Is it OK to Never Remove the Stem ?

[captainFrank]

A frequent flush with very hot water will do wonders, and may preclude build up in the mortise (and empty cartridge chamber).

This can be done immediately after a smoke, while the pipe is still hot.

I assume you meant flushing the whole pipe. Wouldn't the briar wood swell if you submerge it in very hot water ? I think the pipe makers dry the briar for several years before cutting so it feels weird to frequently do the opposite.

How long do you let the pipe dry after washing it that way ?

 

[Piping Abe]

There's often no reason to use alcohol on a pipe, save for heavily ghosted estate pipes.

A frequent flush with very hot water will do wonders, and may preclude build up in the mortise (and empty cartridge chamber).

This can be done immediately after a smoke, while the pipe is still hot.

There is no pipe carver in the world that agrees with this statement.

 

[Briarcutter]

There is no pipe carver in the world that agrees with this statement.

This one sure doesn't agree.I'd never flush a pipe with hot water.

 

[jpmcwjr]

There is no pipe carver in the world that agrees with this statement.

Bullshit! Several have already done so, and use that technique.

Where do you come up with this stuff?

 

[jpmcwjr]

I assume you meant flushing the whole pipe. Wouldn't the briar wood swell if you submerge it in very hot water ? I think the pipe makers dry the briar for several years before cutting so it feels weird to frequently do the opposite.

How long do you let the pipe dry after washing it that way ?

For one, I don't usually submerge the pipe, but it's ok to do so.

What some don't grok is that the chamber is subject to much more water pressure from smoking 20 or more minutes than a 30 second flush with hot water. Water pressure as I use it, is a function of heat, volume and time.

There's real physics involved. Pipes have been subject to all sorts of water abuse- some on purpose for testing, many by accident. Smoking subjects the chamber to super heated water vapor- in excess of 400º.

As I smoke dry, and to near the bottom, the heel of the chamber is quite dry when I finish. A short burst of very hot water doesn't "stick". You can paper towel dry the chamber and smoke right away... also cleaner through the airway.

 

[proteus]

I have used 90 percent ethanol on all my acrylic stems with out issues. I wonder if there are different types within the PMMA thermoplastic acrylic family that are more susceptible to alcohol than others. Or the concentration and type of alcohol might make the difference.

 

[Piping Abe]

Bullshit! Several have already done so, and use that technique.

Where do you come up with this stuff?

They literally asked this question on the Podcast that has this forums name. And the fact was that this is not smart and in no way is beneficial.

 

[jpmcwjr]

They literally asked this question on the Podcast that has this forums name. And the fact was that this is not smart and in no way is beneficial.

So, you are making your determination based on one person's verbal assessment on a podcast? The only "fact" is the guest is against it. So I call double bullshit.

And I am well aware there are some pipe makers and quite a few members here who would agree with you. Pretty much to a man, none have given it a fair trial.

 

[sablebrush52]

They literally asked this question on the Podcast that has this forums name. And the fact was that this is not smart and in no way is beneficial.

Well, I'm going to respectfully disagree with the person on the broadcast and I'd want to ask what his personal experience is with doing this. There are a lot of people in the pipe smoking community who believe the world is flat, the moon is made from green cheese, and vaccines make you pregnant.

I was a doubter until I decided to give it a go several years ago and have experienced absolutely zero issues with a water cleanse, zero, nada, none, nyet.

It's an absurdity to expect that a material which is exposed to superheated steam for 30 minutes to a couple of hours is somehow going to die from a 30 second to one minute warm water flush.

The one difference I've noticed is that my pipes taste fresher after a water flush.

We have a member here who submerged one of his pipes in water for A WEEK (for science) and presented the results. After sufficient dry time he reassembled the pipe and the stem fit perfectly.

If the person on the podcast has empirical evidence that this is a bad idea, he should present it. Otherwise, he's just talking out of where he sits.

If a person haven't any data or personal experience to back up their claims then their claims are worthless.

 

[sablebrush52]

I have used 90 percent ethanol on all my acrylic stems with out issues. I wonder if there are different types within the PMMA thermoplastic acrylic family that are more susceptible to alcohol than others. Or the concentration and type of alcohol might make the difference.

I stopped using alcohol on my acrylic stems after a member on a different forum, who was a chemist, explained how alcohol can cause micro fractures and posted some images. There is also content on Youtube (yeah, I know, hardly Scientific American...) relating to the same issue. It may depend on the type of Acrylic or the proof of the alcohol, but I decided that it was one more complication I didn't need and now use unscented dish washing detergent gel, and am happy with that result.

