I've brought this issue up before, and many of you have said not to sand a too-tight stem and let it work itself out as it's smoked. However, the horn stem on my Jeantet billiard, purchased last year, is really far too tight. I smoked the pipe this morning, let it cool for a half hour, and still had to wrap the stem in a dish towel and use a pair of pliers to get the thing to start turning for removal. I have very fine sandpaper for de-oxidizing vulcanite stems. If I go slowly and sand the tenon evenly -- by hand, not using any kind of power tool! -- is there any real harm to this?
Others have suggested applying beeswax to the tenon so that it can slip more easily. Where would I find this product? There are lip balms and the like from Burt's Bees at Walmart. Is that the sort of thing you mean?
Others have suggested applying beeswax to the tenon so that it can slip more easily. Where would I find this product? There are lip balms and the like from Burt's Bees at Walmart. Is that the sort of thing you mean?