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Got this stem sanded to 600 and went to the flame to bend it. Came away with a little swell right where the airway is on part of the stem. I've encountered this before and just sanded it down with no issue. So I go to sanding with 600 to lower the swell to be even with the rest of the stem and it opens up into this hideous inclusion. It was speckled white and red and it was deep, but didn't penetrate the airway. So I grab a piece of 150 and start sanding away and hope that I'll be able to get it out without opening up the airway. Well, I almost had it out and whaddya know, the airway appears.

Here's an image of the inclusion with two little pinprick holes into the airway. When I first encountered the inclusion, it was a bit longer.



Anyone else ever see anything like this? This is the first time I've seen an inclusion. Worst part is the time lost. You all know how long it takes me to finish a pipe on average. Well this stem went quickly and it took me almost 7 hours to get to this point, which was just about ready to buff. A day's work lost. *sigh*

That so perfectly aligns with the hole, I suspect the red stuff you saw was burnt ebonite from drilling. Any chance of that?

PEBKAC

Tyler wrote:That so perfectly aligns with the hole, I suspect the red stuff you saw was burnt ebonite from drilling. Any chance of that?

Certainly, but I'm unsure how I would run into that at this stage. Also doesn't explain the white stuff that I saw mixed in. It looked a little like cobwebs. It's definitely a possibility, though. Could you elaborate on how this could be burnt ebonite from drilling?

Sasquatch wrote:PEBKAC

Sas is drunk again.

UberHuberMan wrote:Got this stem sanded to 600 and went to the flame to bend it. Came away with a little swell right where the airway is on part of the stem.

This tells me everything. This only happens when there is like .5mm of vulcanite left - you are too thin there. If it bulges and you sand if flat, you've thinned it more, and if the stem ever moves at all or is exposed to heat or cold it will shrink or bulge again. Don't make 'em that thin (or rather if you are gonna make them so, then drill differently).

You had a super thin spot, burnt it (because it heats up ultra fast compared to the rest), caused a discoloration, sanded into said airway to remove said discoloration.

PEBKAC.

I agree with the Squatch. Been there, done that.

Rad

Send it back to the supplier - tell them that you were sanding it and found a hole drilled right through the middle of the rod!

Sasquatch wrote:Send it back to the supplier - tell them that you were sanding it and found a hole drilled right through the middle of the rod!

That's the last time I use this supplier!

Sasquatch wrote:PEBKAC

My girlfriend informs me this means "Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair."

Nice.

I like her already!

Yep. Too thin. Good thing is its easily fixed with A NEW STEM!!

ok fine... maybe that's not an upside.

UberHuberMan wrote:

Sasquatch wrote:PEBKAC

My girlfriend informs me this means "Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair."

Nice.

Also known as KCI problems (which stands for Keyboard-Chair-Interface)

Feel good that it's your first time. I've seen it too many times...it's always on a saddle stem that I think wont look as good with a taper. I think I'm going to start cutting deeper slots to help avoid it.

I ran into the same problem with my first 3-4 feet of ebonite. yes I am that stupid.

Thanks guys. As much as it sucks when this happens, it's good to know I'm not the only one.

Massis wrote:

UberHuberMan wrote:

Sasquatch wrote:PEBKAC

My girlfriend informs me this means "Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair."

Nice.

Also known as KCI problems (which stands for Keyboard-Chair-Interface)

Lol! Considering how much time I spend on the internet, it's a wonder I hadn't heard either of these before.

Unfortunately, they're both apt in this situation. Seems like the solution may be to allow for a slightly slower taper from the flare to the button. I'm pretty sure this has been covered before, but...

Once the stem gets thin, it should taper from... 6mm to 3.5mm/4mm? I've been getting my stems pretty thin pretty fast. Tapering from 5mm after the flare to 3.5mm behind the button. I guess I just over did it on this one.

Your taper depends, as Micah hinted, on how deep your slot is and how thick your airway is. If the airway is only 1/16" high because it's actually slot 2" in.... great. If your slot is a half inch deep and it flares up to a 3/16" airway.... your stem is gonna be thicker, and what you do in that case is make the middle thick and keep the edges thin.

Sasquatch wrote:Your taper depends, as Micah hinted, on how deep your slot is and how thick your airway is. If the airway is only 1/16" high because it's actually slot 2" in.... great. If your slot is a half inch deep and it flares up to a 3/16" airway.... your stem is gonna be thicker, and what you do in that case is make the middle thick and keep the edges thin.

Thanks for the tip! Where the hole appeared is just before the beginning of the flare in the airway where the airway is about 1/16". In this case, I think I just got too thin on the bottom portion of the stem. No such issues on the top. On the next stem, I'll focus on keeping the middle more consistently thick on the top and bottom.

I've never had significant inclusions in ebonite but I have on acrylic and it was very annoying.

UberHuberMan wrote: It was speckled white and red and it was deep, but didn't penetrate the airway.

Oddly enough, I ran into the same thing a couple days ago... probably the same day you originally posted this. It was a small white-ish spot embedded in vulcanite, about the size of a large grain of sand. Really threw me for a loop. Fortunately, I had plenty of material left to remove, so I was far past it before reaching the final shape of the stem.