I've done various searches and have come up with less than ideal solutions and thought I'd turn to the collective brain trust here. I have a late 19th Century/early 20th Century meerschaum pipe that is in need of repair to make it smokable. The original bone tenon is intact and solidly in place in the meerschaum portion; it still has its threads. However, the Redmanol (possibly Bakelite) stem's threads are well stripped.
The archivist/collector in me would prefer to preserve all the original parts and find a non-destructive, reversible solution to get a usable fit—I'd rather not go up a size with a replacement antique bone tenon and retap the stem and meerschaum. I'd be content with a solution that effectively creates a solid press fit.
Would a beeswax fill be enough to hold things in place? I certainly don't want the fragile meerschaum to take a tumble. Is a fill with Gorilla Glue that expands a viable non-toxic solution? Epoxy would probably be too permanent (or at least too difficult to remove) and I think a layer of it might be too thin to re-thread with a tap. I've read that this period pipe wasn't necessarily meant to be taken apart the way we maintain our pipes today, so maybe epoxy wouldn't be the worst solution—I have my doubts. A replacement stem with matching threads to the bone tenon was a thought, but, smoking the 100% original pipe would be better.
The archivist/collector in me would prefer to preserve all the original parts and find a non-destructive, reversible solution to get a usable fit—I'd rather not go up a size with a replacement antique bone tenon and retap the stem and meerschaum. I'd be content with a solution that effectively creates a solid press fit.
Would a beeswax fill be enough to hold things in place? I certainly don't want the fragile meerschaum to take a tumble. Is a fill with Gorilla Glue that expands a viable non-toxic solution? Epoxy would probably be too permanent (or at least too difficult to remove) and I think a layer of it might be too thin to re-thread with a tap. I've read that this period pipe wasn't necessarily meant to be taken apart the way we maintain our pipes today, so maybe epoxy wouldn't be the worst solution—I have my doubts. A replacement stem with matching threads to the bone tenon was a thought, but, smoking the 100% original pipe would be better.
