Repairing Meershaum Stem
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 8:38 pm
A friend asked me to fix a stem on an old Meer. Streight-forward job except I have never worked with Meer. It's a push tenon, the mortice walls are slightly under 1/8" thick and it appears it has always had a push tenon. No indication it ever had the normal, for Meers, kind of screw in stem. The tenon is way small for the mortice, no chance of making it fit. I will do a new tenon out of Delrin. The problem is, how strong are the mortice walls? Slightly under 1/8" with briar would mean the tenon couldn't fit very tight or it might crack. How much different is Meer in strength? Is it about the same as briar or do I need to be extra careful? bob gilbert