Why did Screw Stems Fall From Favor?

[didimauw]

I'd say due to "clocking" issues if I had to guess. I have a kaywoodie that is under clocked to about "10 o clock".

There tobacco could almost fall out of the damn thing. How annoying. No thank you.

 

[craig61a]

My guess would be a declining market, and the added overhead of manufacturing that type of interface.

FWIW, I haven't had any problems re-clocking the mounts on any of my older Kaywoodies when they needed it. And I'm fairly certain that if it would have required back in the day, any idiot reputable shop could have accomplished it.

Ah, then we have the miraculous Lee...

By not having the added flange on the rear of the mount, as was the case in the Kaywoodie pipes, there would have been less machining involved. More of a cost saving/throughput measure as opposed to an improvement...

 

[PipeIT]

I can only say with the one pipe I own that is a screw in, an estate Dr. Grabow dated from 1967-1969, Commodore 65 Zulu with a vulcanite stem, metal screw-in tenon, with no stinger, this has been a great pipe.

When I first received it, the stem was off, so I had to twist it, and I was really paranoid about breaking it.

The screw inside the vulcanite is extremely still tight fighting after all these years. I ended up turning it three times before getting it lined up nicely.

Of course now when I screw it on, it’s just with the lightest of pressure until it stops, and it’s been amazing ever since.

I can certainly ponder all the Cons here, but as I own one now, I can certainly see that if properly built and maintained it’s still a good working smoking/design.

I was extremely fortunate to find this pipe, it is an absolutely amazing pipe!

I would assume, that they ended up not being the fashionable new thing to do, more trouble than worth, and people were looking for something new, as this was the old.

It’s like anything older, even though good, man wants to still try at something new.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it? Hmm ? LOL ?

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

added expense and no clear benefit.

yet any metal /aluminum insert in the mortise /shank will collect moisture and thus may lead to gurgling issues

 

[ashdigger]

Convenience and easy of manufacture.

 

[elessar]

It's always about the dollar. A well adjusted screw in stem works great. I have lots of them and love them. But manufacturing them correctly takes more time than their straight counterparts. Both systems are adequate and one probably costs substantially less to manufacture.

 

[FurCoat]

I can only say with the one pipe I own that is a screw in, an estate Dr. Grabow dated from 1967-1969, Commodore 65 Zulu with a vulcanite stem, metal screw-in tenon, with no stinger, this has been a great pipe.

When I first received it, the stem was off, so I had to twist it, and I was really paranoid about breaking it.

The screw inside the vulcanite is extremely still tight fighting after all these years. I ended up turning it three times before getting it lined up nicely.

Of course now when I screw it on, it’s just with the lightest of pressure until it stops, and it’s been amazing ever since.

I can certainly ponder all the Cons here, but as I own one now, I can certainly see that if properly built and maintained it’s still a good working smoking/design.

I was extremely fortunate to find this pipe, it is an absolutely amazing pipe!

I would assume, that they ended up not being the fashionable new thing to do, more trouble than worth, and people were looking for something new, as this was the old.

It’s like anything older, even though good, man wants to still try at something new.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it? Hmm ? LOL ?

View attachment 118189

That's a nice Grabow.

 

[Fralphog]

Not a huge fan of the screw-in stems. The only pipes I own that have screw in stems are Kaywoodies that I inherited from my grandpa Mac. I still smoke them. I have cut off the end of the stinger to alleviate problems with cleaning and better airflow. I probably would buy a really nice old pipe with a stinger but I would modify it.

 

[sablebrush52]

FWIW, I haven't had any problems re-clocking the mounts on any of my older Kaywoodies when they needed it. And I'm fairly certain that if it would have required back in the day, any idiot reputable shop could have accomplished it.

Kaywoodie sold a gizmo to repair shops to handle the clocking problem, making it easy even for idiots to do a seamless job in a couple of minutes.

 

[bullet08]

Because people stopped using screw cap fountain pen. Was on an extended hike with younger scout leaders. One of them asked for a pen. Handed my fountain pen. He couldn't figure out how to unscrew the cap off.

