Loose stem Stanwell

[iowamike]

I just bought a new stanwell Speeding dublin 1960 and the stem seems looser than my other pipes. Should I send it back or is that how Stanwells are made. Remember I am only comparing it to a new Peterson and 2 basket pipes, all about the same in tightness. By the way one basket pipe smokes fantastic the other not so much.

It slides in and out with no twisting, and I love the look of it.
Thanks for your input

 

[duncan]

I would try smoking out of it for a bit. The reason behind that is that the moisture from the tobacco that is released while smoking will cause the wood to swell. Once the wood swells and it is used in a nice rotation it will be nice and tight. If it is really loose at this moment I suggest using some bees wax on the stem to snug it up a bit until the wood swells. Hope this helps a bit.

 

[iowamike]

I went for it duncan! After it cooled it seemed to tighten up a bit. I smoked 1Q in it and it was awesome.

 

[chuckw]

For a loose stem coat the tenon with bees wax, reinsert the stem while twisting it then smoke the pipe. It will snug right up.

 

[searock]

There are a couple of ways to tighten a loose stem. But first, the usual reason a stem... rubber stem that is... gets loose if because it was removed from the pipe while the pipe was hot. Don't do it!
There is a heating process to tighten a loose stem, but this takes a lot of practice and I don't recommend it to the amateur. Instead here's a trick that works. Clean the inside where the stem goes very well. Then take a "tiny" amount of super glue and swab it around the inside of the stem hole. This will soak in and cause the wood to "swell" slightly and the stem should fit tighter. It it's too tight now try a little wax or if needed some fine sand paper will work. Because the glue is not in contact with the smoke it won't affect the smoking qualities.
The whole key to this is not to use too much glue and to make sure the glue is dry before you put the stem back in!

 

[duncan]

Glad to hear it is working out!