Replacement Stems, How Much do They Reduce the Value?

[john218]

rothnh' thanks for your answer,
Let me clarify my original question, which I now see needed some editing.
I have a Dunhill and Charatan with broken tenons. Except for the broken tenon, the rest of the stem is intact on both pipes.
I talked to Dave about doing replacement stems for several pipes and he suggested fitting the original stem on the the two pipes mentioned with a new tenon, rather than making a replacement stem. He recommended using delrin because of it's natural lubricating properties.
He has replacement tenons available in delrin or vulcanite and delrin would seem to be better from a functional stand point.
My question is whether using vulcanite for the tenon, instead of delrin would lessen the loss in value, since it's the same material as the rest of the stem.
I have these pipes for smoking, not collecting, but wonder how collectors would respond to my question as another element to the overall questions raised in this post.

 

[john218]

rothnh,
I agree and am sending the pipes to Mike for tenon replacement

Walker Briar is among those few who get very the highest recommendations.
I've seen the discussions on delrin and will have them use it on my pipes.
What I particularly like about them is their "no scuff" repair technique, which leaves the pipe untouched with stem replacements. It's the reason I'll use them for stem replacement instead of one of the others.

 

[estumpf]

I'd like to add my kudos about Mike Myers. He did a very nice job of repairing my pipe.