That’s awesome. Having little hair left, except on my face, brilliantine probably would be overkill for me but it’s wonderful to hear stories like this. Thank you for sharing.
Winter Stem Fit
- Thread starter ofafeather
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Did you have the stem out for any length of time?
Certainly dryness can cause a sense that it's tighter, but it's just there's nothing to lubricate the facing of the mortise with the tenon.
About 3 days out. Certainly possible but others are tight as well. Lubrication makes sense so we’ll see how that goes. The thing about the dryness is that wood shrinks as it dries. Briar being dense probably doesn’t move quickly but over weeks of extreme dry probably makes a difference.
Where it's dry for long periods, yeah, pipes will dry out and the stems get tight. Wood shrinks when dry. So if it's super tight, you roll up a little 180 grit and spin it once or twice, takes very little to loosen the fit. Then in summer when it's 80% humidity for 4 months, the pipe will grow again and the stem may get a little loose, and bees wax etc will take care of it. Lots of places are hard on pipes this way, and it's nothing to do with leaving things out or twisting the wrong way or cleaning too often, it's just the wood moving.
The next question is "Okay smart guy, why does a loose stem tighten if you smoke the pipe?" and the answer is, only the wood near the tenon is getting wet - it expands but can only go inward, tightening it's grip on the tenon.
The next question is "Okay smart guy, why does a loose stem tighten if you smoke the pipe?" and the answer is, only the wood near the tenon is getting wet - it expands but can only go inward, tightening it's grip on the tenon.
Interesting that your mortises tighten up in a dry winter. The few of mine that tend to change by the season go the opposite direction. Since I live in SoCal, a dry climate is a given.
While there was a minute widening of the mortise as it dried, the lack of moisture as a lubricant more than made up for it. One reason I never leave stems out for longer than is necessary to clean the mortise of gunk.
This still puzzles me. From my experience, cold and dry both cause wood to contract. Wood always swells when wet and shrinks when it dries.
Wet pressure treated decking boards installed tightly on a hot summer day will usually end up with a 1/4" gap in a few days when they've dried out. Definitely a puzzler.
It could have been the alcohol soak. I've had this happen with pipes I was cleaning up. Leave for a couple of days - might fit better once the shank has dried properly.
Whenever I’m rightfully accused of being a Lee Star Grade booster, here’s yet another reason.
The very last Lees abandoned the Lee invisible, double screwed, recessed, user adjustable, removable stinger fitment and used the same push stems as used on almost all cheaper, inferior pipes on the market. Therefore a push stem Lee has all the same problems with cracked tenons, loose bits, and tight bits as ordinary pipes do.
The stem on this magnificent old 5 pointed star Lee Three Star will always come off no matter the weather, and it will never be too tight. The shank will never crack. The tenon will never break. And, you can’t tell it’s not a push stem unless you take the pipe apart.
On my pipes that aren’t screw stem Lees I use grapeseed oil, prayers, and curses to deal with all the problems inherent in push stem pipes.
The very last Lees abandoned the Lee invisible, double screwed, recessed, user adjustable, removable stinger fitment and used the same push stems as used on almost all cheaper, inferior pipes on the market. Therefore a push stem Lee has all the same problems with cracked tenons, loose bits, and tight bits as ordinary pipes do.
The stem on this magnificent old 5 pointed star Lee Three Star will always come off no matter the weather, and it will never be too tight. The shank will never crack. The tenon will never break. And, you can’t tell it’s not a push stem unless you take the pipe apart.
On my pipes that aren’t screw stem Lees I use grapeseed oil, prayers, and curses to deal with all the problems inherent in push stem pipes.