The Pencil Shank Pipe Hazard (for purchasers)

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ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
19,037
13,158
Covington, Louisiana
postimg.cc
Carbon fiber fines (fibrous dust) are known causes of lung cancers, COPD, and mesothelioma. I used to work with composites (making boat hulls) and carbon fiber is nasty stuff compared to traditional glass fibers (which are definitely not healthy themselves).
I'm with Canucklehead, I'm not smoking thru carbon fiber. Stainless steel, like George uses, no problem-o.
 
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captpat

Lifer
Dec 16, 2014
2,388
12,411
North Carolina
I've always thought that pencil shank pipes looked a bit fragile, they have no fascination for me. My taste in pipes tends to stout shapes.

As for Kevlar vs. Carbon Fiber -- I don't think there's a benefit to one over the other in this application. I'd not want to inhale fibers from either.
 

KORNEY

Can't Leave
Mar 26, 2021
442
9,033
47
Israel
Wow.
Hard photos… and shit happened.
Lots of Beckers pipes and not only are very tinny…
For me, such kind of pipes are Home smoke only with extra care.
I have couple and smoke it carfully.
In general, stop to buy it and smoke only fat nosewarmers.
 

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autumnfog

Lifer
Jul 22, 2018
1,226
2,672
Sweden
Carbon fiber and health risks.. you got me worried over my Eltang Basics.
Should I be worried? Or should I trust Tom Eltangs expertise?
 

canucklehead

Lifer
Aug 1, 2018
2,862
15,355
Alberta
Wow! Thnx for this, news to me. Never thought of it. Now I'm wondering about smaller pokers I have with cf shanks, especially with the use of pipe cleaners.
Carbon fiber and health risks.. you got me worried over my Eltang Basics.
Should I be worried? Or should I trust Tom Eltangs expertise?
I think the hazard is mostly with the cutting, sanding and/or shaping of it, like georged said, I wouldn't want to work with it regularly.
 

agnosticpipe

Lifer
Nov 3, 2013
3,412
3,832
In the sticks in Mississippi
What the hell is that?
I don't know for sure but I posted about it a few months ago. I used fire place patch to fill in an over reamed bowl and if I didn't smoke it for a while it started doing this. I sanded it down and let it be and now it looks like this. I haven't smoked it, I just let it set in a drawer and now it's really going to town. Started like this, and now... well as you can see above, it's gotten bigger.
4F4DD414-C1C9-4258-B08C-4748C6BE3BB9_1_201_a.jpeg
 
I don't know for sure but I posted about it a few months ago. I used fire place patch to fill in an over reamed bowl and if I didn't smoke it for a while it started doing this. I sanded it down and let it be and now it looks like this. I haven't smoked it, I just let it set in a drawer and now it's really going to town. Started like this, and now... well you can see.
View attachment 219978
Man, I thought is was some sort of surrealist concept art. Yuck! I would have to just toss that. Or, if you keep it, I would keep it far away from my other pipes. That is the stuff nightmares are made of.
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,636
I thought the steel tubing was part of the design with pencil stems, but I see I was wrong. It is a beautiful design, though it has always looked front-loaded to me, so I don't own one. Also, the better ones are decidedly pricey; they should certainly be reinforced.

Even standard width longer stems are fragile enough to be kept out of trouser pockets or anywhere they would tend to be leveraged bowl-to-bit and prone to being broken.

That's why short thick pipes are sometimes called pocket pipes and are inherently less fragile.

I'd glue that one back together, maybe with reinforcing tube and/or band added, and treat it like fine China.
 

Navy Chief

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 11, 2022
106
520
Carbon fiber and health risks.. you got me worried over my Eltang Basics.
Should I be worried? Or should I trust Tom Eltangs expertise?
I have a few pipes with CF tubes in place. I am not too worried about it. By it's nature anything with CF is dead straight so it is simple enough to hold the bowl up to a light every now and then and make sure the inside of the CF tube is clean and glossy with no loose fibers.
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,825
31,566
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
This shape or design holds little appeal to me. Thankfully.
YEAH and yes.
Man, I thought is was some sort of surrealist concept art. Yuck! I would have to just toss that. Or, if you keep it, I would keep it far away from my other pipes. That is the stuff nightmares are made of.
what the heck I thought you had a sense of adventure. Guess not. Might kill you or might give you visions into the nature of the universe.