Radice Buttons Breaking - Coincidence?

[peckinpahhombre]

None were twin bores.

Did he have any insights as to what may be the source of the stem issues?

He indicated that based on the Radice pipes he has seen they use a much "stiffer and harder acrylic" than, say, Castello. He said: "I am extra careful when cleaning Radice stems and never do I use a drill bit to loosen material in the stems. I have had tenons shatter, buttons split, and holes just show up mid stem on Radice’s"

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Yikes! I have a Radice bulldog, but it has a vulcanite stem. Love it! But, I'll have to make sure that any more Radices I get don't use acrylic. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[fishingandpipes]

So what do people use to clean acrylic stems if not alcohol? I mostly avoid using alcohol, though recently did a thorough cleaning of all my pipes (pretty much all acrylic stems) and did use it. I rinsed them with water after to get it off quickly, though...

 

[agnosticpipe]

I found this discussion interesting, not because I have any Radice pipes, but I've come across a couple of Ascorti pipes that look to have suffered similar problems. In the last year I have bought two Ascorti Business pipes that have had rather large chunks missing from the button. I got them rather cheap because of this, but have been able to restore the buttons with black super glue. The chunks that were missing were maybe about 1/4" or less square and looked to have been broken out not chewed through. So far they've been smoking fine, but then because they are rather heavy pipes, I don't clench them that often.
I don't know if this means anything at all, but these two pipe makers have a shared past, and maybe use the same materials, and or the same manufacturing style. Just thought it was interesting to think about.

 

[fishingandpipes]

I actually had a Bonfiglioli this happened to as well, a white acrylic stem.

 

[briardan]

I think you should contact Radice and possibly ask if they can use Vulcanite. They do make vulcanite on some pipes but only 10% of the pipes get one according to the website. I'm sure it is better they know about this problem so they can address the issue. No feedback is worse than bad feedback when you are trying to create a quality product. I have not had this problem, but I never rest my pipe in my mouth. I used to collect Radice's but have recently switched to Savinelli. It's not due to lack of smoke qualities but lack of comfort. I find older PUNTO ORO'S, NONPARIEL's, GUILBLEO D' ORO'S, and AUTOGRAPHS used vulcanite stem which in turn are more comfortable and more forgiving. There sizes also fit my needs as many Radice's tend to be clunky. I find Savinelli's are very consistant and haven't had a bad one yet.

 

[briardan]

Rich Lewis also can fabricate a Radice stem if you prefer to send it domestically. He can also used Vulcanite to prevent this from happening again.