by Kenneth Lieblich

Welcome to another instalment of my Pipe Incident Reports. The idea, in general, is to provide a brief write-up – focusing on a particular pipe-restoration-related issue – rather than an entire restoration story. Today’s story is on the resolution of a very specific pipe repair – a substantial radiating crack in an acrylic stem. I hope this blog post will be useful for those undertaking a similar repair.

A gentleman contacted me about repairing the stem on a Dr Grabow Collector 2003 that he acquired. The damage was serious and required some significant work – but that’s what I’m here for! Let’s take a look. The photos below show how the pipe presented to me. The central component – connecting the stummel to the stem – was a brass band with an aluminum (or other metal) tube. The odd thing about the first photo is that that is not how the pipe should be. The metal section was stuck into the stummel and separated from the stem. That is the exact opposite of what should be. After some work, I managed to extricate the metal piece. The different metal components are affixed to each other permanently.

A quick look shows the problem: a radiating crack at the end of the stem. Wow – what a crack! Obviously, this needs to be repaired. We also need to reconnect the metal component to the stem. Finally, we need to ensure that the spade logo of Dr Grabow is not damaged or obscured by my repair.

Before anything else, it is imperative that I ensure that the cracks do not continue to creep after I repair them. To that end, I took a micro-drill bit, inserted it in my rotary tool, and very carefully drilled a hole right through the wall of the stem. That hole will stop the crack from progressing. As you can see, the drill bit is incredibly thin and quite prone to snapping if great care is not taken. There is a crack that also radiated to the spade logo, but I did not drill there for fear of damaging that logo.

I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem. I then disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean – and I did the same to the metal components. Aside from cleanliness, this procedure also ensures a good bond between adhesive and components.

Repair time. I first used some black cyanoacrylate impregnated with carbon and rubber to reconnect the brass band etc. with the end of the acrylic stem. I also took care to ensure that the orientation of the band and stem were matching. Once that had cured, I applied the same adhesive to the crack itself. Using a very fine dental tool, I made sure that the cyanoacrylate penetrated the crack without dripping into the interior of the stem. While I was in the neighbourhood, I also set about fixing the tooth marks near the bit. This was done by similarly filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive and letting it cure.

At this point, I took some clear hockey tape and carefully, precisely masked the brass band and spade logo with it, as protection. Then, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the acrylic. Following that, I used my micromesh sanding pads to sand out flaws, even out the acrylic, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.

I am very pleased with how the repair turned out and I am sure that there are many years of smoking pleasure to be had from this pipe in the future. I should emphasize that the line you see to the right of the spade logo is not a scratch, but merely a reflection in the photo.

Thanks so much for joining me on this interesting repair. I hope you enjoyed reading this instalment of my Pipe Incident Reports – I look forward to writing more. If you are interested in my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.