Quality Bits for Corncob Pipes

[Ryan]

When it comes to making a mistake there's no place like the piping community.

Aren’t you at least going to point out the mistake for us dimwitted folks?

 

[Bassman65]

Many won’t, but the Bracken pipe is a filter pipe from MM that uses a filter and has an acrylic stem. There are probably more.

Really eh? I bought a Bracken and mine only came with a green plastic stem. I got ripped

 

[Ryan]

Really eh? I bought a Bracken and mine only came with a green plastic stem. I got ripped

I’m sorry, it looked like the stem was the same as the one on the Emerald, which is acrylic. I just looked at SP and saw that you are clearly correct. I was thinking of getting one of those because I thought it was acrylic! Shows what I know. I need to read and not just look at pictures.

 

[Ryan]

@Bassman65 This one is acrylic and uses a filter.



I found that in just a few minutes of looking at their site. I’m sure if you look there are more.

 

[burleybreath]

Even the bend on the acrylic stems appear to be slightly too acute, just like the plastic stems. No big deal, it just seems odd to me.

 

[Singed]

Got a couple original forever stems, and a couple from Vermont freehand before they took over the forever stems. High quality but not really my thing. They don't provide the open draw I like with my cobs. Too much gurgle.

My favorite stems are the MM Danish bits. Seemingly higher quality plastic. Softer material. Wide open.

I also have a cob with the MM Danish bit, a huge improvement over their standard bit, aesthetically and functionally, options in black or amber. I can't recall if they also have filterless options.

 

[Sobrbiker]

At one time MM made vulcanite bits, my dad’s old Freehand (late 60’s/early 70’s) has a Danish styled vulcanite bit. Different stems than they use now (actual cob) so it’s not interchangeable with new ones.
He wasn’t one to tinker and modify things.
Pic when I first found it in his garage:

 

[Chasing Embers]

At one time MM made vulcanite bits, my dad’s old Freehand (late 60’s/early 70’s) has a Danish styled vulcanite bit. Different stems than they use now (actual cob) so it’s not interchangeable with new ones.
He wasn’t one to tinker and modify things.
Pic when I first found it in his garage:
View attachment 278029

Up until 5-6 years ago, they still had vulcanite on the freehand. When the cobbits first came out in 2014 they had long vulcanite stems as well.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Up until 5-6 years ago, they still had vulcanite on the freehand. When the cobbits first came out in 2014 they had long vulcanite stems as well.

Right on.
Did they still have cob stems 5-6 yrs ago with the vulcanite bits?
If they had the later “made to look like cob” stem and vulcanite bit, that would be a good sample for someone to measure tenon on to help guys search the right vulcanite blank to finish.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Did they still have cob stems 5-6 yrs ago with the vulcanite bits?

No. Other than the freehand, cobbits, and occasional special editions they haven't used vulcanite for decades.