Vulcanite Composition

[jeff540]

For some reason the only vulcanite stemmed pipe that doesn't go green just being in my presence is an old Dunhil from the 1950s. Every other one is an oxidized nightmare no matter how I pamper it.

Get the stems replaced with lucite and you'll never have to fuss again.

 

[mingc]

There are 100+ year old pipes with stems in perfect, jet black condition. Properly "supported" the material will serve you well.

George, (i) do you think the best available contemporary vulcanite is as good as the really good late 19th century, early 20th stuff, and (ii) what is generally available these days besides NYH, SEM and Japanese rubber?

There's a guy in Indonesia making artisanal cumberland rods one at a time and I wonder how well they will hold up.

 

[UB 40]

George, (i) do you think the best available contemporary vulcanite is as good as the really good late 19th century, early 20th stuff, and (ii) what is generally available these days besides NYH, SEM and Japanese rubber?

There's a guy in Indonesia making artisanal cumberland rods one at a time and I wonder how well they will hold up.

You can’t get around the decomposition of vulcanite it’s imprinted in the chemistry of ebonite. There is no secret sauce to stop the process. In former times they hadn’t a magic to stop it as well. I think ebonite produced by e.g. SEM is as good as you can get it. Just keep the pipe away from light this is the main catalyst of the molecules splitting process.

 

[georged]

George, (i) do you think the best available contemporary vulcanite is as good as the really good late 19th century, early 20th stuff, and (ii) what is generally available these days besides NYH, SEM and Japanese rubber?

There's a guy in Indonesia making artisanal cumberland rods one at a time and I wonder how well they will hold up.

The best of what's made today is as good as the historical best.

The issue isn't composition in the recipe sense as much as care and quality control, which boils down (mostly) to inclusions. Or, more precisely, a lack of them.

A while back Japanese rubber was notorious for inclusions. Something got into the mixer that later oxidized and "bloomed" into visible specks:




I've avoided it ever since.

(Little doubt they found and fixed the problem in current production, but since vulcanite rods have no shelf life, and the "bloom" happens AFTER a stem is cut and a fresh surface exposed to air and light, there's no way to know if what's on supplier shelves today belongs to the "bad batch era".)

SEM I've found to usually be OK, but frequently turns weirdly dull and cloudy a year or so after being cut. Not oxidation, but something else. Not sure what's going on there.

NYH is the only brand that has been problem free both at stem-cut time and in the years afterward, in my experience.

 

[sablebrush52]

The best of what's made today is as good as the historical best.

For sure! But a lot of Britwood used lower grade vulcanite, with a higher sulfur content that increases the discoloration. Both Charatan and Sasieni used the cheaper higher sulfur content vulcanite.
I wonder how much of the fragility of acrylic stems is caused by smokers cleaning them with alcohol, which causes micro fractures in the acrylic?

 

[Piping Abe]

ABS plastic/rubber never changes color or fades.

 

[Kirklands]

I had not realized how direct sunlight can affect vulcanite stems. Good to know.

 

[LeafErikson]

I wonder how much of the fragility of acrylic stems is caused by smokers cleaning them with alcohol, which causes micro fractures in the acrylic?

I’m sure a lot of pipe smokers don’t realize this

 

[huntertrw]

Vulcanite Composition

Here is a (link) to my favorite.

 

[huntertrw]

But a lot of Britwood used lower grade vulcanite, with a higher sulfur content that increases the discoloration.

Bingo! The discoloration (and the attendant bad taste/mouth and lip irritation) is due to the sulfur coming to the surface, an unfortunate chemical reaction that may be accelerated by exposure to sunlight. If memory serves, William Taylor used to boil the vulcanite used in the manufacture of his early pipe-stems in order to drive down the sulfur content, then finally switched to a material that he called "Ashtonite." According to Trent McCranie, Ashtonite was a material available in rods, and from which buttons were manufactured.

 

[mingc]

The best of what's made today is as good as the historical best.

The issue isn't composition in the recipe sense as much as care and quality control, which boils down (mostly) to inclusions. Or, more precisely, a lack of them.

A while back Japanese rubber was notorious for inclusions. Something got into the mixer that later oxidized and "bloomed" into visible specks:


View attachment 241031

I've avoided it ever since.

(Little doubt they found and fixed the problem in current production, but since vulcanite rods have no shelf life, and the "bloom" happens AFTER a stem is cut and a fresh surface exposed to air and light, there's no way to know if what's on supplier shelves today belongs to the "bad batch era".)

SEM I've found to usually be OK, but frequently turns weirdly dull and cloudy a year or so after being cut. Not oxidation, but something else. Not sure what's going on there.

