A year or two ago, I took the plunge and bought a Stinky Cigar Ashtray. Arguably one of the best, if not the best cigar ashtray out there. I was almost as excited to get it in the mail as some of the sticks that would eventually end up in it!

I made the mistake one fateful afternoon of picking it up by one of the four stirrups where cigars rest.... and SNAP it came off in my hand. I was crushed, but being a somewhat resourceful guy, I decided to put the stirrup in a "safe place" on my workbench, for later repair. A few months passed, and the tripod stinky and I are doing just fine, until I picked up the stinky again, by one of the remaining three stirrups, and BAM. Down to two. Not a big deal, put this one in my pocket, and took the beast in for a quick wipe-down. Apparently my vigorous cleaning was too much for one of the remaining two stirrups, and I am looking at my fabulous ashtray with ony ONE Remaining stirrup.

Time to take action. Off I go to my workshop to find the first stirrup, with the others to fashion a fix.... only to realize that I can no longer remember where the "safe place" on the bench was...... It is Hell to get old! Some of you know what I am talking about.

Anyway, I did eventually find the rogue stirrup, and after failed attempts to re-solder the stirrups, (and one slightly charred finger tip - :-) OUCH) I found my trusty tubes of JB Weld. Mixed up a small batch, placed a dab under each stirrup, where the welds had broken, turned it upside down for an hour, and now I am back in business!

Good as new, and seemingly stronger than ever. I have been using it after the repair for about two months, mishandling it as ever, leaving it out in the rain, etc, and it remains one of my favorite cigar accessories.

If you do not have a stinky, consider this a strong recommendation to purchase one. If yours should have a problem as mine did, don't panic, the fix is easy and inexpensive.

Happy smoking Brothers and Sisters!
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Good to hear this worked as it is my backup plan... :-)
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Excellent story and great advise. I, to, have a Stinky and can honestly say I would be a mess with out it. It's like an old friend at this point in our smoking relationship. After every smoking session I bring old Stinky back in and give it a good wipe down. Then back on the shelf in my home office it sits, until next time, which I pray won't be long. :-)

Thanks again, for the quick-fix, just in case. :-)
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JB Weld is great. :-)

Stinky's aren't bad either. :-)
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Thanks for the great advice and wonderful story!!!

My Stinky is still in good shape but if it ever needs to be repaired I know what to do now!!!

Thanks again for the Stinky advice!!!
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Being the kind of guy I am, I would have reached for the JB weld too.... and while repairing it, wondered why it was made with shoddy welds/solders to begin with, and not purchase another. Pretty, useful, and not the first time I have heard of stirrups falling off one.
Disclaimer...
I do not own one, or have any interest in the company.
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To be honest, I went through the same thought process. I have even thought about fabricating my own custom ashtray, which I still have not given up on. But, in general, I do like the Stinky. It's failure also inspired a quest to find other "cool" cigar ashtrays - mostly antiques, and that has been a fun search as well.

Have others had this kind of failure? I thought it was just mine. Sometimes when I have a product that I like that requires more maintenance than it should, it inspires improvements, and new projects that can be rewarding and fun. Other times, it just frustrates and causes more trash.....

And I too have no involvement with the company...
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Nice post Critch. I've been eyeing a Stinky...looks like I'll pick up some JB too lol
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From what I've read. They did have some stirrup problems on their earlier models, but since the problems have been remedied. Knock on wood :-), no problems so far.

Disclaimer: I do not work for Stinky nor have I ever worked for Stinky. :-):-):-)
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Thanks for the story of an ashtray reclaimed! Nice job. :-)
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