Stem making videos

[KurtHuhn]

All,

I took these for a customer that was interested in my process, but I suspect some here may find something helpful in them as well.

[Sawdust]

Pretty cool videos! Thanks for sharing them.

Jim

[TRS]

Cool videos, thanks Kurt! I particularly liked seeing the tenon cutting video; using the forstner mounted in the tailstock as a rough diameter guide hadn't occured to me.

[KurtHuhn]

Cool videos, thanks Kurt! I particularly liked seeing the tenon cutting video; using the forstner mounted in the tailstock as a rough diameter guide hadn't occured to me.

Take any shortcut you can get!

[ToddJohnson]

Impressive work with those hand tools, Kurt. Two quick tips. If you use a pin gauge instead of the forstner bit, you can get an extremely accurate positioning of your cutting tool on the first try. Use an acute cutting bit with a very sharp point to make a witness mark on the face of the rod stock and then just gradually cut down to it. Another easy trick is to give yourself an extra 1/4" of stem length and cut the tenon down at a fairly sharp chamfer, creating a "cone" on the tip. Then take a simple plastic or metal bit-gauge and spin it around on the cone you've created at the end of the tenon. This gives you an exact mark to cut down from When you're done cutting the tenon, just trim the cone off the end of the tenon so it's flat. Chamfer it and countersink it and you're done. As Major Pain says, "Work ever time!"

TJ

[KurtHuhn]

Good tips, Todd! I'll have to experiment with those procedures. Thanks!

[buster]

Just wondering why you took a little bit of material off at the end of the stem before using the coutnersink.

[KurtHuhn]

Because the mortis is actually delrin inside a nickle sleeve, and that's a 7/16" tenon - meaning two fairly immovable objects. The combination of very little compression capability on the tenon, along with no expansion ability in the mortis, means that if I cut the tenon down to where it fit in the mortis right from initial insertion, it would end up being too loose. If there's a slightly undersized "spigot" on the end of the tenon, it allows for easy installation of the stem into the mortis - eases it in, if you will. The slightly undersize diameter spigot will center the tenon, and the rest of the stem will slip right on with minimal force. Without that undersize section, the perception would be that the stem required too much force to install.

[buster]

I see, could you expain why one would use a delrin mortise inside a stainless tube. Originally I thought it might be because the tenon expanded when you use the counter sink. If you haven't sent that pipe out yet could you please post a pic of the mortise. Thank you for answering my question.

[RadDavis]

I think I should mention here that cutting integral tenons is much more manly than using that wussy Delrin stuff.

Delrin is for stem repairs.

Rad

[KurtHuhn]

I see, could you expain why one would use a delrin mortise inside a stainless tube.

The pipe is now in the hands of it's owner, but here's a pic of the mortis:


As you can see there is a countersink, but a 60 degree countersink isn't much good in a mating of materials lie this.

The reason for using a delrin sleeve is because morta is not a forgiving material, and is not as flexible and resilient as briar. The shank is one of the most fragile places on a morta pipe, and it's important to reinforce it. In this case I chose to use nickel as the reinforcement, and the delrin sleeve was for providing a better tenon/mortis fitment than ebonite on metal.

I think I should mention here that cutting integral tenons is much more manly than using that wussy Delrin stuff.

And you can't be a man until you cut an integral tenon on a wood lathe!

[buster]

Thank you very much. I didn't know that about morta. That is a very handsome pipe.

[geigerpipes]

Cool Videos Kurt...good to finally see you use a proper lathe

making a setup with a dial indicator like the pic below has saved me soo much time and frustration



After making the initial cut I measure once, set the indicator accordingly and then just turn it down to the right size

[hawky454]

What kind of bit is that? Where can I find one that length? I haven't seen anything like that at my local tool shops. I have a wood lathe, any chance of using metal lathe turning tools on a wood lathe some how?

Sorry, for the strange questions, I'm very new at this. I've been doing kits for awhile but I'm now trying my hand at drilling my own. So far, making the stem is the most challenging process for me.

Thanks,

Dave

P.S. Is that a wood lathe you're using?

[KurtHuhn]

That's a "taper point" drill bit, and is a necessity for anyone making their own stems. Look at McMaster-Carr stock number 30915A76 for 5/32" and 30915A75 for 9/64:
http://www.mcmaster.com

These are specialty drill bits designed for making tapered starter holes for wood screws. You can find regular length ones in the big box hardware stores, usually in a kit with other bits, and typically fitted with a stop or stop+countersink. Those are better than nothing, but the longer length ones are more useful for most stems.

The final drill bit is an extra long length 1/16" bit I got at the local mom-n-pop hardware store. It's used just to finish the hole off an poke through the other side.

Making stems is something everyone who wants to make pipes is going to have to master. HOWEVER, it's not something that I personally suggest to folks that are just beginning the process of learning how to make pipes. The stem is, typically, the most complex (geometrically speaking) part of any given pipe, and is really easy to screw up. I usually tell folks to use factory pre-molded stems for their first pipes - just until they get the process of making a pipe down. It's easy to get distracted by the minutia, and believe me, there's lots of minutia in a hand-cut stem.

The lathe you see in those videos is my South Bend 9" metal lathe. I picked it up, gosh, close to 5 years ago I think. Maybe only 4. Prior to getting it I was using a Jet 10" wood lathe for everything - including cutting tenons. It can be done, with practice, but a metal lathe can do it faster, and right from day one. I have seen older kits that are used to mount metal lathe style toolholders on wood lathes, but I'm not aware of any modern ones. I think there was a forum member that adapted a small X-Y table or vise for this, but I don't recall who.

[hawky454]

Thanks for all the info Kurt. I understand that you recommend that the novice use factory stems and I have 5 times and I'm just not happy with the factory stems. I have made and drilled enough stummels now that I am comfortable with messing around on the stems, In fact I already have one fitted (last night on my wood lathe) but I failed miserably at drilling the stem and the cutting/shaping the button. I kind of have O.C.D, so if I'm gonna make a pipe I want to make the whole thing. I have stummels laying all over the garage (failed and successful ones) and i have finished several with factory stems and don't get me wrong...I'm still gonna use factory stems until I can master the stem myself. I'm not gonna stress myself out over it but I would like to learn a little here and a little there as I go. Plus I bought a bunch of cheap vulcanite rod and some acrylic stock to practice with.

Again, thanks for all the detailed information!

P.S. This is the only hobby I have ever felt certain I'll be doing the rest of my life! I'm addicted.....I've kinda gone mad, at least my wife thinks so.