pre-made stems, the best suppliers

[potholer]

As a newbie I have been looking through all the posts and hopefully I am not asking a dumb question. After destroying several hand cut stems i have been thinking of a premade stem for the next abysmal attempt!
I have, being in the UK, been look at the stems that P. E Herman and Dan Pipes supply are there any points that i should be looking for in a premade stem or any other / better suppliers in europe?

Any hints or suggestions would be great
regards
dave

[flix]

JHLowe have them for between $3 and $10 per dozen. They're hit and miss quality, at least half good in my experience. Best value IMO. JHLowe also have Giudici stems, allegedly better quality:

http://www.jhlowe.com/rubber-giudici.htm

An alternative would be AMSmoke, Mark Tinsky:

http://ssl.cybersun.com/4Dscripts/webca ... 6281~1~101

He gets his own stems from Italy, pre-made. I don't know if the stems Mark sells are the same Italian make that he uses on his own pipes, call him...HTH

[potholer]

Thanks flix
I had looked at JHLowe stems but being in the UK i was hoping for a closer solution.
I think that I will email them rather than the transatlantic phone call!
regards
dave

apologies for dumb / repeated question i did not scroll down the forum far enough

[Jos]

Hi Dave,

Janzen in Hamburg carries stems, too, both acrylic and ebonite ... though, I'm afraid, the site is all in german:http://www.janzen-pfeifen.de/frameset.html

Regards, Jens

[potholer]

Thanks Jens

With my limited german and the help of babelfish i should manage to navigate through the site, avoiding the ravenous bugblatter beast of traal but then I always carry a towel with me

regards
dave

[flix]

Thanks flix
I had looked at JHLowe stems but being in the UK i was hoping for a closer solution.
I think that I will email them rather than the transatlantic phone call!
regards
dave

apologies for dumb / repeated question i did not scroll down the forum far enough

I'd just find out from which suppliers they purchase their Italian stems, you might get lucky enough to even save some by cutting out the middle-man.

[potholer]

Thanks flix
for the suggestion. The question of where J H Lowe get their Giudici stems from was dealt in one of the other posts that i should have read

As I only really want a dozen in several different styles,I will have to send the parcel pigeon to J H Lowe and some others from Dan Pipes and PIA pipes

thanks to all who have helped
dave

[DaGamba]

Here's Janzens site in english:
http://www.janzen-pfeifen.de/english/frameset.html

[potholer]

Thanks DaGamba

I started my travels through the janzen site complete with babelfish and towel! then i found the link to the english version

regards
dave

[Mike Messer]

I have 40 Giudici stems I bought from PME which I have no use for, since I am strictly handmade from rod stock now. If you or anyone would be interested in buying them at a considerable discount send me a PM. All are in original condition, in plastic bags.
They are are viewable at PME: http://www.pipemakers.org/
Qty. No. Description Approx. List
10 #VU165 long taper $14.50
12 #VU231 short saddle $14.50
10 #VU223 long saddle $14.50
3 #VU283 big sq. taper $5.12
2 #VU499 big taper $6.87
2 #VU175 long taper $2.90
----------------------------------------------------------
40 Stems Total List $58.39, for $30.00 + $11 Shipping in USA only

NOTE: These stems are okay for beginner pipemaking, until you develop the tooling, materials, and skills to make stems by hand, but the quality of these molded stems is totally unacceptable for high quality handmade pipes, not to mention the fact that they aren't handmade.
Janzen has some high quality acrylic molded stems, and posibly ebonite molded stems, although I have not seen the ebonite stems, but still, they are not handmade, by you, the pipemaker, either. For what it's worth... It takes a while to put it all together.

[potholer]

Thanks for the offer Mike

I ordered several stems from P. E Herman

while im fairly confident about the wood parts the plastics have been giving me gyp and i thought that until i have the leisure to really concentrate on the stems a premould would atleast allow me to make a pipe that looks like a pipe rather than a piece of wood on an ugly piece of plastic
regards
dave

[KurtHuhn]

I strongly suggest to beginners that they concentrate on making a usable pipe before attempting the pain of a hand cut stem. Even pipe makers that have been making pipes for a decade or more will use premold stems. Every factory pipe on the planet has a premold stem attached to it, and those thing sell like hotcakes.

IMO, there's no shame in a premold. Now, if you stick a premold on a $400 pipe, that's a problem. But if you're selling $400 pipes, you know better anyway.

[bregolad]

I actually agree with mike, mostly. Once you develop to skills and the tools to make your own stems, its almost just as much trouble to modify a premold to acceptable proportions as it is to make one from scratch. And it almost always looks better.

That being said, the 5 minutes you save using premold stems can be a lifesaver for those with deadlines or large batches.
I've had good luck with the Guidici stems, as far as quality and consistency is concerned, though.

[potholer]

To bregolad & Kurt

Me being me I had to try it!
the two efforts that I have produced smoke well enough - to me
But to go out in public they, like the phantom of the opera, would need a mask

So without any shame I asked the question.

Who knows the next piece of tortured wood may be worth a picture and be sent into the lions den

Thanks for the advice

regards
dave

[Leus]

Well, I concur with Kurt. I love handcut stems, but I absolutely *hate* making them. I'm still short of the time saving techniques department so every handcut stem is a journey to hell for me. Of course I'm exaggerating.

[potholer]

Thanks

to all that have given advice, comments and information. It is appreciated.

regards
dave