Cracked Shank

MilesW · Post by **MilesW** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 6:46 pm

Working on no.5 ran into a cracked shank at the mortise. Shaping almost done. Anyway to fix it or should I just write it off as a lost cause?

marks · Post by **marks** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 9:40 am

Depends on several factors. If you are making it for yourself, you could find something to band the shank (metal) to keep it from breaking. Or, if you have enough shank material left, you could remove material past the crack and drill a new mortise. I've done that on a couple of pipes when I have had a nasty pit near the end of the shank. (this is more difficult when near the end of your shaping). Without equipment (and I don't have the correct setup for drilling after shaping) this becomes somewhat hit or miss to do it correctly by hand.

You may even desire to make a shank extension if you shorten the shank past the point of looking decent.

You may find this a great learning experience by salvaging a pipe.

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 3:39 pm

If it is simply a small crack you could use epoxy on the outside to strengthen it and keep it from leaking moisture. This, of course assumes you are keeping it for yourself.

Or, this is just the sort of thing that bamboo is great for. Cut off that shank, put on some bamboo and you are back in business. And it is just that easy too

MilesW · Post by **MilesW** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 8:17 am

So if you decide to cut off the shank and use a shank extension how do you get the two surfaces to match perfectly? How do you now face it off square?

marks · Post by **marks** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 3:40 pm

Here is how I would do it.

Clamp the pipe in my drill press vise using a drill bit down the airway as a guide to make sure the end of the shank is square to the drill press (this assumes that you had drilled the airway and mortise on the same plane. otherwise, use a drill bit in the mortise). Gently face it off with a forstner bit.

If you are off a little, and you can be with the above method, you could take your stem and glue a little disc of fine sandpaper to the end of the stem, insert the stem onto the pipe, and twist very gently to match the two surfaces.

Or you could place a piece of very fine sandpaper on a nearly perfect flat surface and gently pull the shank towards you (Tyler has described this method in posts, and I have had varying success with it).

Hope this helps