Problem with my cobs, not sure what to do.

[reichenbach]

I prefer the Danish stems in my cobs because it seems that the plastic is thicker. So as I bite through my original stems on the Country Gents, I'm replacing them with the Danish. When I clean mine, I always have to wait a day or so to refit the stems back in. Did you try taking the black band off of the shank to stretch it some? Idk if this will work but it might be worth a shot.

 

[peteross]

Don't forget to lube the tenon with a little plain chapstick

 

[nsfisher]

It is what I said. Cobs are notourious for that. Only takes minutes for the shank to shrink enough. Do not sand it though! You will then have a loose fit for the life of the Cob.

 

[smoker49]

I sat down last night with some fine grit sandpaper and took just the sharp lip off the edge of the stems. I left the pipe bowls in the freezer overnight, and when I tried putting the stems in just now, I got four out of five in. They aren't all the way in, but they are in enough to be able to smoke them. Now we'll see if smoking them will loosen them up the rest of the way. Progress!

 

[instymp]

you can always call them, great customer service.

 

[uberam3rica]

I naively thought that if I froze the cob bowls, that the wood might shrink and I could get the stems to fit

That would do the opposite. Freezing causes expansion. Put a can of unopend pop in the freezer. If the can doesn't bust, it will at least be bulging.