Stuck stem
- Thread starter Akoni808
- Start date
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The freezer trick works. Now that you have it out, put some bees wax on it.
Out of curiosity, did you clean the mortise with alcohol or water? That may cause a little swelling, which goes away after the alcohol has evaporated off. Might go together just fine if you wait a bit.
Nope, just pipe cleaners. It’s a new pipe, and it was already a tight fit. It was right after smoking it, so the temp probably made the wood expand a bit more.
Freezer trick works. If you can get it out, get some micro mesh (very fine sandpaper) and rub a some material off of the tenon to loosen the fit.
Just put some beeswax on it, and it seemed to do the trick. I’ve only used beeswax to tighten up a loose stem before.
Beeswax can work in a pinch for a loose stem. If a tenon is vulcanite, it can be permanently fixed with an application of heat.
Beeswax is magic, for both prevention of a stuck stem and also, for sealing a loose stem.
As the little boy said about the Thermos bottle keeping hot coffee hot and iced tea cold:
How do it know?.
You can also use a magic eraser to fine tune the fit. I think they're maybe the equivalent of 1200 or 1500 micromesh. It's something like that, but I can't remember exactly right now. Give it a couple spins with the magic eraser. try. repeat if necessary.
both my petersons had odd stem issues. The system pipe was loose until I smoked it twice. Like loose enough that I didn't feel safe clenching it. The Churchwarden was tight and the only pipe I worried about pulling the stem out. Now it's perfect and that took more like ten smokes to get there. All my other pipes have stayed the same or same enough to not notice. I have no clue why.
If you do choose to remove material from the tenon, you'd be surprised how little removal it takes to make a big difference. In other words, the risk of over-doing it is real.
Wrap very fine sandpaper around the tenon, and then turn the tenon a few times while inside that wrap. Check every few turns.
Wrap very fine sandpaper around the tenon, and then turn the tenon a few times while inside that wrap. Check every few turns.
This is why I'd use the beeswax. Best not to remove material if you can avoid it.
I think I’ll keep trying the beeswax if I have anymore problems.
That’s strange. Hopefully this stem breaks itself in like yours.
There's a method of expanding the tenon with heat and a drill bit but it comes with the risk of splitting the tenon.