Georged School of Stem Identification

[milk]

I tried to follow what I could gather from posts here to guess that this is either a good copy or a genuine Dunhill stem. I picked this pipe up for about 60$. The hole where the missing white dot goes is rather small though. But the other aspects of the stem look genuine? I did some sanding and polishing on this 1966 64 F/T 1 (Stummel AND STEM?):

 

[milk]

I knew from the picture that the gunk-dot-white spot on the pipe was wrong. But that 45 degree angle where the tenon is gave me hope and my guess was that the spot fell out and someone painted it on. When I got this out of the Oxiclear and started sanding, it indeed fell out. This is why no one bid on it. I might be wrong. But if so, it’s not an expensive mistake.

 

[georged]

Dots falling out is unusual but not rare.

You scored. That stem is authentic 100%.

 

[milk]

Dots falling out is unusual but not rare.

You scored. That stem is authentic 100%.

I’m so happy to read it. I studied your posts. Actually, Dunhill makes it easy with that 45 degree angle. No one bothered to bid past a certain point on that pipe because of that painted-on dot. I think people assumed the stem was fake. Yours is the only post anywhere that provides this crucial bit of information which led me to give it a go. I’m in Japan and I doubt this kind of information is available here.

 

[milk]

Do I NEED to fill in that dot for any reason?

 

[georged]

Do I NEED to fill in that dot for any reason?

To have the pipe "look right" at arm's length, search

Lacquer-Stik Fill-In Paint white

on Amazon (or equivalent) and getcha one.

It's a tube of clay-like thick pasty paint that's designed to be scrubbed across depressions, leaving some behind. Just be sure to wipe away the excess before it dries. Stays white over time, is durable, etc.

Replacing the dot "properly" with a piece of celluloid rod is a VERY delicate business. Perfect axial alignment of the drill bit and dot hole is required to avoid making it oval/oblong; and fashioning a tiny rod of it takes the right tools and a steady hand. Don't let some hobbiest take a swing at it, cuz there's no rewind button.

 

[milk]

Dots falling out is unusual but not rare.

You scored. That stem is authentic 100%.

I notice that some Parker pipes have this same 45 degree angle on the tenon-stem. What does that tell us?

 

[georged]

I notice that some Parker pipes have this same 45 degree angle on the tenon-stem. What does that tell us?

There are also some early 1950's London-made Petersons with the angle. It just means the same type/model of hollow mill was used.

There could be---probably are, in fact---other brands that cut their tenons the same way.

The absence of the angle where it "should be" is what's meaningful, though, because it never shows up on replacements. Replicating it is difficult and time consuming to do by hand, and hollow mills aren't something that repair shops are equipped to use. Even the modern adjustable ones are slow and painful to dial in, and you'd have to have hundreds of the fixed style factory ones to handle repairs (because every pipe you fix is a different size).

 

[macaroni]

Thnx, great thread