Hi there, please excuse for my poor English. I think my pipe stem has been oxidized in recent weeks; however, what i find strange is that it has only been oxidized part of the stem, other parts look ok. Even the pipe maker says its weird. Any info would be appreciated. Many thanks.
Oxidized stem question
- Thread starter tuanp86
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Could be caused by sunlight. Do you leave that pipe near a window and the one side of the stem is seeing more sunlight than the other?
Make sure the stem is fully seated each time it is replaced, and push it back in tight any time you notice it is "drifting" out. If you don't, after a while it will not seat no matter how much pressure is applied (the wood will swell in a ring far inside in the mortise).
1) Is the bottom of the stem the side that is oxidized?
2) Do you drink very hot beverages while smoking that pipe?
2) Do you drink very hot beverages while smoking that pipe?
It could have been in a pipe shop or other situation where it was exposed to sunlight before you owned it. The overall haze of oxidation is somewhat unusual. Often the oxidation occurs more intensely at the bit, where it is exposed to moisture, but this seems uniform and even.
+ 1 for Mso489: In the past I have had a few brad new pipes(Peterson) bought from certain British and French based tobacconist,and just after two bowlfuls those started showing oxidation after two bowlfuls (got in touch with the vendor requesting partial refund,but better if I was sending them back right after I noticed partially dull stem surface,these ain't
getting better with age either but opposite,Am I supposed doing final finishing to brand new pipes worth more than $ 100 ?
getting better with age either but opposite,Am I supposed doing final finishing to brand new pipes worth more than $ 100 ?
Almost certainly sunlight. The black is perhaps the bottom and the oxidized part the top? Maybe in a rack? It's not too badly oxidized. Oxidation of vulcanite is inevitable, but you can slow it down by limiting exposure to light and air. Keep it in a darker spot for the light and use mineral oil or Obsidian oil or Beeswax chapstick to limit exposure to air. Removing the existing oxidation is not hard. There are numerous thread covering the myriad methods for doing so.
I agree, regarding new pipes and even estate pipes bought from dealers. I expect the stems to be free of oxidation at time of delivery. Even dealers that offer to buff the stem before delivery sometimes do shoddy work. I have sometimes toldl local retailers whose display cases have numerous pipes with BADLY oxidized stems that if they don't sell a lot of pipes, be sure to stock only pipes with acrylic stems. These dealers don't know how to remove the oxidation and some don't even know they're oxidized. Worse, even when they know and can't or won't do anything about it, they don't reduce their already high price. The result? The pipe oxidizes some more waiting for a sucker to buy it.
I agree, regarding new pipes and even estate pipes bought from dealers. I expect the stems to be free of oxidation at time of delivery. Even dealers that offer to buff the stem before delivery sometimes do shoddy work. I have sometimes toldl local retailers whose display cases have numerous pipes with BADLY oxidized stems that if they don't sell a lot of pipes, be sure to stock only pipes with acrylic stems. These dealers don't know how to remove the oxidation and some don't even know they're oxidized. Worse, even when they know and can't or won't do anything about it, they don't reduce their already high price. The result? The pipe oxidizes some more waiting for a sucker to buy it.
Unless you have window panes specifically designed to block UV, that window is not a good place to keep pipes, especially those with vulcanite or ebonite stems.
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