Savinelli Estella 614 Tight Draw

[rosney]

I picked up this Savinelli Estella 614 at an antique shop earlier this week. I have given it the salt and alcohol treatment and have it smelling pretty sweet again. I probably didn't get a huge deal on it, but I have been looking for a 614 and this one was beautiful. One thing I have noticed though is the draft hole in the stem seems really tight. It barely will squeeze a skinny pipe cleaner through it. When drawing on the pipe is seems like I already have a bowl packed. Is this how this one is supposed to be? Is there any way to open it up on a pipe with a bent stem like this? I haven't worked much on acrylic stems. It seems to be pretty clean, but I will keep working. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you in advance!

 

[pitchfork]

You'll need needle files and lots of patience for a stem with that much bend. I tried boiling an acrylic stem once to straighten it out and it was a disaster. Others may have tips for straightening it and then bending it back without ruining it, but that would make the file work much easier.

 

[ejames]

Heating with a heat gun works best ( for me anyway) once it is straight you drill it and open up the funnel with the needle files. Heat again and re-bend. If you've never done this it might be best to send it out.

 

[tbradsim1]

Ros,PM Orley, he bought a small camping wire saw that he clipped one end off and uses it that way on his pipes. You could maybe do that and fix it yourself. My guess is it's in the stem, all the Estella's I have have open shanks.

 

[snagstangl]

I had an estella same make 614 with a draw problem. Upon looking at the tenon and mortise I figured out that the tenon actually extended down to the draw hole level. It explained the build up on one side of the tenon. I ended up sanding the tenon down a bit on the bottom where it inserts into the mortise. then when it cleared the draw hole I chamfured the tenon with a countersink. It smoke well after that, but bowl was to big so it is no longer with me.

 

[rosney]

Well, good news. There must have been a piece if tobacco or pipe cleaner fluff blocking the airway in the stem. I worked on it a little harder this morning and got it freed up. The draw is perfect now. Smoked my first bowl of mm 965 in it this afternoon. It smoked right to the bottom and was cool all the way. I think I'm going to like this one.