I think I just Broke an Estate Pipe.

[lukifer]

So I bought a Medico Cavalier off of eBay and the stem was stuck on. So I put it in a bag and let it sit in the freezer over night, didn't work, so I filled it with 99% isopropyl and let that evaporate, still wouldn't budge. Rinse and repeat 3 more times and upon pulling it out of the freezer tonight I got the stem to come off...from what appears to be an aluminum tenon still lodged in the shank. There was a nasty old filter in there which I think caused the tenon to corrode in place.

Maybe I am just dumb and the shank on this model has a tenon and the stem fits over that but I doubt it as the side of the tenon that is visible has 2 sections of cross cuts that I imagine are there to keep it in place in the stem.

I can probably get the aluminum tenon out easily enough without cracking the shank but if there is no way to re-seat it back in the stem where it belongs I don't know if I should as in its current configuration I think I could still smoke it... It is also entirely possible this is the way it was designed and pulling the tenon out would be breaking something that is not currently broken...

Curious if anyone knows anything about how to fix something like this. While superglue would probably "fix it", that doesn't seem like a good idea considering I plan to smoke out of it. Does anyone know how they get aluminum tenons to stay put in the acrylic stems at the factory?

Or did I just break this pipe with no legitimate way to repair it?

 

[ashdigger]

Post some pics.

We’ll either laugh at you, commiserate with you, educate you or help you.

 

[lukifer]

Sorry about the quality. This is the best I can do with a cheap tracfone. Hopefully this gives you a better idea what I am dealing with here.

My kneejerk reaction is to pull that tenon out of the shank and try to find some way of getting it to sit back in the stem as I am 98.2% sure that is the proper configuration but I have no clue how to make it stay if I do...

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Chasing Embers]

This is the best I can do with a cheap tracfone.

Nothing wrong with that, just have to know how to use them.




Try heating the stuck tenon with a lighter and pulling it free with needle nose pliers.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Medico pipes can have the metal sleeve in either the stummel or the stem. They will have slots cut into them—however, they are relatively smooth in texture. Yours looks like the metal sleeve should be anchored in the stem.

 

[theloniousmonkfish]

Cut a little block of wood with a hole drilled to snugly accept the tenon, cut a slit straight from one side of the hole through the block. Stuff block in vice, tenon in hole, tighten, twist. That tenon might also be threaded.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Medico pipes can have the metal sleeve in either the stummel or the stem. They will have slots cut into them—however, they are relatively smooth in texture. Yours looks like the metal sleeve should be anchored in the stem.

View attachment 195168

Sorry—the top set is MasterCraft. Just the lower pipe is a Medico.

 

[lukifer]

Thanks for all the replies, I will give these a try and see what shakes loose(hopefully). Does anyone have any advice as to how I would go about permanently seating the tenon back in the stem after I get it out of the shank? I thought maybe make a few diagonal grooves with a razor blade so it goes in but not out. Not sure that will actually work and I am confident there are better solutions.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Thanks for all the replies, I will give these a try and see what shakes loose(hopefully). Does anyone have any advice as to how I would go about permanently seating the tenon back in the stem after I get it out of the shank? I thought maybe make a few diagonal grooves with a razor blade so it goes in but not out. Not sure that will actually work and I am confident there are better solutions.

T-88 epoxy

 

[georged]

Thanks for all the replies, I will give these a try and see what shakes loose(hopefully). Does anyone have any advice as to how I would go about permanently seating the tenon back in the stem after I get it out of the shank? I thought maybe make a few diagonal grooves with a razor blade so it goes in but not out. Not sure that will actually work and I am confident there are better solutions.

The first page of this thread in the pipemakers forum talks about how to secure glued-in tenons so they'll never come out.

Put another way, if properly re-glued the stem itself would be the "removal tool".

Delrin tenon failure avoidance - pipemakersforum.com

 

[georged]

T-88 epoxy

Not T-88. It's designed for wood.

 

[kcghost]

You do have a task ahead of you. You could send it out to be repaired. Briarworks could probably handle this.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Not T-88. It's designed for wood.

Several artisans use it for their tenons, Bruce Weaver being one of them. Haven't had one fail yet. Also mentioned often on the pipe maker's forum.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You do have a task ahead of you. You could send it out to be repaired. Briarworks could probably handle this.

Briarville would do it up right as well.

 

[georged]

Several artisans use it for their tenons, Bruce Weaver being one of them. Haven't had one fail yet. Also mentioned often on the pipe maker's forum.

Many pipe makers are primarily artists, meaning in the shaping sense, and either don't care about or disregard materials and construction considerations.

Fixing their mistakes is what I do.

The list of problems brought about by their decisions is long. It's been enough to keep me busy for years.

I have a pipe on my bench at this very moment, in fact, that was made by one of the most famous and venerated sculptor-carvers in the world, and is worth many thousands of dollars. It fell apart (into six pieces) because the wrong glue and gluing techniques were used.

Since using the right materials is no more work or expense that using the wrong ones, it makes no sense to NOT do so. It turns pipe construction from dice roll into a sure thing.

The proper glue for tenon attachment is one that flexes microscopically---is designed for the task---not one that cures to a glass-like hardness which can crumble and crack in such applications and doesn't adhere to smooth surfaces in the bargain.

This is the proper stuff:

G/flex 655 Thickened Epoxy Adhesive - https://www.westsystem.com/specialty-epoxies/gflex-655-thickened-epoxy-adhesive/

 

[crashthegrey]

That is definitely stuck the wrong way in. If you can get it out, just epoxy it back to the stem.

 

[telescopes]

Many pipe makers are primarily artists, meaning in the shaping sense, and either don't care about or disregard materials and construction considerations.

Fixing their mistakes is what I do.

The list of problems brought about by their decisions is long. It's been enough to keep me busy for years.

I have a pipe on my bench at this very moment, in fact, that was made by one of the most famous and venerated sculptor-carvers in the world, and is worth many thousands of dollars. It fell apart (into six pieces) because the wrong glue and gluing techniques were used.

Since using the right materials is no more work or expense that using the wrong ones, it makes no sense to NOT do so. It turns pipe construction from dice roll into a sure thing.

The proper glue for tenon attachment is one that flexes microscopically---is designed for the task---not one that cures to a glass-like hardness which can crumble and crack in such applications and doesn't adhere to smooth surfaces in the bargain.

This is the proper stuff:

G/flex 655 Thickened Epoxy Adhesive - https://www.westsystem.com/specialty-epoxies/gflex-655-thickened-epoxy-adhesive/

Thx for the link.

 

[UB 40]

Take a look at pipedia to get the picture right Medico - Pipedia - https://pipedia.org/wiki/Medico

But you still have to get the thing out of the stummel. Maybe tar and condensation hold it fixed, but didn’t you say you’ve already tried some alcohol to loosen it up. Or maybe the wood dried out and has shrunken.

I would try a plier with caution anyways. And the old trick with cooling down not the whole pipe in the fridge but the one piece of metal. Maybe an ice cube on that one may help to get that 1/10 millimetre shrinkage of the metal to pull it out.

The other opposite way round is to moisten the wood to some degree so the dried
out wood will expand. Some days in a humidor or a pot of water covered with a lid without the pipe touching the water could help.

Good luck.

 

[condorlover1]

Stud Extractor or send it to Briarville - that's what I always do. He has a drawer full of busted amber stems from me and my late mate @weezell and he hasn't ever said no to me yet!

 

[AJL67]

I think what you paid for the pipe will have some part of the decision of sending it to someone to have it fixed up, might cost you more than you paid for the pipe in the first place. YMMV