6th

[alan]

This is my 11th finished, but only 6th posted. Finished this morning.

I'm planning on ordering my first rods in about two weeks. Go to dad's for the drill press and to get a few blocks drilled right. Get started making my own stems. I'll be ordering my pimo tenon turner at the same time. Reading some of the older stem posts and seeing pimo's tool mentioned for $30 when it is now almost $70 is a bit of a downer, but oh well, what'cha gunna do?

Anyway, here it is.











I referred to it as the 'honey horn' around my wife earlier, earning the comment 'Mmm, you've got a honey horn.'

[Tsunami]

I would say that shape to be a Pic Ax. I like the overall design but I notice that the stem/shank connection seems a bit rough. The stems edge on the joint seems to be rounded over and I would suspect the buffing wheel is to blame for that. I like the finish and as a whole is a very nice pipe.

[alan]

Yup, pick axe. And yes, I'm still not nailing the stems.

I've started trying something I adapted from random. I don't know if my problem is just not enough time on it or if there's some flaw in my style. I drilled a bunch of holes in a flat block, all slightly different sizes. I find the closest fit to the size of my tenon, make a hole in some sandpaper, and lay it on the block. I then spin the stem in the hole. I don't know if I'm just wobbling while spinning and am rounding my stem or what. I think I may be rounding the edge while filing the tenon down to the mortise size. Perhaps getting the turner in a couple weeks will help keep me from butchering my stems? I don't know.

I'm still getting a slight gap and don't know what to do to fix it. Halp meh, halp meh!!

[kbadkar]

The rounding over of the stem "shoulder" is typically a sign that the stem was buffed without being attached to the shank, but it could also be that your block and sandpaper routine isn't working right.

Make sure your block face and the hole in it are absolutely perpendicular. I assume you have drill press. To ensure flatness, I've heard of using glass or granite. Personally, I use a drill bit index, if I have to. Also, it may not be your stem or only your stem that isn't perfectly perpendicular to the tenon/mortise - it could be the shank too, depending on your tools and procedures. What I do (did, now that I got a metal lathe ) is spray adhesive the sandpaper to the drill index and sandwich it between the shank and stem with the paper toward the shank (or stem) and twist the index. With the index sandwiched in there, you can kind of see where the high points are and whether it is the stem or the shank. Be forewarned, it takes a delicate hand and focused eye to do it right. It's easy to make a worse mess of it.