Stinger prob on Linkman/grabow

[deithial]

The stinger in this recently purchased estate pipe doesnt flow well at all. Ive don the Jim Beam cleaning to death pipe cleaner passes though but it has a very small opening. I am giving some serious thought to vutting the stinger back to the screw threads as it attaches to the stem.
This is a very old pipe its a Linkmans Dr Grabow Deluxe. If anyone else has one of these does yours have airflow issues as well?
It is just the stem having this issue. Any help brothers would be great.

 

[deithial]

 

[nsfisher]

Stingers are of a mixed conversation. I hate them and remove them when I get them. If, in the one in a hundred chance, I have one that can't be removed, I hack saw the tip off. As a rule they can be removed with soaking in either oil(olive oil etc.), hot water or heat. I find the metal stinger makes a pipe gurgle almost everytime and while some you can pass a cleaner through, it will gurgle again within a few minutes.

 

[spartan]

+1 nfisher
MUTILATE IT! Unless it's an old collectable... then I wouldn't. But If you don't care to collect and just to smoke... SAW IT OFF!

 

[deithial]

My first thought was to cut it off the only thing that stops me is it is a 80yo pipe. Just feels wrong in a way. But would be worse to not be able to smoke it,

 

[ejames]

I've never heard of that problem with the old Linkmans, but that doesn't mean it can't happen! The stingers in the old Linkmans screw into the stem. If you are brave,unscrew the stinger(might need to heat it a little) and run a drill bit one size bigger than the hole through it. Might also open up the stem itself while you are at it.just don't drill out the threaded area and don't go to big or you will have extra holes in your stem.
I have come across similar problems in the later Grabow with the Ajustomatic. Sometimes the threaded tenon has an obstruction from improper drilling. Easily fixed.

The aluminum parts were made by an outside supplier and they probably didn't get eye-balled to closely before installation.

 

[nsfisher]

I have an old Grabow Starfire here that I got off E-Bay. It was unsmoked and had the stinger intact. I tried it with the stinger left in. Less than 5 minutes into the smoke, the stinger found it's way into the garbage bag. Did I feel guilty, uhhhh no

 

[jchaplick]

I hate stingers, they were a horrible invention, whoever invented them should get a stupid award

 

[rigmedic1]

I also am not a stinger fan, but I have an antique Shamrock with a really unusual needle stinger that I left in. The pipe smokes cool, freely and dry. Otherwise, if I were you, I would put the stinger in a tiny envelope, write which pipe it came out of, and store it in my pipe cabinet. That way if you decide to sell your pipe as a collectible, you have all the peices.

 

[tokerpipes]

Stingers are for the wussy smoker, kinda like filters. Nothing against those that like them but why?

 

[deithial]

I agree with the comments about "removing stingers" but if you noticed the pics it is not possible to remove the stinger and attach the bowl & stem. My only option is to hack saw it off which would mean destroying part of a 80 year old pipe and that doesn sit well with me.
For 80 years this pipe has been smoked with this horrid little contraption intact, going to try to bore it out a bit and see if it improves the sir flow issue. Or, as stated above it may just be an imperfection.
We'll see, either way this thing is getting smoked.

 

[olderthandirt]

Your reticence at taking a hacksaw to such a piece of history is well founded.

As you note, the pipe had previously been used with stinger in place....
I don't use the stingers, simple preference.

Of the older pipes in my herd that originally had stingers, keeping this additional condensate/ash trap is approached on a case by case basis.
Some pipes do indeed tend to gurgle with the stinger in place.

Some pipes do not tend to gurgle with the stinger in place and actually have a better balanced airflow at that.

Some pipes I can find no difference in performance in any way if the stinger is there or not.
For those that gurgle or else show no difference I remove the stinger. All others the stinger remains.

I only remove the stinger simply to have one less part to clean.

Considering the construction of yours, it may be possible to have a new stem made for the thing, thereby preserving the original and allowing you to smoke sans stinger.

 

[spartan]

but if you noticed the pics it is not possible to remove the stinger and attach the bowl & stem.

I don't see any pics.