Loose meerschaum stem

[martiniman]

I found lots of help for snugging up a loose stem in briar. I've used the heated stem against the countertop.
I just picked up a used meerschaum and the is seems the threading inside the pipe has been 90% stripped out, the stem only grabs the last 1 or 2 threads and is very, very loose.
The previous owner seems to have wrapped some fine cloth around the threads on the stem side to bulk it up but that doesn't really work sell.
any thoughts?

 

[irishsmoker]

Don't take my advice but I was in a pinch and had one that wouldn't hold at all and just jb welded it!

 

[tbradsim1]

Wrap thin aluminum foil on the male threads, and then form it in the grooves with your fingernail, sort of like he did with the thread. Tbradsim the old cajun

 

[martiniman]

I'm a big fan of JB but it seems a bit permanent.

i'll try the foil first.

 

[fred]

If you are talking about Turkish meerschaum with a push/pull delrin connector, then the

next step is to go oversize, which involvesre-drillingg and tapping the shank. Using foil or string will work in the short run but may lead to cracking the shank since you would be using these quick save measures that act like a wedge. The reason the threads in the shank are stripped is because the mortise has been unscrewed too many times, rather than simply pulling the bit out while twisting it in a clockwise direction. If you don't have the skill set to install an oversize connector and you don't want to spend any $$ on the pipe, then the next best thing is toseparatee the mortise from the tenon and glue the mortise in the shank. The previous owner damaged the pipe by not knowing how to use a delrin push/pull connector, which is designed to avoid creating this problem in the first place.

 

[shaintiques]

You can buy bone screws to fix look on ebay

 

[jrtaster]

more savvy pipesters may remember the name of a company, very closely associated with sms meerschaums, which sells the replacement pieces to solve the problem.

for a long time, maybe even now, sms pipes used something other than the simple push/pull tenon; my guess is they experienced so many failures with this system that they began to offer an after-market replacement system.

i have an older sms meerschaum ( a good smoker) where a cracked tenon resulted in a spinning stem. somewhere i learned of this company, order a few replacement parts and even as butter-fingered as i am, fixed the sucker in 10 minutes.

plumbers use a ribbon, much like waxed dental floss, they use to seal the threads on pipe joints which may offer a quick and reasonably durable solution to your problem.

i sure wish i could remember the name of the company above, for my own future reference.

jr/john

 

[martiniman]

I didn't really look hard at the pipe until now, dinner reservations made me look and run. This looks like it has the wrong stem. The pipe is a sultan head about 2 1/2" tall and 1 1/2" diameter. The inside of the pipe looks smooth 1/4" down the shank then threaded. The Stem looks like someone screwed in a 3/4" threaded meerschaum dowel that is sticking out 1/2". I think if I tried i could back this dowel out?
Fred - This was sold as turkish.

If you are talking about Turkish meerschaum with a push/pull delrin connector,
what does this look like? I cannot tell if the threads in the shank are simply circular or screwlike but they do start 1/4" down.

 

[fred]

This information should give you perspective...
http://bestmeerschaums.homestead.com/REPAIR.html
If the threads in the shank are stripped, then the proper repair involves

re-drilling the mortise and the bit to the next size up & re-threading both the

mortise and the bit to accept the new delrin connector. Using a bone screw

replacement will also require re-drilling and re-threading to the bit and

shank as well. The connectors can be purchased from this vendor... Look under misc. products. http://www.pipemakers.org/misc_products.html

 

[martiniman]

Super info Fred, Thanks.
It looks like I'm missing both male and female inserts and PO tried to replace with a simple threaded dowel.
Looks like this is going to take some time but i'm going to order the parts, I'm now determined to get this into a good smoker....

 

[fred]

I'm happy to get you the facts. Sometimes, these pipes can turn into a real

project. Let us know what comes of it for you.

 

[jrtaster]

i found the name of the company which sells tenon replacement parts. www.therightpipe.com
the only ebay source that came up in my search was located in turkey and they sold only in larger quantities.
i emphasize MY search; perhaps i missed other sources.
just for info/reference. Fred's advice was a lot more comprehensive and useful than my ideas.
good luck with your project!
jr/john

 

[martiniman]

thanks jrtaster...........
Through the web the call is the last owner tried a bone screw but it is in crooked and too small for shank.

 

[3xbbb]

Thanks Fred. You have made an old Danish pipe maker happy. I'm going to bring him 4 dozens of the inserts for the meerschaums

 

[fred]

You're welcome. There's a variety of ideas about bit-to-shank connectors among meerschaum carvers. Delrin push/pulls were invented by Andreas Bauer and hailed as an improvement over bone screws or boxwood screws. More recently, carvers have started using the mortise/tenon joint that briar carvers use, where the tenon is a part of the bit. Metal screw joints and metal screws have been used with African block and Turkish block pipes in the past as well. Meerschaum carvers have been going strong for over 300 years, so there's bound to be some variety in the construction of their pipes.

 

[pilgrim]

interesting suggestions; i face a similar delema. please tell me this guys; can i turn a screw type mortise and tenon into a push pull using one of these alleged parts? thanks

 

[owen]

I posted else where that I did a load of work on mine the other day made a bush to go in the stem end and heated and expanded the loose thread in the meerschaum end. I love that pipe now.