Reshaping Stems

[Wellington]

Don't know if this should be in maintenance or not. Just wondering if it's a normal thing to reshape your pipe stems. I'm about to try it on my wellington, I want a bit more of a curve on it, it would sit in my mouth a lot better.

I'd like to do it to my Brigham as well, Brigham's bent stems aren't very bent, I like a nice bend in a pipe. Is this a recommended thing? The way i'm about to try it is dipping my stem in boiling water to soften the rubber. Is there a risk of closing off the air flow?

 

[Wellington]

Frick, it brought out oxidation in my stem! I just deoxidized that a couple months ago!

 

[john218]

I guess you tried it without waiting for some replies, so I hope it came out allright for you, other than the oxidation it caused.
Did you put a pipe cleaner through the stem to prevent closing up the airway?

 

[pitchfork]

A candle (or lighter) is the way to go, unless you have a heat gun. Just go slow, move the stem around (at least an inch or two away from the flame) so as not to burn the rubber. It will get soft and then softer. Bend it to where you want it and then hold it in place or run it under cold water and then wipe dry. And yes, a pipe cleaner helps to keep the airway open.

 

[Wellington]

I wasn't smart and I just went ahead with it. I didn't end up bending the stem at all once I saw it was causing oxidation again. I'll try these methods next time, thanks guys.

 

[pitchfork]

For the record, I've tried boiling rubber stems before -- bad idea!
I've also tried boiling a lucite stem (no oxidation, right?) and it brought all manner of bubbles and shit to the surface. So I sanded those bubbles and pits like a Trojan and they just kept going and going and going. I ended up sanding half the button off before I got rid of them all.

 

[pitchfork]

Photographic record of my "skillz" -- and there are still some little bubbles I couldn't sand away(!):

 

[andrew]

I used a candle when I was taking the oxidation off the stem using the heat method, the vulcanite became easily bendable, didn't have any trouble with air flow being cut off, just heat the stem up good with a candle or heat source until you smell burning rubber and it's easily bendable, then bend it to the shape you want and hold it for a bit and the shape will stay. It's actually quite easy.