Why The Long Stem?

[Boersnoes]

Hi all,
Recently my hookah vase was smashed and I don't feel like buying yet another one.

So I thought I'd make my own hookah this time. Since google's my friend, I ended on this extremely nice forum.
Have read all the way through all posts on the first page and seen a lot of good tips and ideas.

I'm still in the "Collect material and idea's"-fase and I'm taking my sweet time about it.
(Measure twice, cut once

Now for my question, does the length of the stem matter?
I found a cool 1.5L bottle that fits right in a shoebox.
If I could limit the stem in length, I coud make my hookah pretty portable.
Also, it would gain in stability I think.

If it doesn't affect the smoke in any way, I will go for a short one.

[blueyesopn]

longer stem means a longer cool down time. also it alows you to have a larger smoke chamber, wich makes it a more smooth smoke

[dedbob]

Hi all,
Recently my hookah vase was smashed and I don't feel like buying yet another one.

So I thought I'd make my own hookah this time. Since google's my friend, I ended on this extremely nice forum.
Have read all the way through all posts on the first page and seen a lot of good tips and ideas.

I'm still in the "Collect material and idea's"-fase and I'm taking my sweet time about it.
(Measure twice, cut once

Now for my question, does the length of the stem matter?
I found a cool 1.5L bottle that fits right in a shoebox.
If I could limit the stem in length, I coud make my hookah pretty portable.
Also, it would gain in stability I think.

If it doesn't affect the smoke in any way, I will go for a short one.

A longer stem means that the smoke has further to travel before it reaches your mouth. The futher the smoke travels, the more it will cool off. The use of cold water and/or ice in the vase will help cool the smoke even more, possibly negating the need for a long stem.

Also, a longer stem will require a harder "pull" than a shorter stem. You are pulling air/smoke through a small space over a longer distance, so you will need to inhale more forcefully to draw the air/smoke in.

Shortening a stem by only a few inches probably won't make a noticable difference in either respect. Cutting a foot off of a stem would probably be pretty noticable.

[blueyesopn]

Also, a longer stem will require a harder "pull" than a shorter stem. You are pulling air/smoke through a small space over a longer distance, so you will need to inhale more forcefully to draw the air/smoke in.

Shortening a stem by only a few inches probably won't make a noticable difference in either respect. Cutting a foot off of a stem would probably be pretty noticable.

it would nto make that big of a diffranceon how hard you have to pull if you cut off a foot or two, only diffrance is how menny times you have to pull to get it started. you are thinking fluids, not gases.

the major change in draw is where the waterline is in respects to the stem. deeper the stem, the more vacume needed. mark where you want your water line to be, and cut your piping an inch below that.
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hey, justa nother thought. if you realy want it to fit in the box, make the stem be able to be broken down.
or you could use the toilet conector to make a bendible stem!

i can see it now

[Boersnoes]

Thx for the reply and I think I have to make something a bit more clear:

The part of the stem that will be under water will be about the same as in a commercial hookah.
It's the part that is on top of the bottle I would like to make relatively short.
I don't think the smoke cools down that much during it's micro second of travel through an alumium tube, does it?
Isn't most of the cooling done in the water and the smoke chamber above the water?

correct me if I'm wrong.

[The fabulous Ian]

Thx for the reply and I think I have to make something a bit more clear:

The part of the stem that will be under water will be about the same as in a commercial hookah.
It's the part that is on top of the bottle I would like to make relatively short.
I don't think the smoke cools down that much during it's micro second of travel through an alumium tube, does it?
Isn't most of the cooling done in the water and the smoke chamber above the water?

correct me if I'm wrong.

It does, surprisingly.

Look at pipe designs. Your average pipe that most everyone thinks of has a short, straight stem before reaching the bowl. The Churchwarden models were known for being smoother smokes because of their elongated, curved stem which gave the smoke that extra half a millisecond to cool down.

But!

Hookah's pull the smoke through up to nine or so feet of distance (A 75" inch hose on a 32" hookah, for instance), plus water/ice before it gets to your mouth. So a matter of inches off of the top stem shouldn't be -that- much of an issue I've often heard that anything over 18" (my number could be wrong, but it's something in the ballpark of 18, I think) doesn't make a differance, but I couldn't say for certain.

In short, I would think that, in theory, you'd be fine as long as you keep your topstem on the more generous side of a twelve inches.

[Boersnoes]

So, if I read your post right, in theory I could compensate for a shorter stem by making the hose long enough.
The hose is easier to fold and pack then the stem is.
An alternative is making the stem assemblable out of several parts, but that's just asking for bleeds. Edited August 11, 2007 by Boersnoes

[The fabulous Ian]

So, if I read your post right, in theory I could compensate for a shorter stem by making the hose long enough.
The hose is easier to fold and pack then the stem is.
An alternative is making the stem assemblable out of several parts, but that's just asking for bleeds.

Not quite. You'll still need a bit of distance between your bowl and your base for the initial cool-off. In fact, I'd think that a longer hose would be worse. The time the smoke spends travelling through the hose is time spent warming up from getting hit by the cool water in the base. But, I don't really know, I could be entirely wrong. Once you put yours together, you'll have to come back and let us all know how you did it and how well it hits.

[Boersnoes]

Will do.
I'm going for the short stem. We'll see, right?
I have nearly all my materials now.
All I need is time ...

[guyt]

just keep everything proportional, if you have a large base have a large stem. Small base make a short stem. Many hookahs that are only about a foot tall are really good.

And you might want to rethink using Aluminum, it expands a lot when it heats. Theoretically if you heat the bowl enough the stem part inside the bowl could expand enough to crack your bowl. Try using brass or steel.