 

[Searock Fan]

Because people stopped using screw cap fountain pen. Was on an extended hike with younger scout leaders. One of them asked for a pen. Handed my fountain pen. He couldn't figure out how to unscrew the cap off.

Sounds like those scout leaders were "Special".

 

[yohanan]

The Adjustomatic was dropped by Dr Grabow, and they are all push fit for maybe fifty years now.

That's where you're Wrong. Dr.Grabow introduced the adjustomatic stem back in 2018, I know because I bought 2 of them. Call the Company and see for yourself.
336-372-5521 or
info@drgrabow.net

 

[makhorkasmoker]

For me the beauty of the screw in stem on my kaywoodie is that it allows me to clean the inside of the shank (with a folded pipe cleaner)while the pipe is still warm, which seems to me the best time to clean it. And the ease—and necessity—of removing the stem to clean the pipe helps me to keep that pipe cleaner. I have other problems with that kaywoodie, but the screw in stem I like

 

[RudyG]

Years ago I smoked a lot of Kaywoodies with the stinger and for me they always smoked wet.

To unscrew it and run a pipe cleaner for me was a pain in the neck. I tried cleaning without unscrewing and that never worked for me as well.

Maybe it was improper technique in my early days but I wouldn't own one now to find out!

I still have a few of the old ones if anyone want em!! LOL

 

[irishearl]

Have 3 pipes with screw-in stems-a 1900 Salmon and Gluckstein, a 20 year-old Jobey, and a pioneer meer. The latter is the only 1 that was problematic as it became stripped. Would definitely advise against buying a meer with a screw-in stem.

 

[bullet08]

Because it couldn't open a bottle of wine?

 

[samuelgawith01]

Kaywoodie earned a patent on their screw on and off stem they marketed as the Syncro Stem. After the war Lee improved the screw stem slightly, by making it invisible, and adding threads on both ends, so it really could be synchronized (or clocked) using a pair of pliers. A 1955 patent of the Adustomatic stem used on Dr Grabow and some Kaywoodie pipes was likely the ultimate screw stem. On those, you can twist the stem by strong hand pressure to line up.

There are advantages to the screw stem. The stem never gets loose, or gets stuck. It can be removed hot, even while smoking. I’m not a pipe maker, but it seems to me a screw stem would minimize hand fitting in serial production, with no need to fit precise push fit stems.

But screw stem pipes have fallen from fashion. The last Lee pipes were push stem. I understand Kaywoodie pipes have been push stem for years. I can’t name one new pipe today that uses a screw stem.

My thought why, is that the prestigious English brands never used them, and the screw stem never was popular with artisan makers, either.

The screw stem became something associated with cheap factory pipes, and abandoned.

And it is more difficult to make a filter screw stem pipe, which also hurt their use. The metal stinger also seems to have been abandoned in favor of filters.

Any ideas why, if there are still new screw stem pipes there aren’t very many?

Too labor intensive?Push/twist less expensive?

 

[anotherbob]

My guess would be a declining market, and the added overhead of manufacturing that type of interface.

not going to make the sale at added cost. Glad someone sees that

FWIW, I haven't had any problems re-clocking the mounts on any of my older Kaywoodies when they needed it. And I'm fairly certain that if it would have required back in the day, any idiot reputable shop could have accomplished it.

Ah, then we have the miraculous Lee...

By not having the added flange on the rear of the mount, as was the case in the Kaywoodie pipes, there would have been less machining involved. More of a cost saving/throughput measure as opposed to an improvement...

 

[HRPufnstuf]

Convenience and easy of manufacture.

To the point.

 

[craiginthecorn]

Without having read the other reply, I'll say with some confidence that they fell out of favor because they were more difficult and, thus, more expensive to make. Plus, over time, the registration would change, so the degrees of rotation needed to seat the stem would change, throwing off the orientation of the stem to the stummel. In the early- to mid-20th Century, manufacturers like Kaywoodie developed designs using metal, rather than bone, which eliminated the registration issue, but unfortunately, they were inevitably paired with stingers which fell out of favor in the marketplace.