Stem Construction

[peckinpahhombre]

I was thinking recently about JT Cooke pipes and his stems. From what I understand, Cooke designs and pours many (and perhaps all - I am not sure) of his own lucite stems. Noodling on this, it occurred to me that this is an avenue for creativity that I haven't seen discussed much on this forum. Do any other artisans pour their own stems? I am not sure whether this could even be done with vulcanite (I suspect not).

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Right Roth, but I am not talking about taking a stock piece of Rod. I am talking about making your own rods. Wonder how many actually do this? It does seem like a time consuming process.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Looking through my pipe pics, it looks like Trevor Talbert may do this. Check this stem out - I doubt that is stock stem material:

 

[zack24]

I don't know anything about Lucite- apparently it can be produced in a small shop, but regarding the Cumberland and Ebonite from SEM- their plant is almost 28,000 sq meters- defintely not a process that lends itself to my tiny shop...

 

[gwtwdbss]

I love the stem on that Talbert Peck. How are the lucite stems on the Cooke's btw? I'd hate to shell out that kind of cash for impeccable blast but the stem is uncomfortable to me. I guess I am slowly developing an affection for rubber stems after I smoked my first Rad.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Chris - that is a very personal issue. Some folks apparently have really sensitive teeth, because truthfully I can't tell the difference. Perhaps as you get older your teeth become more sensitive or perhaps I'm a man and they are all just pussies - I just don't know.

 

[gwtwdbss]

Haha peck. I still enjoy my Castello's but the thinner stemmed ones are a lot more comfortable to me. I also have a few vulcanite stemmed pipes with a button that is just too small for my liking but that is a topic I will save for another thread.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Here's a better look at the Talbert

 

[cigrmaster]

peck, I seriously doubt many people have the facilities to create a mold and then are able to melt the lucite to pour their own stems. I would imagine it is very time consuming and not very cost effective, so why would they? I for one really love the looks of some of those colored plastic stems, just wish they were vulcanite.
Chris, when you have dentures like Peck, of course you cannot tell the difference in stem material. I do know that when he takes his teeth out, he only smokes his vulcanite ones.

One of the reasons I have been hemming and hawing about buying a Cooke one day is the stem, peck admits they are not as comfortable as a Rad, so I too would be very displeased about spending 900.00 plus for a pipe that was not perfect in every way. I honestly do not understand why he does not use vulcanite when most all of the top artisans do.

 

[cigrmaster]

roth, interesting thought about whether he takes commissions for vulcanite stems. I think since Peck is such a good customer, he should pose the question for us and get us an answer. That would be awesome if he did, but I have a feeling he does not. Yes his pipes sell in minutes so obviously he does not have to forsake his creative process for the sake of a sale, but I wonder how many people stay away from his pipes because of it, not that he gives a rat's ass.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I don't wear dentures - just have strong, manly teeth - and I never said his stems weren't as comfortable as a Rad. Just that his stems are different, so a guy like Harris would be taking a risk.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

And I suspect in 20 years, as my teeth disintegrate, I too will prefer vulcanite like Harris and Roth. Will probably also eat my dinner through a straw because I don't like how a fork feels up against what's left of my teeth.

 

[dragonslayer]

I’ve looked into this whole process and I understand a few artisans are pouring their own. The cost in materials is about the same as buying the 100’s of available ones and you can actually just email someone who casts for pens and they’ll pour what you want. The BIG problem I have is the activator is really nasty! A tiny little splash in your eye or a rub in the eye from some that may be on the table, you’re blinded, no rinsing it out you’re done. Not for anything would I want that stuff sitting around the shop, &^% happens all the time, and my vision is far more important than any stem.
Craig

 

[zack24]

Yep...used to cast some polyester resins using a similar activator when I cast sculptures back in the day...full chemical goggles and a face shield on top when I was mixing...

 

[wayneteipen]

Another one that makes his own acrylic stems is Maigur Knets. Did you guys see the stems on the pipes he took to the Chicago Show this year? They were magnificent. I spoke with him for some time about them. He cast pinecones in the middle of some of them and the effect was amazing. He told me that pen maker's cast their own acrylic all the time.
Vulcanite is another issue. It's much more difficult to make right and takes much more specialized equipment from what I understand. There's a reason there is only two major manufacturers of high quality ebonite. It's very difficult to make right and the cost of the equipment to make is out of reach for most. Interestingly, there have been a couple new companies try to get into manufacturing vulcanite only to find the product they have been able to produce isn't suitable for pipe stems. It takes just the right recipe of sulphur and rubber, heat, and pressure. There seems to be very tight tolerances for each of those things and if any are off you get things like tiny air bubbles in the rod, rod that is too soft, rod that is too brittle, rod that isn't deep black, or rod that won't polish to a rich shine.

 

[dragonslayer]

Caster's are making blanks out of everything these days. Pinecones, coffee beans and all kinds of seeds. The most interesting one I've found is an Aussie who casts a crocodile jaw. It's a 3 part video and the time and effort is amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pNAJgFVKJA
Worth watching all the parts to see how blanks are cast.

Craig

 

[trevert]

Sorry for the thread necromancy of this ancient post, but I thought I'd add in some info and confirmations. Yes, I've poured and cast my own stem materials before, and have a number of sheets still of custom stem material such as the one shown in the above pics. Jim Cooke does this a lot more than I do, and Paul Tatum did it till he left pipemaking. We're the only three that I *know* of, but there may be more.
It's a horrendously expensive process - Hobbyist makers ask me about it all the time and my reply is always, "Expect to wad up and burn a fistfull of hundreds before you get reliable results you can use, and even then it's fraught with issues and unexpected complications." (PS - If you're buying from pen casting guys, be sure and confirm that the materials are "food safe" - The stuff I use is used for casting artificial teeth sometimes)
When it works, you get a beautiful one-of-a-kind pipe stem. Which costs the maker about $40-50 in time and materials over and above the cost of a typical handcut ebonite stem. Ergo, if you sell them at the same price as a handcut German rubber stemmed pipe, you're making less money on every pipe.
Regarding the comfort issue, the material needs to be left thicker. That's why some folks don't find them as comfortable. It cats to a more brittle state than rubber (obviously), so the stems are more vulnerable to bite breakage if somebody chomps down on one of similar thickness to a vulcanite stem. You can make them thinner by making the bit slot lower from top to bottom, and make up for it by making it a little wider and deeper in the V cut, but there's only so far you can go before the slot is too narrow to easily accept a cleaner. If the stems are left slightly thicker and the V slot is tweaked to accommodate this, they're as durable as ebonite. They just don't have ebonite's natural advantage of being able to squish and flex with a bite - but on the same token, they also don't have ebonite's major weakness, in that they won't fade with time and use.