Paging Machinist Howell...

[LatakiaLover]

Paging Machinist Howell... see the man waiting at the front desk, please.



If a guy, me for zample, wanted three 4" long pieces of square rod, one each of 3 mm, 4 mm, and 5 mm across the flats, of drill-bit-class precision regarding the sides being parallel and the edges clean and sharp (but not the size... 3, 4, & 5 mm needing only to be of "gov't work" accruracy), would he talk to you, for zample, about playing Tool Maker in addition to your pipe work?

If not, do you know where I could find such a thing?

The steel itself doesn't need to be anything exotic, just be able to hold a reasonable edge for a reasonable time, when scraped against briar and non-abrasive gunk.

What are they for, you ask? Mortise cleaners. I use numbered/lettered drill bits when the mortise is cylindrical, but need "wall scrapers" for when they've gone conical. (A fair number of older pipes do.)

Thanks, dood.

[KurtHuhn]

Hmmm. The only picture I can envision is using those like I might use a pocket knife to scrape a bowl. Am I close?

If so, does the tool have to be square? I'm thinking it might be easier to start with bar stock of the thickness that you want, then grind a profile into it and to put a handle on it. Something like this (no idea if this will come out right):

Code: Select all

            _
           | \ 
     --->  |  \   second scraping edge
scraping   |   \  <-----
  edge     |    \
     --->  |     |
            -   -
             | |
             | |   <- tang
             | |
              -     

The width, of course, would be sized appropriately for the mortis you're cleaning, so you don't foul up the end with the "ricasso" (not the right word, but I couldn't think of a better one) end of the tool. The benefit is that you could make this yourself with some barstock, a bench grinder, and a MAPP torch from the hardware store.

The scraping edges wouldn't be sharpened like a knife - that would risk digging into the mortis wall. Instead, the scraping edge is a full thickness edge, and you'd scrape with the corner of the edge.

The shape of this tool means that there won't be any flexing or bending from side to side, like you will get with 3mm-5mm square stock. I suspect that even a 5mm square stock will bend fairly quickly - or simply snap if it's hardened. That width is very small, and I'm not certain of it's ability to handle those loads.

If you do decide to make a tool like this (hell, I am, just to be sure I'm not talking out of my hindside), do youself a favor and use a high carbon steel so that it will hold an edge. Low-alloy steels like 1095 or O-1 would be a good material to use. Don't use the stuff available from the big-box home improvement stores. That stuff is all mild steel, and can't be hardened without carburization, and you don't want to get that complicated for a simple tool.

Hrm. Actually, this looks like a nifty idea. I think I will see if I can make one. Not that I recondition pipes other than my own collection, but it looks like a fun diversion for this weekend.

[JHowell]

I just deleted my initial post because I didn't notice the word "square." I'm incredibly stupid sometimes. Any time I need to make something like that, I look for square stock. McMaster-Carr has an excellent selection of tool steels in various stock sizes, and can be ordered precision ground so the edges will already be sharp, you just would need to cut it to length.

I think it's just www.mcmaster.com.

Hope that helps,

[JHowell]

Just looked at McMaster -- type in "steel" and select the square stuff. They don't seem to have mm stock, but you can get, say, 3/16" square stock, or 1/8". Comes in 18" lengths. My recommendation would be A2, because it is reasonably tough unhardened. It's finicky to harden for critical applications, but when you just want it a little harder than it is it's very easy, just heat it red hot with a torch and let it cool. That's not to argue with Kurt, who I'm sure knows more about steel than I do, just what I use for cutting and scraping tools. At any rate, you're better off buying stock, there's no sense in having it milled and I don't own a milling machine, anyway. Yet.

[jbacon]

hey LL

send trent rudat an e-mail trudat1970@netzero.com - he is also a machinst and makes pipe tooling -

items not on his web site are french wheels (he just started making them)

and he has the equipment to grind carbine tools and get them very sharp

jim bacon

[kkendall]

hey LL

send trent rudat an e-mail trudat1970@netzero.com - he is also a machinst and makes pipe tooling -

items not on his web site are french wheels (he just started making them)

and he has the equipment to grind carbine tools and get them very sharp

jim bacon

Ditto!

Call him (his phone number is on his web site http://www.briarpipetooling.com )

[ckr]

To clean inside a mortise I have a small dowel with a 1/2 inch slit in the end. I just shove a strip of 220 grit in it and chuck it up. Shove it in the mortise and turn it on and it acts like a mini flap sander. Also great to have when the mortise becomes too tight, but then maybe I just missed the fine points here.

[LatakiaLover]

ckr -- too much risk that would/could change the dimensions of the mortise itself and not just remove crud, I think. The sandpaper wouldn't "know" wood from crap.

Maybe the difference here is that a carver is working with 100% fresh wood, and a repairman... well... let's just say it gets ugly in there.

Anyway, the sharp square rods work great. No wood gets cut---the 90 degree angle just burnishes it after the gunk's out. Was asking because I managed to lose a set I made many years ago during a recent move. I've been using some thickish spring strap I found and honed a bit, but want my squares back (sniff, sniff)

Thanks for all the replies to this thread. Much appreciated. Answered my Q, and I learned some other stuff in the process.