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Recently made my first stem. The pipe is unsmoked but if I draw on it the taste of vulcanite is noticeable and unpleasant. Will that go away when smoked? Will washing it help? If so, with what? I've seen videos of pipe makers putting buffing compound on a pipe cleaner and polishing the channel. Will that help? The 'funnel' is well polished already. Thanks for any assistance.

George

I've never noticed. Either you have an unusually sensitive tastificationizer mechanism (the human spectrum is quite wide), or you encountered an unusual piece of rubber.

I’ve never encountered this myself. Maybe try running through a cleaner with some isopropyl alcohol on it. If after you’ve smoked a few bowls through it, it’s still giving you trouble, I’d pitch it and use a different rod. I use SEM from VF and have never had an issue.

Clean it out with alcohol, probably a tiny bit of polish stuck in the stem, makes it kinda stink.

Cleaning with alcohol worked. Thanks guys.

Glad to hear!

This is just generically good advice in the pipe making world too - most problems can be solved with either pipe cleaners, bourbon, or both.

Well, technically I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol.......but the point about bourbon is well taken.