Bending stems

Post by **Tyler** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:00 pm

I recommend bending the stem as soon as you have the stem shaped. Often, the overall flow of the pipe's shape is surprisingly altered by bending the stem. I have had pipes that I really liked, while the stem was still straight, only to be slightly disappointed by the result after bending. If you bend early, then the whole flow of the pipe is being worked with. Also, after bending you will often find that the stem is a little too think in the bend or near the shank, and you'll need to do more stem shaping. If you've already sanded to a relatively high grit, you have wasted that time (or worse, you decide NOT to improve the stem because of all the time you spent sanding it already).

FWIW, I am in the heat gun camp. I want as much of the stem soft as possible so as to have a nice smooth curve. If the softness is localized, then the tendency will be to make stems with corners in stead of gentle curves. That said, I have bent stems with an Old Boy lighter! Really any heat source can be made to work. Just uniformly heat the entire area that needs bending. The more concentrated the heat, the more you have to move the stem around to avoid burning.

Tyler

SmokingArea · Post by **SmokingArea** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:09 am

I'm a complete newbie, still working with kits. Is it better to bend the stem while its in the stumel or bend it by itself?

Post by **Tyler** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:22 am

In the stummel...that protects the tenon from damage, and you have the stummel as a reference for right amount of bend to match the shape. It also gives you something to hold on to that isn't hot!

Tyler