Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

For discussion of the drilling and shaping of the stummel.
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clickklick
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Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by clickklick »

How?

I really want to try an extension but I've tried a vise and forstner bit with no luck. I then tried holding it in a vise grips and using a forstner bit and no luck. I then tried sanding it using a hard table surface and still couldn't get it straight.

Any tricks or am I Sol without a lathe?
Last edited by clickklick on Sun Aug 16, 2015 5:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Joe Hinkle Pipes
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a large.

Post by Joe Hinkle Pipes »

A few things you could try. If it is square stock you could cut it with a table saw or miter saw. The end would require some clean up though. If it's round you could do the same by making a vee block out of wood and feeding that through the saw. If you are trying to face it perpendicular to and existing hole you could chuck the drill bit, or one size larger into a drill and use the bit as a pin Guage. Spin the drill and try to face it I using a chisel or sandpaper on a square block. George does a lot of this type of squaring with stem blanks and such I believe. He may have other suggestions.
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Jthompson1995
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a large.

Post by Jthompson1995 »

You can also try temporarily gluing the small piece to a larger piece of wood or other material that is easier to hold while facing/drilling then remove from that piece before attaching it to the stummel. I would suggest using CA glue on metal (aluminum or brass would work) as the CA will usually release with a sharp tap or with low heat. This assumes you will then glue the extension onto a faced shank.
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sandahlpipe
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by sandahlpipe »

Jthompson is correct on an easy way to do it. Sharpen your forstner bit. It's not made for facing operations, so the outside edge is sharp, but the middle may not be. Face and drill the mortise without moving the piece. Then flip the piece over and glue the first side down to a flat surface.
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by e Markle »

You can do this with a pickup truck. All you have to do is drive it to someone's house who owns a lathe, pay them for the lathe and take it home.

Though I've never done it, I'd guess you could do it with a drill press with a vise. Face it with a forstner bit; drill it out to the size of your tenon; flip the piece over and put it back onto the drill bit; clamp it back down in the vise and remove the drill bit; then just face the opposite side with the forstner bit. Will this work? Possibly, but you probably won't get a super tight joint with this method. I'd do the pickup version myself.
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by PremalChheda »

A good eye, Steady hands, file, sandpaper, flat surface.

A lathe, drill press/forstner make it faster, but you can achieve a flat perpendicular surface to the hole just with hand tools.
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by LatakiaLover »

PremalChheda wrote:A good eye, Steady hands, file, sandpaper, flat surface.

A lathe, drill press/forstner make it faster, but you can achieve a flat perpendicular surface to the hole just with hand tools.
Yup.

Clickklick ---

-- Drill the mortise, airway, and partial countersink in the extension piece

-- Face its contact surface perpendicular to the airway

-- Face the end of the shank perpendicular to its airway

-- Using a slip-fit dowel, drill bit, or similar rod to align the airways, glue the contact surfaces together using T-88 epoxy (clamp with only moderate pressure to avoid starving the joint of glue)

-- After the epoxy is fully cured, ream the joined airways up to about 1/4" from tobacco chamber to accept a stainless steel tube of the same O.D. (minus a few thousandths)

-- Cut the ss tube to the same length as the distance from the "step" that's appx 1/4" from the chamber, to the bottom of the mortise

-- Roughen the outside of the ss tube with coarse sandpaper, apply a thin, even coat of T-88, and slide it into the shank until it bottoms. Use a "pusher" stick/dowel to be able to reach into the mortise (Do NOT use superglue for this step. If it freezes short of the bottom, you are screwed.)

-- Shape the outside of the extension as desired

Image

Image
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by sandahlpipe »

Or as a variation on Ernie's suggestion, you can drive to my place and use my lathe. Seriously, though, a lathe is really a must if you are serious about pipe making. Not that you can't work without one, but you'll save so much time and frustration. A used wood lathe will run between $50 and maybe $150 on Craigslist, and with practice, you can do everything with a wood lathe, drill chuck, and briar jaws (as well as regular jaws for stems). A metal lathe is a ton simpler than a wood lathe for these kinds of operations, but also more expensive.
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by PremalChheda »

If you still have trouble matching the face with just hand tools, another option would be to just make pipes with inset connection or military style fitting so you do not have to face; until you get equipment that will allow for easy fast facing.
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by clickklick »

You guys rock! Thanks for the outpouring of advice!

I have much to try now as I have proven to myself that I don't have the patience or touch to do it 100% by hand.

I will have to get some T-88. I've been using gorilla epoxy and am not happy with how it holds up at all.

Thanks for the pictures George, that looks beautiful! Is there a general rule, that for extensions you should generally use black epoxy as some will always show?
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by LatakiaLover »

clickklick wrote:Is there a general rule, that for extensions you should generally use black epoxy as some will always show?
No. In fact, if there is any showing, it's almost certain you're doing something wrong.

The only time I add color to epoxy is for the fillet around the base of a re-tenoned stem (which is a repair that a new pipe maker doesn't have to worry about.)

T-88 is the killer stuff for wood-to-wood joints, by the way. (It was designed for home-built aircraft & similar, where strength & reliability is everything). It is not the best for bonding non-porous materials, though. The best I've found for that is G-Flex.
Last edited by LatakiaLover on Wed Aug 19, 2015 1:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by mightysmurf8201 »

clickklick wrote: I've been using gorilla epoxy and am not happy with how it holds up at all.
That's odd. I use the gorilla 5 min. 2 part epoxy for anything not involving delrin and I've had nothing but great results. As with many epoxies, it may lose it's effectiveness if it's been on the shelf too long, or if it's not mixed thoroughly or in the proper proportions. I just had to throw some out because I've had it too long, and it woudn't set properly.
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Re: Facing small extension pieces without a lathe

Post by dogcatcher »

You can buy counterbores with interchangeable pilots that can do the facing. If you have machinist background, you might want to set down with a machinist and get them to help you order what you want. Enco's online catalog has them individually on page 69 and 70.

Here is a set, the pilots are on the back row, the facing counterbores on the front row,

Image

One in operation cutting holes, the pilot centering the counterbore.

Image
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