Removing a stuck Pipe stem

[Confederate Colonel]

My father passed away in July (at 95 years old - I hope I inherited those genes!). Today, my mother gave me one of Dad's pipes. He quit smoking before I was born, so that makes it at least 56 years since it was used. I would like to clean it up, but the stem is on there very tight. I might be able to force it off, but at this point, I would rather leave it as it is rather than risk breaking it. This is a briar pipe that says "Mastercraft Deluxe". There is a small crack in the briar where the stem attaches. I seriously doubt that I would ever use it myself, but I would like to have it in as nice a shape as possible for the sentimental value. It will probably be just sitting in the bookcase above my desk.

I read through the thread on how to clean a pipe, but I think I'd need to have the stem off first in order to give it a good cleaning. If it weren't for the fact that the stem is on a bit crooked, I probably wouldn't do anything to it.

Any other suggestions for preparing it for display would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[jwhite]

Try putting it in the freezer for about 10 minutes, if it wont move than try another 15. If it still feels tight try for about an hour. Be very careful if it has a cracked shank and turn counter clockwise as some of those pipes had threaded tenons. If you want to bring that pipe up to smoke able condition I can give you the link to some good people who do pipe repair. A spli shank is usually fixed by using a nickle or silver collar where the shank meets the stem. Many pipes are made that way to begin with. look at my avatar for an example. Hope this helps.

 

[Confederate Colonel]

Wow, that worked perfectly! Thanks, James - I sure do appreciate it.

 

[jwhite]

I'm glad to hear it and your very welcome

 

[thunderball]

I was actually wondering this myself...awesome! Got a couple of old pipes from Grandpa's basement that need to be taken apart and cleaned up.