Lemme try again. The pros and cons of the two tenon types have already been discussed elsewhere at great length. That isn't what I'm getting at, here.Ocelot55 wrote:I like delrin. Feels great, allows for very smooth removal of the stem. On some of my integral tenons I'm always worried about cracking the shank by removing the stem. If you happen to drop the pipe, delrin won't snap off like an integral tenon will either. Its very easy to use and you never have to worry about fit. Ultimately it doesn't matter what the tenon is made out of, rather than how well it's made.
It is the increasingly-heard matter of opinion/perception that a pipe's tenon type is an indicator of the overall quality of the rest of the pipe.
I thought it was just more OCD collector silliness until I started paying attention to what crossed my bench, and was surprised to find that there is---statistically speaking---something to it.
My speculation is that Delrin lowered the biggest technical barrier-to-entry in pipemaking, and this is the result. Maybe I'm right, and maybe I'm not. I thought you guys might want to kick the subject around a bit, because it does (apparently) have some effect on how your shop's output is perceived.