leave it alone! Let the new owner f&%k it up... :D

 

[danielplainview]

Yes, what he said! ^^^

 

[alexnc]

Don't they all come out? How the heck can you clean your pipe if it's glued in? I can give a retort - I guess. I may submerge it up to the top of the tenon in alcohol overnight, I got a VoxPop stinger out like that.

 

[mikethompson]

If you're going to sell it, leave it in there. Its next owner may want it intact.

 

[dmcmtk]

I may submerge it up to the top of the tenon in alcohol overnight...

This and, Lefty loosy. Righty tighty. Put a pipe cleaner through the hole at the end of the stinger, wrap it around the stinger, and use it as a torque wrench. I've had that work for me. The one below was a press fit, but it required the soak in alcohol.

...my low tech version of a strap wrench.

 

[newbroom]

scroll down to the part of this Reborn Pipes segment that shows the stinger, and read what this fellow (Al Jones, moderator, I think) has done.

https://rebornpipes.com/tag/repairing-a-cracked-bowl/

 

[ssjones]

@newbroom - that particular articel was by Dal Stanton. Mine show up as under "upshallfan".
Dave is right - most of the time a stubbon stinger can be removed with a little alchol. Tenon down in a shot glass with just enough alcohol to get up into the threads or friction fit. An alcohol soaked cleaner inserted in both ends also gets some alcohol into that area. I've not yet encountered a glued in stinger, but I suppose someone could have done that. Tobacco tars built up over time are like cement.

 

[alexnc]

can't go wrong with reborn pipes advice - it's on

 

[mso489]

If it comes out, save it and pass it along to the buyer. That will cover all possibilities. Just for onlookers, most pipes with stingers, the stingers pull right out by hand, no tools required. You usually discover the stinger and its easy removal in the first few smokes. Some pipes have the stinger as a way to fasten the stem to the shank, famously the Kaywoodie Drinkless. These should be left intact if possible; by the time you remove them and rig a different shank-to-stem connection, the pipe may not smoke as well as it did. Not worth the bother. Stingers are an old-time way to enhance the pipe smoking experience, as a bragging point, but have faded from favor. My last stinger came on a good mid-market BC that smokes great without it. Following my own advice, I labeled and saved the stinger.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I would heat the tip of the stinger with a soft flame briefly, and try twisting it free.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I just read that reborn pipes article, and saw the JB Weld, which may explain why a few pipes I have bought online tasted like tractor grease when I smoked them. JB Weld smells exactly like that to me. Uggg! I'm getting a little sick just thinking about it. People don't revolt in knowing that someone is putting JB Weld in a pipe they might smoke? Or, maybe some people don't mind that taste? Ugg

 

[alexnc]

Read Rebornpipes article - heat is the answer, it came out very easily with very little effort after applying some heat to the far end of the stinger. Will pass it on with the pipe, but dam if I can understand why it was ever a good idea.

 

[alan73]

Hacksaw and drill. It really works easy breezy .

 

[alexnc]

had a fine tooth hack saw in my hand - and a dremel blade in my Amazon cart

 

[madox07]

alexnc it all depends on whether it inconveniences you or not. I keep most of my stinger with the original pipes as indeed they cool the smoke a tad. One exception - the short screw like stinger on a church warden I have. If the tobacco is a bit on the moist side it gurgles through the second half of the bowl, which I highly dislike. So if the stinger is in your way, by all means remove it but without damaging the pipe.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Read Rebornpipes article - heat is the answer, it came out very easily with very little effort after applying some heat to the far end of the stinger.

See, I know stuff. :mrgreen:

 

[Chasing Embers]

Same trick works with an over clocked screw in tenon.