pipemakersforum.com

I recently sold a pipe and the buyer was happy but He mentioned He prefers a slightly taller button, especially on a larger pipe. He did note this was a personal thing but I was wondering if the button should be slightly taller than say 1/4" on a large pipe. All advice is appreciated, Norm.

I know others here will disagree with me, but for what it's worth:
Button height and comfort depends on a few factors. The width of the button, the thickness from the slot to the bite zone, and the way one bites on the pipe. If you clench the button itself, a tall button makes for a fatigued jaw, whereas if you bite the area behind the button, you're going to feel like a short button is going to let the pipe fall out of your mouth.
Also factoring in is the thickness behind the button and the taper of the stem. If you have a thin and short button with a long tapered stem, there's no comfortable way to clench it. If I make my stem tapered, I will make the button a little thicker than on a flat stem.
According to the other guys, however, I make my buttons too short. I have yet to hear a complaint from a customer about it.

It can't hurt to make a button too tall. It can always be taken down to the size the customer enjoys. If it's not tall enough for the customer, there's nothing that can be done, other than making a new stem.

Rad

This is an older post, but I have been using some of the measurements for my own stems. Ernie laid it out pretty well. viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7989&p=73384&hilit ... ons#p73384