19302005
Come out and meet me in my workshop -
book your vacation in Germany in my house !
 


Have a loose stem ?
Iīm not omniscient and Iīm not a GURU
itīs just an advice and I show the way I handle it.


There are several reasons why a stem gets loose.
One of the reasons could be that you smoke your pipe too hot.
The tenon gets warm and tries to expand but cannot in the shank.
When the pipe cools down again the tenon shrinks : THIS SUCCEEDS !
Result : The tenon is loose !
BEWARE !
Before you heaten the tenon always remember : Ebonit is not ebonit, volcanite is not volcanite, acrylic is not acrylic. Every material is of different quality and reacts different when heatening it up.
Even I have to try and never know what happens.
 

I heaten the tenon with care by dint of a candle or a hot air pistol.
Never tried a hair-dryer : Iīm not a housewife :-)))
 

Howsoever: Slowly, and keep it moving all the time !
Try again and again how  weak the material is.
Once burnt... the tenon is damaged !
 

From some I know that they tried to press the heatened tenon on a stable plate.
As you see in the pics there could happen a lot...... a lot you donīt want to happen !
Sometimes itīll do when you just heaten up the tenon and let it cool down again.
 

If one asks himself : Yes, I damaged the stems for show reasons only !

Measure first, act then : Thatīs the best way to do it !
If you have no sliding capilar ..... a ruler will do !
 

Now shift the heatened and weak tenon onto the piston skirt of a right sized drill tool
and let it cool down. If the tenon is too thick afterwards and does not fit into the shank heaten it up again an shift it just 1mm onto the shank. While it cools down and gets hard again you shift it onto the shank completely. DONE !

This works with normal stems and 9mm filter tenons.

If you are afraid to distroy your best smoker or most expensive "high grade"
go to your tobacconist : He should be able to help you.
He should also have an old stem on which you can try it all it before you damage your smokers.


 HAPPY PUFFING !!