Re-bent Stem

Bob Oakley · Post by **Bob Oakley** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 8:48 pm

After the thread I posted and reading all the advice given, I decided to re-bend the stem. The first picture is the original that I posted and the second is a picture of the re-bent stem. I hope you agree, I think it looks a lot better. I did not have any trouble with the re-bend. Now to re-buff and re-wax to finish.

Thanks again for advice.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:36 am

Bob.. not really sure why you're bending this particular stem. The pipe doesn't seem to call for it.

The 2nd bend still seems to be a bit kinky, nearly like the first attempt but bent to a lesser degree. If you look closely at the 2 pics, you'll see what I'm talking about.

What are you using to heat your stem with before you bend it? It looks like you're not getting the stem heated evenly along its length before you start bending.

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:08 am

If he doesn't bend then the pipe will be stuck with a backwards lean on the bowl, from what I can tell from 1 picture. I think that you spread out the bend a lot from where it was, but I think that the majority of it is still concentrated in one area. I would try and spread it out more... that is if you were interested in fiddling with this anymore! Personally I HATE going back and fiddling with pipes that reach the "done" stage before I realize something about them.

Bob Oakley · Post by **Bob Oakley** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:34 am

hazmat wrote:

What are you using to heat your stem with before you bend it? It looks like you're not getting the stem heated evenly along its length before you start bending.

I am using an alcohol flame lamp. This last "bend" I heated the stem and let it unbend itself. I thought when it got to this look, I liked it.

Thanks for your comments.

Bob Oakley · Post by **Bob Oakley** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:44 am

bscofield wrote

If he doesn't bend then the pipe will be stuck with a backwards lean on the bowl, from what I can tell from 1 picture.

It would definitely have a backward lean.

Thanks, Ben, for your comments. I may not go back and rebend again as I may not want to "fiddle" any more.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:27 pm

Bob Oakley wrote:I am using an alcohol flame lamp. This last "bend" I heated the stem and let it unbend itself. I thought when it got to this look, I liked it.

Unfortunately Matt is correct. It does still have the sharp kink. If you're happy with it as is, that's OK.

LexKY_Pipe · Post by **LexKY_Pipe** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:11 am

I'm with the ones who wonder why it's bent at all.