PSA: Don’t Leave Your Pipes On Your Lap

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edger

Lifer
Dec 9, 2016
2,995
22,400
74
Mayer AZ
I once tried to grab a dropped pipe that was going to fall on carpet, but flubbed the catch by winging the bastard onto the kitchen tiles. I should have left well enough alone, as I shattered the mortise.
 
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Jun 9, 2015
3,912
24,430
42
Mission, Ks
You can run a tap into the tenon and then thread a corresponding screw into it and gently work it out. Most pipe repair people will use a very small slide hammer to extract broken tenons. I use a T handle with a drill chuck on it, be VERY careful running a a screw or bolt onto the tenon though because if you don't know what your doing you can actually expand the tenon and either get it stuck worse or crack the shank.
 

didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
9,964
31,880
34
Burlington WI
I've never dropped a pipe from my lap, but I put more dents in my Old Boy lighter than I care to admit doing so....it's never the Zippo....always the Old Boy....
 
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ADKPiper

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 13, 2020
588
1,435
Adirondack Mountains
466dba3afeaff25d9dcb64895dd23fa62186379a.gif
 
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Zack Miller

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 13, 2020
643
1,948
Fort Worth, Texas
When I was in the Navy, both my friend and I ruined more than one pair of khaki slacks by putting hot (but supposedly out) pipes in our pockets. There was usually about a five minute latency before simultaneously feeling our thighs burning and smelling the synthetic fabric melting.
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
Some people regularly pocket their partially smoked pipes when they assume they are "out." Embers are tricky and might not always be inert when they appear to be out. Some fabric is more flammable that it should be for safety purposes. I would say, don't take the chance.
 
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May 9, 2021
1,676
3,588
55
Geoje Island South Korea
Yeah, laps and pants pockets are no place for pipes. Everyone has different habits, so you just have to identify your own vulnerable places for stashing a pipe and avoid those. Or an easier way to think about it is to have specific safe places to stash pipes and always use those.

Same way for not losing keys, wallets, glasses, etc. For keeping track of stuff, habits can be your friends.
...nor tiled floors.

I dropped my birth-year Dunhill 196 on Saturday night, and broke the tenon off in the mortice.

I'm still in shock... :(