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How Do I Choose A Pipe Stem?

 While there is great diversity in tube shapes and designs, surprisingly, there are only two common stem configurations. Others prefer a straight-stemmed pipe , mostly for aesthetic reasons and to keep smoke from your eyes, but also because it is easier to fit pipe cleaners in there to soak up condensate that sometimes builds up inside the stem during smoking. These types of pipes also provide the benefit of producing soft smoke on the end of the stem.  You may also want to consider pipes such as Petersons system, which keeps you from getting too much steam into the vapor because of a tank, but may also keep the tongue safe due to a steck or p-lip piece that directs smoke toward the roof of the mouth. If you are looking for a pipe that will hold up under just about any blend, go with this style. When you get more experienced, you might like smoking purely Virginia tobacco out of a bowl that is tighter, with higher sides, and a Latakia blend out of a shorter, wider bowl, but fo...
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What Is The Best Material For A Pipe Stem?

Bone-Animal Borne Shaped and Polished as a Stem Material in Some Old Briar Pipes & Meerschaum Pipes. Common material used for the stem, particularly in the last century mass-produced pipes. Ebonite is especially popular as the stem material of higher end hand made pipes.  All of us here at BriarWorks who build hand-cut hand-made pipes mainly use ebonite for these pipes. The BriarWorks and Moonshine pipes both feature acrylic stems machined from solid stocks. The advantages of acrylic pipe stems are color diversity, and unlike vulcanite, acrylic does not oxidize.  Meanwhile, most antique pipes had stems made from vulcanite, which is a synthetic rubber that you can polish to shine. The mouthpieces of most modern briar pipes are made from either vulcanite or acrylic. In many ways, though, the briar pipe is only as good as its mouthpiece or the hose. By far the most popular material used to create pipes today, briar is typically sourced from the root-burls of Mediterranean bu...
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What Are Pipe Stems Made Of?

 Pipe stems at this location are made from two-piece molds, with stem, bowl, and foot (or spur) all adjacent. Pipe stems could also be made of antler, ivory, and bone, all of which are fairly uncommon today. Today, they are usually made of acrylics and other synthetic materials like Bakelite, plastic, or even Ebonite.  The two most common materials used in tobacco pipe stems are Acrylic and Vulcanite, otherwise known as Lucite and Ebonite, respectively. A common material used for stems, particularly in the mass-produced pipes from the past century.  Ebonite is especially popular as the stem material of higher end hand made pipes . All of us here at BriarWorks who build hand-cut hand-made pipes mainly use ebonite for these pipes.  Acrylic and ebonite stems can be made with either solid blocks or bars, or with an injection mould. Stems fabricated from blocks or rods of acrylic and ebonite are generally harder and longer lasting than those made using injection molding....
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How Do You Clean A Vulcanite Pipe Stem?

 Over the years, I have read and heard of people using toothpaste to remove the oxidation from the pipes shafts. When it comes to heirloom pipes, one of the biggest deterrents is the severely oxidized, hard vulcanite or rubber, stems. Acrylic stems are harder and easier to clean than vulcanite stems, which are being phased out in favor of the newer materials. There are two basic types of materials used in tube stems: vulcanite (ebonite or hard rubber) and Lucite (acrylic).  Automotive Polishing Compounds Others used automotive polishing compounds and rubbed them heavily on stem materials to eliminate oxidation. Others have not used a pre-soak, but used various types of stem polishes or cleaners to remove the oxidation. This does indeed leave your stem chemically cleaned, allowing it to quickly oxidize.  You can see clearly the soak has oxidized the exterior, but you cannot tell how much of the stems airways are already oxidized. Pull through the stem with a pipe cleaner d...
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