 

[samuelgawith01]

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to write back ! Appreciate it !

To answer a few questions:

• yes, I did remove the balsa filter before reinserting the stem (I used the filter it came with to soak up some of the excess glue actually).
• the box the pipe came in had sit for a few hours before being opened. The temperature around here were in the 50F-60F range, humidity was low, shipping was fast so I doubt the environmental change played any role in this instance but I'll keep that in mind for next time(s).

To add some context to this thread, here are a few pictures of the pipe and the damage/repair. Last picture shows the pipe ready for its "maiden voyage" which took place this morning

View attachment 301770
View attachment 301771
View attachment 301772

I remove the stem to give the shank a.good rubbing down with a bristle cleaner.

 

[Sigmund]

I use a product called Deniclean on my acrylic stems. Its supposed to be fine for them. Its not very expensive but its probably just soapy water in a little bottle for 3 bucks lol. Its a mild solvent. It cleans rims and chambers pretty well too. It will last a long time or until I spill it!

 

[Briarcutter]

I'm not sure why some are so defensive on this. Some folks say yes, some say no. As a pipe maker of over 2,700 pipes I've did a bit of research myself. I know dry wood is good for pipes, no one makes a pipe with wet wood, we all have our drying methods. Dry wood and water don't seem to mix. I know many pipe makers use shellac as a finish, shellac and water don't mix, just try and set a wet glass on a table (finished with shellac) without a coaster and see. Is there moisture in smoking? Sure there is but that's not the same as flushing it with water. I've seen first hand how moisture can warp a mortise, a chamber and even crack both. From my experience I'm going to keep water away from my pipes as best I can and never flush them or reccomend it. Bottom line we own our pipes we can flush them with hot water, hot coco or hot sauce or what ever else we want, but I would never reccomend it.
As for alcohol in a mouthpiece, I've been doing it for decades and I've never noticed any adverse effects. I'm not saying it's right, I've just never noticed and I'll results. What is my recommendation worth?, exactly what you paid for it

 

[Piping Abe]

I'm not sure why some are so defensive on this. Some folks say yes, some say no. As a pipe maker of over 2,700 pipes I've did a bit of research myself. I know dry wood is good for pipes, no one makes a pipe with wet wood, we all have our drying methods. Dry wood and water don't seem to mix. I know many pipe makers use shellac as a finish, shellac and water don't mix, just try and set a wet glass on a table (finished with shellac) without a coaster and see. Is there moisture in smoking? Sure there is but that's not the same as flushing it with water. I've seen first hand how moisture can warp a mortise, a chamber and even crack both. From my experience I'm going to keep water away from my pipes as best I can and never flush them or reccomend it. Bottom line we own our pipes we can flush them with hot water, hot coco or hot sauce or what ever else we want, but I would never reccomend it.
As for alcohol in a mouthpiece, I've been doing it for decades and I've never noticed any adverse effects. I'm not saying it's right, I've just never noticed and I'll results.

Thank you for your expertise. Now we see here a person who is an actual Pipe Maker. Now @jpmcwjr you claim there are pipe makers who recommend water flushing. Please provide your source. I invite any pipe maker on this forum to come to this mans defense please.

Now if a person so chooses to purchase a pipe and water flushes, that is there responsibility. But no one, who actually works with wood for a living, would recommend this procedure. Source: Common Sense.

And please stop telling beginners to do this unless you have facts to back you up.

 

[proteus]

I tried an experiment this morning. Like every morning I grabbed my bottle of Graves 95% ethanol. Poured a shot and dunked my pipe stem in it. Took it out after 10 minutes and dried. Seems good to go. Hope this helps.

 

[Haggard]

I invite any pipe maker on this forum to come to this mans defense please.

You don’t need to be a pipe maker to add to this question.

This has been beaten to death. Plenty of historic and current reading on the topic is available.

Bottom line is that many people use water to clean their pipes.

I use water and soap. No kidding.

After several years and many different pipes with various ornaments, like Sable, I have yet to notice an issue.

Frankly, it just tastes better. Try it out on a less favoured pipe sometime. You might change your mind with some experimentation.

 

[captainFrank]

Here is another thought about acrylic and alcohol:

From what I've gathered, a good chunk of pipe smokers are also cigar smokers, or came from a cigar background. Now having an alcoholic beverage accompany a cigar is very common, and that beverage is often bourbon, whiskey or rum. I am pretty sure cigar smokers will continue that habit while smoking a pipe (not to mention that one can find plenty of recommendations on the Internet of spirits that pair well with pipe smoking).

If acrylic stems would be sensitive to alcohol, I am 100% sure that established pipe manufacturers would include a warning with their pipes about not consuming alcohol while smoking (something along the lines of "if you drink alcohol while smoking this pipe, you can kiss your warranty good bye"). I haven't seen any such warnings yet, and would not expect to see one for commercial and business reasons. Which makes my believe that the acrylic used for making stems is not the kind that is sensitive to alcohol.

I am not a pipe maker but I do work with wood and therefore have a strong ingrained reluctance towards mixing water, especially hot water, with dry wood. I acknowledge the fact that the pipe tobacco lets off steam while burning, however that said quantity of water amounts to 2-3 drops at most (which is unlikely to penetrate the cake on the walls in my view), insignificant compared to that half a gallon or more coming out of the faucet. But, if washing pipes with hot water is what others are content with, I'll respect that and have no intention of embarking on a crusade to change their way.

On my part I will stick with using alcohol (that is whiskey + a few drops of sweet rum) to clean my pipes, whether acrylic or vulcanite. It significantly reduces the stink of the bowl and my pipes taste very "fresh" afterwards, with a hint of sweetness (and I'm big fun of Virginias ).

 

[Sobrbiker]

….you can kiss your warranty good bye"

I haven’t seen much warranty papers on pipes, let alone ones that specify what use practices will be ok or not.

I clean my airways and stems with Everclear frequently, and dismantle my pipes often.
I’ve used water and dawn to scrub estates, primarily the exteriors however (I figure if it’s good enough for @georged, it’s good enough for me) but I don’t make water flushing a habit.
YMMV, of course.

 

[sablebrush52]

I'm not sure why some are so defensive on this. Some folks say yes, some say no. As a pipe maker of over 2,700 pipes I've did a bit of research myself. I know dry wood is good for pipes, no one makes a pipe with wet wood, we all have our drying methods. Dry wood and water don't seem to mix. I know many pipe makers use shellac as a finish, shellac and water don't mix, just try and set a wet glass on a table (finished with shellac) without a coaster and see. Is there moisture in smoking? Sure there is but that's not the same as flushing it with water. I've seen first hand how moisture can warp a mortise, a chamber and even crack both. From my experience I'm going to keep water away from my pipes as best I can and never flush them or reccomend it. Bottom line we own our pipes we can flush them with hot water, hot coco or hot sauce or what ever else we want, but I would never reccomend it.
As for alcohol in a mouthpiece, I've been doing it for decades and I've never noticed any adverse effects. I'm not saying it's right, I've just never noticed and I'll results. What is my recommendation worth?, exactly what you paid for it

Really? You've seen this kind of damage form a 30 second flush? And you're positive that the flush caused the damage? Got any examples to share? I'm finding your statement difficult to credit since my own personal experience of performing this operation hundreds of times over the past several years has yielded no problems.

Maybe I'm extraordinarily lucky, as are many others who use this technique and have extolled the results, or you are alarmingly unlucky to have so many issues with it.

Can moisture warp wood? Is a 400 LB robin fat? Does that mean that a 30 second to 1 minute flush with warm water will do the same? You seem to be conflating things, which is a poplar trick for trying to win arguments.
I'm not a pipe carver, but I've built cabinets, bookcases, tables, beds, and the like, so I'm familiar with the concept of moisture affecting wood.

I got my start in my film career by rebuilding a 19th century piano action for a production designer who had been told that her great grandmother's Pleyel piano couldn't be restored. I carved every piece of that action by hand and when I was done that action worked perfectly. And pulling together the components of a piano action so that it responds correctly to a pianist's touch is one hell of a lot more complicated than carving a pipe. Using well seasoned wood is key since you want dimensional stability. But even with that, wood will respond to climate, and how.

As for why some of us are defensive on the matter is probably because people here really lost their bowels over thought of it and attacked us like we were baby killers. It's one thing if you have a body of evidence to support a conclusion rather than stating an unsubstantiated opinion.

My body of evidence is using a warm water flush on my pipes, for years, with no adverse effects. The naysayers are welcome to their conclusions, just leave us alone.

 

[Old Smokey]

I've used a water flush many times. Never had an issue. Wouldn't do it with a cob based on my own opinion of absorption issues. I use alcohol (type depends on the type of tobacco I use for that specific pipe; usually grain, sometimes rum) occasionally.