Expert banding of cracked shanks with cable ties, or gluing with epoxy .................
Attachment 236055
The long Ashton was a heart breaker. I got it on ebay and when it was delivered I ran a pipe cleaner in it, came out gooey. I was bummed. Filthiest pipe I'd ever gotten. So I did the alcohol thing and cleaned it. I was too impatient. I should have let it sit a couple of days to allow the swollen (by the alcohol) shank to shrink. So I tried to insert the stem too soon and I almost made it before I heard the 'pop' as the shank cracked. :cry: I thought about sending it out for a repair band, but then the zip tie idea occurred to me. Cheaper and less noticeable. The shorter pipe I don't even recall how it got a crack in the shank .......... It is what it is.
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Hate to say it but the same thing happened with the poker. :banghead: I squeezed some epoxy in and it held. Ugly scar but a great smoker. Finally the Upshall. It is a grade B, which is relatively high for Upshall (they don't go in alphabetical order in grading) and it fell off of my computer table, I didn't notice it and rolled the chair on to it. Broke the shank clean in two. The line is toward the last third of the shank at the end of the logo on a diagonal. Mixed up the epoxy and it is still smoking just fine, albeit with battle scars. :shrug: