HDPE as stem material

here in the USA. FDA and non FDA approved. If I were to try it I would want the FDA approved food grade HDPE. I myself don't have a lot of concern about what I stick in my mouth but seeing as my mouth may not be the final destination I would only use the FDA approved.

Give it a shot and see how you like it. It may present a problem if you plan on selling your pipes and then again maybe not. My opinion is that pipe smokers are comfortable with vulcanite/ebonite or lucite/acrylic, just my opinion. Might be a good poll question but I don't think many have tried the material.

HDPE is probably free of oxidation issues but if it is dull and you can not get it to polish to a good shine I also would not considerate it suitable.

Last, there was a pipe maker who other exclusively used alternate materials, ultem and polycarbonite;

http://www.ren-prod-...
http://www.ren-prod-...

Random kind of strikes me a quite a rebel pipe maker and not only because of his choice of stem material. Unfortunately his pipe making business has been on the back burner for quite a while as life has gotten in the way.

I would be interested in how you feel the rods you got work out.

I just received the package and hope to try some in the lathe a bit later today. I think it might be a bit soft and show bitemarks and scratches or dent easily. On the other hand it might be kind to one's teeth. I find the harder materials very uncomfortable on my teeth but I guess thats personal preferance. If this doesn't work it's back to sqaure one for me regarding suitable stem material. The only other stuff that seems to be readily available in SA is acrylic, but only in a translucent form. I'm NOT going to make see-through pipe stems in my life!

I've been pondering over some high-tech materials such as carbon fibre and Zytel but in most cases there's the issue of bending. So one would only be able to make straight stems. And also the health issue with fibrous material and the chance of inhaling some fibre. And it also cost a fortune.

I want to avoid importing as far as possible due to the obvious cost implications. I already have to import the briar and pay for it in US$. At the current exchange rate of more than 8.5ZAR for one $ the cost is astronomic. I've concidered getting pre-fabricated stems from Pimo but then I won't have "sole authorship" on the pipes I make. I also know nothing about the quality of these stems. It would be kind of like making knives using pre-fabricated blades. It just don't seem right.

On the other hand importing ready made stems will be much cheaper than importing solid bar if postage is taken in consideration. I believe that about 70% (maybe more?)of the original material is lost while making the stem and ends up in the dustbin anyway.

My only other option is wood. Once again limiting stemshape and pipedesign.

Enough rambling. I will test it and see how it works. Otherwise ..........back to the drawing bord.

Just a thought, but what I like to do is order pre-molded stems from Pipemakers Emporium or Pimo, but I get them over sized, essentially the largest that you can get as far as diameter, then I can shape them and cut them down to what I would like, allowing for quite a bit of creativity in so far as the stem shape, size, decoration etc.

The pre-molded stems that I have used are of pretty good quality and I would say you may get a 1-2% failure rate in the way of a bad stem etc.