Aluminum Tubing for bamboo install!

[smokindawg]

What are the thoughts on using aluminum tubing for connecting bamboo to the shank? I've used delrin and it works, but you really have to scort it, plus I found some tubing really cheap, but I worry about moisture causing corrosion to the aluminum.

Any other thoughts on using it?

[caskwith]

What are the thoughts on using aluminum tubing for connecting bamboo to the shank? I've used delrin and it works, but you really have to scort it, plus I found some tubing really cheap, but I worry about moisture causing corrosion to the aluminum.

Any other thoughts on using it?

Moisture certainly wont be an issue with aluminium, its layer of aluminium oxide will prevent that. Personally i think it would be an excellent material to use, its cheap, light weight, pretty strong and easy to work with so give it a go!

[Frank]

I've seen aluminium used for stingers, venturi tubes, etc., and for screw in stems on many old pipes. There's usually very little corrosion.

[JHowell]

True, it usually oxidizes, and the layer of oxide prevents further corrosion. Which makes it difficult to glue effectively, though. I don't know, I'd go with stainless, unless the pipes are solely for your own use.

[smokindawg]

Yep, never thought about all the stingers and such with aluminum...... Duh!!!

As for gluing I was thinking of cleaning he aluminum up first to glue it.

I'll play with it a bit. I got 4ft of the aluminum for a couple bucks, so I have plenty to play with.

[KurtHuhn]

Stainless is pretty much the way to go. It's far more rigid than aluminum of the diameter that you'll want in order to use the high quality bamboo.

[jeff]

Aluminum should pose no structural issues at all. I'd only worry about a little taste that might be given off. I've detected odor and flavors in food that I've cooked in aluminum cookware, so I would imagine that the combination of heat and moisture might have a similar effect with tobacco smoke. Personally, I use SS tubing and have had zero issues.

Aluminum tubing was used by the Kaywoodie company in the 60's and 70's to reinforce the "unbreakable" tenons on a line of their pipes. I found this out the hard way when trying to open the airway of one of them up. first I encountered strange resistance and then I removed the bit to find a small section of aluminum tubing stuck to the end of my bit. Oops. The pipe smokes much better now, though.

Best,

Jeff

[geigerpipes]

When I was making my first pipes I was gifted a box of premade ebonite stems that all came with aluminum screw on tenons. They usually had these boxes in pipe shops for repair work on broken stems and inside the case was a decription of how you within a minute could efficiently make a replace stem, fit the right diameter tennon and there a brand new stem!

Later when showcasing my pipes to Jan at the swedish pipeclub he imformed me that aluminum is not liked by most artisan pipe collectors as they let off taste..

I also use stainless steel..I get threded ss that i drill out and also drill treads into the stummel and bamboo after crewing the peices togheter with a few drops of epoxy it is super strong

[Frank]

As for gluing I was thinking of cleaning the aluminum up first to glue it.

Give it a light sanding to roughen it up for the glue, then use a degreaser to clean it. Alcohol should work fine, although I usually use carbotrichlor (howls of rage from the environmentalists) to degrease metal. The glue should effectively seal the outside of the tube from oxidation. If the pipe is regularly cleaned after smoking, the inside of the tube shouldn't show visible signs of oxidation.

I don't doubt that Jeff and others can taste the aluminium, but you have to have seriously sensitive taste buds. There are literally dozens of makes of "metal" pipes, such as Kirsten, that have shanks made of aluminium. There wouldn't be a market for them if everybody was tasting the metal.

[JHowell]

I don't doubt that Jeff and others can taste the aluminium, but you have to have seriously sensitive taste buds. There are literally dozens of makes of "metal" pipes, such as Kirsten, that have shanks made of aluminium. There wouldn't be a market for them if everybody was tasting the metal.

True, but as I alluded to earlier, we have the question, for which market is the pipe being made? Nothing against Falcons (I have several), but there's not a lot of overlap between the Falcon market and the artisan briar market. A certain percentage of those buying artisan briars will have an issue with aluminum components in their pipes. Zero percent will (to my knowledge) have an issue with stainless. Can those who object to aluminum in their artisan briars taste it? Not necessarily. Nor does it matter.

[KurtHuhn]

Aluminum should pose no structural issues at all.

I don't know - I guess it depends on the specific alloy. I got some 3003 alloy about 4 years ago which was the only stuff I could find in 3/16" outer diameter and 5/32" inner. It's soft and bendy like a bendy thing. The stainless I have in the same dimensions is rigid and inflexible.

If you used 2024 or 6061 it might be stronger, but I could only ever find that in .25" outer diameter - way too big for my purposes.

But as always - ask a dozen pipe makers....

[wdteipen]

I use stainless steel because it's much stronger. While we're on the subject, what about the brass tubing? It's stronger than the aluminum, costs less than stainless, it can me found in any hardware store, and comes in many sizes.

[KurtHuhn]

And corrodes like a rusty thing.

Brass is about the most corrosion-prone metal I've ever worked with, right up there with copper.

[Olivier]

Just my 2c worth. Please take a look at http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Aluminium . Check out the notes on corrosion resistance and also make sure you read the section on precautions. You should find it helpfull.

Nothing beats a clean sandblasted surface for adhesives to cling to.

[JHowell]

I disagree with this:

"Powdered aluminium can react with Fe2O3 to form Fe and Al2O3. This mixture is known as thermite, which burns with a high energy output. Thermite can be produced inadvertently during grinding operations, but the high ignition temperature makes incidents unlikely in most workshop environments."

Just how hot does the author think a steel spark is?

[JHowell]

Ha! I was waiting for a student when my wife reminded me of daylight savings time. More time to write than I thought. The precautions section does not, I think, have much to say about pipe making. There are those who won't cook in aluminum pans for fear of Alzheimer's, or who won't drink from aluminum cans, never mind the plastic lining. Using aluminum in a pipe for sale will create resistance, partly because of a general public lack of risk assessment ability, and partly because of the Bo Nordh ethos, which has a very short list of allowable materials. Briar, vulcanite, horn, and ivory were all Nordh allowed himself, with an eventual and somewhat grudging acceptance of boxwood, and threaded stainless rod for connecting extensions. Pipemakers have expanded this list a great deal, of course, but aluminum is, in my opinion, still not on it. If I were making a pipe for myself and had a choice between using aluminum that I had on hand and stainless rod that I would have to order I wouldn't lose sleep over aluminum's neurotoxicity. But for a pipe to sell, stainless all the way.

[Olivier]

I'm also not really bothered about the toxicity of alluminium. I simply posted the link to see what the health contious persons would have to say about it. There's about a kazillion pots and pans in use across the globe every day. The Keyser system pipes that uses an alluminium condensation chamber has been on the market for ages and I don't know of any persons smoking these that contracted Alzheimers or dropped down dead for some alluminium related reason. (wanted to post a link to the Keyser site but I can't find it)

[Frank]

(wanted to post a link to the Keyser site but I can't find it)

Here's a nice long list of "metal" pipes: http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/a2z_index.php

[smokindawg]

Ok, looks like the general thoughts are toward Stainless tubing. Guess that's the way I'll go if I find that delrin just isn't working...... I'm working on my first true bamboo shanked pipe and will see how delrin works out.