pipemakersforum.com

Here is a handy-dandy little fixture that lets you chuck pre-formed stems (or any stem that already has a button) into a lathe for turning. If there's any interest, $50 Delivered :



Slide the bit over the pin




Drop the bit into the slot



Support the tenon side on a tailstock center

I'm SO FREAKING GLAD you found this thing! I knew it was out there somewhere, I'd seen it and even emailed the guy who makes them...but then I moved at one point and couldn't find his site or email address again. That's awesome!!!

I saw something similar elsewhere on the Web, I forget where. I was thinking of making one, but my concern was that if the pin didn't exactly fit the button side hole, there might be slight lateral movement or misalignment of the stem centre to centre. My reasoning is that even a couple of thou off would affect the tenon fit.

So the question is, how well does it work?

A friend of mine that was a machinest took a small self centering four jaw chuck and simply cut a groove in two oposite jaws verticaly for the stem to seat in. He then used the live center in the tail stock to support it. He also removed the other two jaws. I bought the chuck from Penn State Industries for about 39.00. It works great but I rarely use it since I make all of my stems by hand.

Skip

I'd get it just to round out my pipe making tools, it would get a fair amount of use even though I hand cut my stems. My concern is , whats the diameter of the pin?
Dan
Gabrieli Pipes

The pin can be whatever diameter you like. I like my airhole 5/64 (.0781) and the pin I use is 1.95mm (.0767).

Do you have pictures available of this stem jig?

Randy