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Ok. I hesitate to bring this up because the stinky ebonite dead horse us been beaten already. However, I have a question, which I think has a different answer.

I just finished an ebonite stem and for some reason, decided to smell the pipe. The stem smells like burnt rubber when it gets within an inch of the nose. I've been using SEM ebonite for a while and never noticed a smell on the finished product before.

What I'm wondering is if that smell is in any way related to me getting new buffing wheels and the compound perhaps not applied thoroughly enough, which may have burned the stem. That's really the only difference in my setup from before.

Any ideas?

Maybe you just got an extra stinky batch of rods. It happens. I cut a piece of 30mm Cumberland yesterday and STILL can't go into the garage it smells so bad. Every once in a while I run into a rod like that. Do you have time to let it sit for a while or is it sold and on it's way out the door.

Oh, and I think if you had burned the stem with the buffer you would be able to see it on the stem face. You can melt Ebonite smooth and shiny if you are careful. But, in my experience when you burn it with the buffer it is quite visible.

Hope I have helped.

Well that's just it. The ebonite didn't stink any worse than any other ebonite I've used while I was working with it. I'm used to the smell and don't mind it when I'm making the stem. As it turns out, there was a flaw in the stummel that made it a reject, so I'm keeping it for myself anyways. But if I had a production piece, I would really not want to send it out the door smelling funny like it is.

haven't worked with sem ebonite but i've burnt vulcanite on the tripoli wheel and heat gun, bubbles the surface but never caused it to stink. maybe higher sulfur content? more sulfur also also makes the ebonite harder right

Yeah. No bubbles on the surface. It looks pretty clean and shiny, actually.

Maybe you burned the airway drilling and didn't notice?

Had you just blown your nose before you smelled the pipe? Ya know, you just happened to be smelling super duper good at the moment? ( can't find the head scratching emoticon....but that's what I'm doing)

I can check the airway. I suppose that's a possibility. I had my wife smell it too and she confirmed it wasn't just ebonite dust in my nose. For what it's worth, I finished the stem three days ago and it still smells.

Clean with alcohol and then re-buff very very lightly. Make sure your buffing wheels are cleaned and new compound on them. If this doesn't work, then your ebonite must be extra stinky.

I tried cleaning with alcohol and re-buffing. Put enough compound on the buffing wheel to where I got the white clouding on the stem surface, then I cleaned with alcohol after that. Still smelly. I'm going to check the inside of the airway, but otherwise, I'm going to call it just a smelly stem and be glad it's a shop pipe.

I'm not sure exactly why or how it works but I've seen a bowl with some vinegar in it kill the smell in entire rooms with most impressive levels of funk. It may be worth a try?

LatakiaLover wrote:aaah-krill-ick...

I am tempted...

LatakiaLover wrote:aaah-krill-ick...

+1

Then again, if Jeremiah would just quit carving with his feet...............

oklahoma red wrote:

LatakiaLover wrote:aaah-krill-ick...

+1

Then again, if Jeremiah would just quit carving with his feet...............

You're confusing me with Sasquatch. I use my nose...

Try one more thing.Put stem in a small container with powdered charcoal covering it and leave it where it will be warm for a couple of days!

pipedreamer wrote:Try one more thing.Put stem in a small container with powdered charcoal covering it and leave it where it will be warm for a couple of days!

I'll have to try that. Sounds like it could work.

Did the smell ever go away?

I have a particularly stinky NYH red-black cumberland stem that i just finished. I have used these rods before, infact i have another finished stem from a few weeks ago, and it does not have the smell (and i dont remember it having it when it was finished). It is the same nyh red-black but was from a different rod

It is exactly as you describe. Within an inch or so of my nose it has the distinctive sulfur smell. I dont believe i burned the stem or anything, although i did heat it up enough to bend, which shouldnt be an issue anyways. The inside is polished with a pipe cleaner covered in polish compound

I think the issue was the particular kind of finish reacting with the ebonite. I would recommend keeping the finish (especially oil-based) off the stem as much as possible. It has since faded, but did smell for a while. Also, I now buff with Tripoli on the stem, then clean with denatured alcohol before going back to buffing. The cleaning, I think, helps get any other contaminants off the stem. But NYH ebonite smells more than SEM, at least in my experience.

Thanks for the reply!

I dont think it came into contact with anything like that, Its a replacement stem for a meerschaum pipe. If it still smells tomorrow ill try your alcohol trick and give it a quick refinish