Originally Posted by
NeverBend
Hi Matthew,
I did a sanity check and your pipe is (was) a bent. It really needs to be re-bent otherwise it will be difficult to smoke and cumbersome (and possibly dangerous).
These comments are for vulcanite stems only. I'm pretty sure that your stem is vulcanite but I can't be certain.
The idea is to get the vulcanite flexible and for that you'll need heat. Some pipe repair services can do this. If you're going to do it yourself there are several ways but I'll discuss hair blow dryer because it's less involved (potentially).
Before you start, look at other bent pipes to see how they're shaped. Generally you want the smoke hole (end of the stem that goes into the mouth) to be about parallel with the top of the bowl. Put the thickest pipe cleaner that you can fit into the stem and leave it there until you're finished.
You want to heat the middle few inches of the stem until it's fully flexible (takes time) and it wobbles back and forth if you flick it. Then bend it into the shape that you want with a smoothing motion of the fingers as it is starting to harden. You should be able to stop when it holds shape.
Distribute heat evenly but not at either end of the stem, especially the tenon (shank/stem joint). You can always start over or adjust by reheating.
You can work with the stem on or off of the pipe. For your first time it may be easier off of the pipe. Protect the tenon (no heat at all here - stay away).
Remember:
Pipe Cleaner
Even heat across and around
Don't start bending until it wobbles
Tenon stays cold, button cool
If it's not the way you like, reheat it till it wobbles and try again.
Hope that this helps.
Pete