NYH is the only brand that has been problem free both at stem-cut time and in the years afterward, in my experience.

Thank you. You know, that Japanese stem looks kinda pretty . . .

 

[georged]

For sure! But a lot of Britwood used lower grade vulcanite, with a higher sulfur content that increases the discoloration. Both Charatan and Sasieni used the cheaper higher sulfur content vulcanite.

True. Though molded blanks can be as high quality rubber-wise as rod stock, there are many that are indeed "sulphur-y". Greek ones being the worst by far.

Lane era Charatan was basically Cheapskate Central, and they used economy slabs of the stuff they cut into bars on site. Also high sulphur. (Many collectors today call it "Insta-Green")

I wonder how much of the fragility of acrylic stems is caused by smokers cleaning them with alcohol, which causes micro fractures in the acrylic?

Good question. Entirely possible.

Did you buy the following pipe new or used?

Spiral shank re-stem - pipemakersforum.com

A good data point, if new. That stuff was like a sand castle on the beach.

 

[sablebrush52]

True. Though molded blanks can be as high quality rubber-wise as rod stock, there are many that are indeed "sulphur-y". Greek ones being the worst by far.

Lane era Charatan was basically Cheapskate Central, and they used economy slabs of the stuff they cut into bars on site. Also high sulphur. (Many collectors today call it "Insta-Green")



Good question. Entirely possible.

Did you buy the following pipe new or used?

Spiral shank re-stem - pipemakersforum.com

A good data point, if new. That stuff was like a sand castle on the beach.

The pipe had one previous owner. I had it for a year before I found out about the issue with using alcohol, but the tenon already had a chip in the end of the tenon when I bought it.
It was still a pretty good deal, $145.
What you did is nothing short of a miracle.

 

[orvet]

Sunlight will definitely affect the vulcanine stems and cause them to oxidize, but as we discovered in our stores in the 1980s, fluorescent lights will do the same thing. If you have fluorescent lighting that your pipes are exposed to they can cause oxidation. We finally found a lighting specialist who came up with filters to put around the fluorescent tubes that eliminated the problem. They were basically just clear plastic tubes of some sort that filtered out the certain UV rays that caused the oxidation.

I have some pipes that are in excess of 70 years old that don't have oxidation problems and I have some much newer pipes that do have oxidation. Since I buy estate pipes, I often have to clean the oxidation off the stem and polish it and then treat it with obsidian oil. One of the best abrasives I have found is 3M polishing paper. It comes in various grits from 400 to 8000. The grits are much finer than regular sandpaper however. When I work my way through the grits from 400 up to 8,000 grit the stem is almost polished.
I use the polishing paper in my work on pocket knives. For pipe stems, I cut it in strips and gently clamp the pipe stem in rubber jaws of a vise and run the strip of polishing paper back and forth to remove the oxidation. When I have completed that process I have a special string wheel and a special plastic Polishing Compound that I use to put the final finish on the stem. I also use obsidian oil stem after every smoke. I keep my pipe racks in a steel cabinet in my shop where it is protected from direct light and absolutely no sunlight. I have been able to restore stems that were green and turn them into nice black stems that don't taste like sulfur. If I get in a hurry sometimes I will have to go back and go a little deeper with the abrasives but in general it works quite well.

Someone mentioned using toothpaste inside of the stem that is a good idea. I have used toothpaste to remove the tarnish from the outside of the stem but have not used it on the inside. I'm concerned it might leave a flavor in my stem that doesn't go well with my tobacco. I often use baking soda and water to remove scratches and oxidation from pocket knives and I'm sure it would work fine on vulcanized stems as well. At least it wouldn't leave a minty flavor.

 

[ssjones]

My experience is very much the opposite of Cosmo's. I find vulcanite discolors after clean up within 2 or 3 years if not kept out of the light. I insist on shiny vulcanite. When I work on a stem, I look at them under a bright light and make sure I remove every last bit of discolored rubber. I suspect my standards are different from Cosmos's.

I keep my pipes on and in a china hutch in a south facing room (for you antipodeans, that's the room with the sun in the northern hemisphere). It makes no difference if they're behind glass or not. Before I learned to keep them away from light and depending on the quality of the vulcanite, they'd get discolored by the second or third year after clean up. I learned that coating the stems with Renaissance wax (without rubbing the wax off) to keep oxygen out does not help. They still discolor after 2 or 3 years. What does help is keeping the stems out of light. I even go to the length of making sheaths for my rubber stems out of acid-free black colored paper. So far, they've not discolored for at least 5 years. I do use Obsidian oil after every smoke.

