Loose mortise

[TRS]

I'm working on my first pipe (still). After sending quite a few innocent blocks of cherry and briar to their respective makers, I've got something that I'm pretty happy with. As I was making the stem, I used a slightly too long piece of delrin for the tenon. Since I had faced and beveled said delrin already I (stupidly) decided it would be easiest to drill the mortise a hair deeper to close the gap. Now the mortise is accidently a little bit wider from the drilling. The stem still fits in and is airtight; it still draws well. The stummel doesn't swing wildly around or anything of that nature, but the stem comes out a little too easily and I'm not satisfied with it. It's still worth finishing to me but I was wondering if there were any tricks or methods for somehow tightening the fit? I certainly can't come up with anything; thought I'd check with the pros before I resign myself. Thanks all!

[bikedoctor]

I believe your mortis if fine but the tenon needs adjustment. Here you go:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3953

[KurtHuhn]

Except, that won't work for delrin. Delrin's softening temp is much higher than the epoxy used to hold it in, so you'll end up with whole new problem instead.

It's *way* easier to fix long delrin than you might think. Cut it to about the right length on the bandsaw, rough sand the face with a 500 or 600-grit spinning wheel to smooth the saw marks, and countersink it by hand. Wash, rinse, repeat as necessary. No worries. It literally takes 10 seconds or less.

[Danskpibemager]

The easiest way I found to tighten up a loose mortise is to apply a few drops of CA glue or super glue to the smooth end of a drill bit and run it around in a circular motion inside the mortise. Let it dry for about 20 minutes and see how it fits. Re-apply if neccesary. Works for me every time.

Kevin

[Sasquatch]

Bee's wax if it's just a little loose. It is magic stuff for tenon fit. Or, like others have said, just coat the inside of the mortise in layers with something nice and tough (and waterproof), be it varathane or shellac or something.

[ToddJohnson]

Wet the mortise and get it really hot with your heat gun. It will swell and the fit should be much improved.

TJ

[bikedoctor]

Coffee - P.S. Bullseye - New issue of P&T - clear evening with temperatures around 70 degrees. Mortis will still be loose but you will feel good about it.

[KurtHuhn]

If you use CA (superglue) or some other solvent-based stuff to coat the mortis, let it outgas for several days before smoking. CA glue can, and usually does, let off gases that are hazardous and smell horrible.

CA has it's uses, most notably for quickly closing random workshop wounds due to being inattentive ( ) but I don't typically use it on pipes because I can't abide the smell - and it's not actually all that good of a glue to begin with.

[JHowell]

If you use CA (superglue) or some other solvent-based stuff to coat the mortis, let it outgas for several days before smoking. CA glue can, and usually does, let off gases that are hazardous and smell horrible.

CA has it's uses, most notably for quickly closing random workshop wounds due to being inattentive ( ) but I don't typically use it on pipes because I can't abide the smell - and it's not actually all that good of a glue to begin with.

Yeah, I used to use CA for stabilizing wood trim rings and such because it's so thin and penetrating, but I've developed an allergy to it. One whiff and I feel like I've got a cold/flu for two or three days.

Shortening a tenon is pretty easy on a lathe. Use a pin gauge that fits snugly in the draft hole as a mandrel, trim with a pointed tool that will get in to where you can trim off any burr or flash with the countersink.

If you really want to deepen the mortise without enlarging it (too much), use an appropriately sized center drill, which is simply drill rod for most of its length. If you have a long version, you can polish part of the shaft behind the flutes for a little less friction with the mortise walls -- you just have to keep track so you don't chuck it there ever again. Use the lathe in back gear or turn the chuck by hand, it only takes a couple of revs. It's still better to shorten the tenon.

Jack

[TRS]

It's still better to shorten the tenon.

Yeah, I gathered this fact about 20 seconds after I'd tried it my way.... But now I know better and will shorten my tenons in the future. Thanks to all for the replies. I'll let you know how it works when I figure out what I'm gonna do and when I can shake this toddler for a few...

[FredS]

Another way to shorten a tennon:

Chuck the drill bit you used to drill the airway in the tennon in your drill press. Slide the stem a few inches on to the bit so the end of the tennon is up on the smooth shank area of the drill bit. Turn on the drill press and use a file to file the end of the tennon. Hold the file at the aprox the same as the bit you drilled the mortise with and you can get a very close fit. If you have a set of gage pins, you can use that instead of chucking the drill bit.

BTW - With the equipment I have, it's much easier to adjust the lenght of a tennon than to adjust the depth of the mortise. So I always drill the mortise first, then make the tennon to fit.

[TimGeorge]

For future reference, I can report that I recently used Todd's heat gun on a wet mortise method to improve a loose fit, and it worked like a charm. The fit is perfect now and has been for several days.

[TRS]

Wet the mortise and get it really hot with your heat gun. It will swell and the fit should be much improved.

TJ

I tried this on a loose mortise today and it worked wonderfully. My question is, won't the wood shrink back to where it was eventually?