Very Tight Stem - Difficult to Remove

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Singularis

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 11, 2019
554
2,563
Wausau, Wis
Just tried rubbing a light coating of pure beeswax on the tenon and that works brilliantly. Still fits tightly, but can be twisted off with relative ease. I think this will be my go-to method as long as I have pure beeswax in the house.

(Also, sure enough, chilling the pipe -- which for me meant putting it in my detached garage, which was sitting at about 25 degrees F -- made unscrewing the stem a cinch.)

I had thought of using very fine grit sandpaper, but was worried about doing something permanent that made it worse. Which is why I asked the forum.
 
Dec 10, 2013
2,316
2,942
Nijmegen, the Netherlands
As said; freeze the bitch ! It always worked for me no matter how stuck the stem.
I put them in a plastic ziplock bag because I do not wish to arouse the missus.
Lately forgot about one and the poor pipe was in the freezer for aprox. 48hrs. It gave me a quite a start.
To my utter relief there was no harm done. None whatsoever. It is a funny life, not ?
 
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jiminy

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 27, 2017
266
508
Saskatchewan, Canada
This is a timely thread. I also have a pipe with a tight stem, and was at a loss as to what to do. I will try the freezer trick, and then go from there.
 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,568
27,070
Carmel Valley, CA
No, that would be a bad idea!

First to try: wet the mortise and the tenon- ooooppss- that's for briar pipes.

For an MM, I'd try glue, and hope someone comes along soon who really knows a lot about cobs.
 
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