What's the skinny on stems?

[mluyckx]

bump for newer members (like me) who are trying to get an understanding of the difference between lucite/acrylic vs. vulcanite/ebonite. I just learned that cumberland is just a coloring of vulcanite/ebonite. And here I was thinking it was acrylic.. Never too old to learn.
I seem to prefer the lucite/acrylic stems since they are less prone to oxidation. I have real trouble keeping the vulcanite stems clean, especially on the cheaper ones like my mystery "new bond" and my "czech". My Savs and Petersons seem to be ok though, so I am starting to think there is a difference in the quality of the vulcanite used that surely plays a role in how prone they are to oxidation.
Anyone have the same experiences ?

 

[baronsamedi]

I'm a chewer and a tooth grinder so I use heat shrink tubing on all my stems to protect them from me. If you do that get either food grade or medical grade, though.

 

[maxpeters]

You could buy Ashton pipes. Their stems are made with astronite. Mr. Ashton-Taylor developed this material out of vulcanite and acrylic to have the best properties of each. It feels like vulcanite in the mouth, and the ones I have have never oxidized.