I have exactly this experience. I have too many pipes to smoke with any frequency. Some only get smoked once or twice a year. Mine are in an oak, bow front cabinet in our living room. We keep the drapes pulled, so they never get direct sunlight, but still vulcanite will oxidize and the only way it can be remove completely is by sanding/polishing. Lately, for pipes I've restored, and intended to resell, I've been wrapping the stem in plastic wrap. That seems to help considerably. If I restore a pipe (2 hours) and store it for a year, to find it needs re-cleaned is frustrating.

For members who say their vulcanite stems are not oxidizing, send them to me, I'll sand with some 2000 grit wet paper and show you the brown water.

I ALWAYS improve the finish on any new Peterson stem. They don't take the shine to a high enough level for my expectation and sometimes leave sanding marks (or, over buff as in my recent 2023 POY purchase).

My recent Ruthenberg purchase, from the top Ebay reseller, of pipes, shows here, looks good right? Well, I sanded off quite a bit of oxidation to get this final result. You don't get that without 800-1500-2000 grit paper, then white diamond polishing. And, it won't stay that way for long, unfortunately. That's the curse of vulcanite, which I love (99% of my pipes are vulcanite stemmed).

AND, looking at my finish picture, I could have refined the finish even more.

George Dibos has said it countless times here, there is no shortcut or magic solution to removing and preventing oxidation.

 

[ssjones]

Here is one of my favorite pipes, an Ashton Pebble Grain with the best stem in the world, with vulcanite far superior to what Bill Taylor used (Ashtonite). Thats because George D made this stem, to replace the somewhat horrid looking saddle stem Taylor made for it.

George made me this stem in 2015. I use the pipe at least monthly. I've given it ZERO maintenance in that time. Here a photo today. Not surprisingly, it has oxidized. But only that amount, in eight years, is a great result. George, don't hammer me, I'll get this cleaned up one of these days, if you can pry that amazing buttoned stem from my hands!

 

[UB 40]

Use

Sunlight will definitely affect the vulcanine stems and cause them to oxidize, but as we discovered in our stores in the 1980s, fluorescent lights will do the same thing. If you have fluorescent lighting that your pipes are exposed to they can cause oxidation. We finally found a lighting specialist who came up with filters to put around the fluorescent tubes that eliminated the problem. They were basically just clear plastic tubes of some sort that filtered out the certain UV rays that caused the oxidation.

I have some pipes that are in excess of 70 years old that don't have oxidation problems and I have some much newer pipes that do have oxidation. Since I buy estate pipes, I often have to clean the oxidation off the stem and polish it and then treat it with obsidian oil. One of the best abrasives I have found is 3M polishing paper. It comes in various grits from 400 to 8000. The grits are much finer than regular sandpaper however. When I work my way through the grits from 400 up to 8,000 grit the stem is almost polished.
I use the polishing paper in my work on pocket knives. For pipe stems, I cut it in strips and gently clamp the pipe stem in rubber jaws of a vise and run the strip of polishing paper back and forth to remove the oxidation. When I have completed that process I have a special string wheel and a special plastic Polishing Compound that I use to put the final finish on the stem. I also use obsidian oil stem after every smoke. I keep my pipe racks in a steel cabinet in my shop where it is protected from direct light and absolutely no sunlight. I have been able to restore stems that were green and turn them into nice black stems that don't taste like sulfur. If I get in a hurry sometimes I will have to go back and go a little deeper with the abrasives but in general it works quite well.

Someone mentioned using toothpaste inside of the stem that is a good idea. I have used toothpaste to remove the tarnish from the outside of the stem but have not used it on the inside. I'm concerned it might leave a flavor in my stem that doesn't go well with my tobacco. I often use baking soda and water to remove scratches and oxidation from pocket knives and I'm sure it would work fine on vulcanized stems as well. At least it wouldn't leave a minty flavor.

I use pumice stone mixed with water for the inside, with a drop of oil it also cleans the outside.

 

[woodsroad]

I keep all of my pipes in a light-tight, temperature controlled, sealed vault, flushed with Argon. Argon is non-reactive, so my pipes should remain oxidation-free forever.
Of course, this means that the pipes can't really be used, because then I'd have to open the vault and let air and sunlight in, which I refuse to do.

​

 

[crashthegrey]

There's a guy in Indonesia making artisanal cumberland rods one at a time and I wonder how well they will hold up.

I just bought some of his rods. We shall see.

 

[georged]

I keep all of my pipes in a light-tight, temperature controlled, sealed vault, flushed with Argon. Argon is non-reactive, so my pipes should remain oxidation-free forever.
Of course, this means that the pipes can't really be used, because then I'd have to open the vault and let air and sunlight in, which I refuse to do.

View attachment 241359​

So, you're going to ignore gravitational effects and cosmic radiation, then...

Where is your committment, man?