OK, I bought my son a churchwarden. Everything was great till the other day.

First off, he's never been able to get a pipe cleaner through from the bit - for whatever reason (but he never told me). So, the other day he tried to put a pipe cleaner in from the tenon and got it in too far - so he tried to push it through by using another pipe cleaner. Now, it is about 2" into the stem and cannot be reached from either end.

I have exhausted my ideas as to how to get this out. I am not a pipe repair guy.

Anybody have suggestions? Or can help if I send them the stem?
[Reply]

Bailing wire? Push it through
[Reply]

I was going to say a paperclip, the larger clips have a decent diameter and you could hopefully push though. Or like Matt said bailing wire.
[Reply]

First thing I did was try a paper clip. I could feel the pipe cleaner, but not move it.

Tried some wire, that do not work either.

Am wondering if there is some sort of obstruction that is previous to this happening.

Peace of the Lord be with you.
[Reply]

What about a strong magnet (rare earth) on the outside of the stem to pull it back the way it was pushed in? I don't know how well it would work if it has been forcibly lodged in from the prior attempts
[Reply]

Do you have access to an air compressor? Maybe a few blasts of air through the stem might dislodge the pipe cleaner.
[Reply]

This guy made a stem for my favorite Chacom Alpina 28 and it came out perfect! I have no connection other than the work he did for me.

http://www.walkerpiperepair.com/index.html
[Reply]

Along the same lines as Steve did you try blowing it out like a blow dart?
[Reply]

Todd, the only thing I can think of is if you can find a piece of tubing smaller than the ID of the stem and slightly larger than the wire in the pipe cleaner. Slide the tube over the pipe cleaner to capture the bristles and loosen it. Perhaps? Maybe a tube with a stop in it to surround the cleaner and push it from the base? I'd probably try to wet it and blow it out with compressed air first though.

In any case, good luck!
[Reply]

If what Jerry has mentioned above doesn't work, or using a wire coat hanger, or paper clip unraveled, I would just send it to a pro to resolve:

Tim West comes to mind:

http://www.jhlowe.com/tobacco_pipe_repairs.htm

You could simply give him a call to discuss prior to mailing the pipe to him. Don't know what the quality of the churchwarden is, but it may come down to replacing the stem period.

Hopefully, your son will use "churchwarden" pipe cleaners next time, or if he did, a little patients goes a long way in cleaning a churchwarden stem (and using a bit of whiskey/bourbon usually helps too):-)

That's my :-)

Good Luck brother...
[Reply]

The suspense is killing me. How have things turned out Rev.?
[Reply]

He may be out fishing Michael:-)
[Reply]

I haven't done anything with it yet. It is beyond my work. I have tried numerous things. I am thinking the draft hole was not the best to begin with...

I am thinking a professional.
[Reply]

I hope it works out for you rev. This reminds me of the time my dad got the ball stuck at the end of his black powder rifle before he put the powder in. It was a real pain and we ended up going to a professional to have it fixed. Not fun and slightly embarrassing
[Reply]

Sent it to Lee vonErck who did a wonderful job getting it fixed up for him.
[Reply]

:-)
[Reply]

Glad you got things sorted out. I was wandering what ended up happening.
[Reply]

:-) I did that when I was a kid, too. Super embarrassing.

Good deal!
[Reply]