Why I like repair & refurb work

[LatakiaLover]

This stummel was found as-is, without a stem and with a mangled, cheap, decorative band clinging to the shank. (removed that before I thought to take a pic. You can see where it was, though)

What makes it cool is it was made in France during the 1930's. A small batch of them found their way to NYC in the early 1950's that were dimensionally identical to the ultra rare & expensive Dunhill LC. (today, nice specimens of those fetch $1500 to $2200) All the Dunnie experts are reasonably certain that the bowls which found their way to the US are ones that Dunhill passed on. That they "cherry picked" the French factory's output, but the rejects weren't thrown away.

The airway in the shank is curved, by the way, which is why they're comfortably certain that they aren't knock-offs, but the real deal. Few factories then (or today, for that matter) have ever figured out how to do that.

Anyhow, it was structurally sound, but otherwise a gunky & stunk up mess. The shank face was also off-square. (I hate it when that happens )

To keep things authentic, I patterned the new stem's contour and profile off a 1924 shape 120 from my own collection, and matched the honey/walnut finish with a 1930's-era Root Briar I also had laying around.

Result? The stummel's owner now has a "back door" LC in effectively new condition for the price of a mid-line Peterson. Plus, a helluva story to go with it.

[Tyler]

Wow, very nice!

[wisemanpipes]

you did it justice for sure. heck of a pipe from way back.
now you gotta do that video on how you resquare the shank for a new stem.
I have about 6 beautiful older pipes that I want to refurb myself but don't know what to do to resquare and fit the stem, sans gap.
try'd a forsner bit one time and half the shank cracked off. what a lapse in judgement
George, Id love to see some before and after photos of the best diamond in the rough pipes you've refurbed.
-evan

[The Smoking Yeti]

you did it justice for sure. heck of a pipe from way back.
now you gotta do that video on how you resquare the shank for a new stem.
I have about 6 beautiful older pipes that I want to refurb myself but don't know what to do to resquare and fit the stem, sans gap.
try'd a forsner bit one time and half the shank cracked off. what a lapse in judgement
George, Id love to see some before and after photos of the best diamond in the rough pipes you've refurbed.
-evan

If you have a metal lathe it's super easy.

[LatakiaLover]

you did it justice for sure. heck of a pipe from way back.
now you gotta do that video on how you resquare the shank for a new stem.
I have about 6 beautiful older pipes that I want to refurb myself but don't know what to do to resquare and fit the stem, sans gap.
try'd a forsner bit one time and half the shank cracked off. what a lapse in judgement
George, Id love to see some before and after photos of the best diamond in the rough pipes you've refurbed.
-evan

If you have a metal lathe it's super easy.

Easy to spin-n-cut, not so easy to chuck the work so the cut is at right angles to the axis of the existing mortise within a ten-thousandth or so.

Unless we're talking about different things.

[Tyler]

you did it justice for sure. heck of a pipe from way back.
now you gotta do that video on how you resquare the shank for a new stem.
I have about 6 beautiful older pipes that I want to refurb myself but don't know what to do to resquare and fit the stem, sans gap.
try'd a forsner bit one time and half the shank cracked off. what a lapse in judgement
George, Id love to see some before and after photos of the best diamond in the rough pipes you've refurbed.
-evan

If you have a metal lathe it's super easy.

Easy to spin-n-cut, not so easy to chuck the work so the cut is at right angles to the axis of the existing mortise within a ten-thousandth or so.

Unless we're talking about different things.

Actually, it is really easy. Search, "Pin gauge".

[LatakiaLover]

Actually, it is really easy. Search, "Pin gauge".

I understand the pin gauge/runout exercise, it's securely chucking a stummel that's already been shaped into a pipe that's the challenge.

[Rodneywt1180b]

Beautiful restoration on the pipe. The pipe looks good without it and you would never know it used to have one but why did you decide not to replace the band?
Rodney

[LatakiaLover]

now you gotta do that video on how you resquare the shank for a new stem.
I have about 6 beautiful older pipes that I want to refurb myself but don't know what to do to resquare and fit the stem, sans gap.
try'd a forsner bit one time and half the shank cracked off. what a lapse in judgement

I actually have a kludged device that faces shanks squarely, but rarely use it.

After years of practice I can do it faster by hand with a sheet of 240 or 400 depending on how much material has to come off, a flat surface at desk height, and sitting in a relaxed, balanced position. Switch to 600 when it gets close.

It's all about the feel. How you hold the stummel is critical to avoid chatter, but there are no "secrets." Taping me doing it would show nothing but a guy dragging a shank-end on sandpaper.

George, Id love to see some before and after photos of the best diamond in the rough pipes you've refurbed.

I used to have a ton of them because I always send finished pics to customers for approval before we settle up. A trashed computer sixed those, though. And since getting back to it (I almost died twice in the past 2.5 years, plus moved the shop a thousand miles), I've only been shooting the afters for some reason, not the befores. I guess I should start doing it again since there's some interest here on PF.

[pipedreamer]

I would like to be better at repairs, so what doesn't kill me, will make me better all around. Something I tried and it worked was to find a pin gage that fit the shank, then take a piece of hardwood and drill it larger than the pin.the block of wood has 600 grit glued to it. I chuck the pin in a 2 jaw pen chuck and spin it as slow as my lathe will go. If you drill it right you will have little play and it will square it up. comes out quite smooth, with a light touch. The pin gives me the true center of the shank.

[wdteipen]

Most guys chuck the pin gauge for the mortise in their headstock and let the stummel spin as slow as their lathe will go while facing the shank end. That's how i do it anyway and it works well.

[pipedreamer]

I will learn to write someday.This is what I'm doing Wayne. Just have the block with sand paper around the pin. Also using a small chuck with jaws to save some time. Well, trying to be efficient anyway.

[LatakiaLover]

Most guys chuck the pin gauge for the mortise in their headstock and let the stummel spin as slow as their lathe will go while facing the shank end. That's how i do it anyway and it works well.

Ah. Switch it around and use paper, not a cutter. Got it. (Told you I'm not a lathe guy) That way describes the "kludged device" I mentioned earlier.

For repair work, a comprehensive pin gauge set would have to be HUGE, though, because there's no standard mortise diameter. No two used pipes are alike, in fact. As a maker, you can stick to S, M, L, and XL for everything you make, and you're home.

Another, even bigger problem is that mortises on used pipes usually aren't cylindrical any longer. Cycling heat and humidity, variable wall thickness, and years of constant pressure changes their shape. Usually into something conical, but I've also seen jugs, and occasionally eggs or hourglasses. Dealing with that is why I normally just say fukkit and square shanks by hand, anymore. The pin gauge approach doesn't work when it wags like a dog's tail in the mortise (tight at the bottom, loose at the top). Another example of the sort of gotcha that makes this true: http://talbertpipes.blogspot.com/2012/0 ... 6504225223

So, there's the root cause of your frustration, wisemanpipes. Repair work and making new pipes are entirely different animals, and you've been trying to mix them.

[LatakiaLover]

The pipe looks good without it and you would never know it used to have one but why did you decide not to replace the band?
Rodney

I didn't decide, the owner did. The shank was fine---no cracks---and none of the original LC's had a band, so he said nyet.

[e Markle]

Ah. Switch it around and use paper, not a cutter. Got it.

mmm... one of us is not understanding this thread, but I can't say if it's you or me at this point. I use a lathe tool to do this - much more precise than sandpaper. As far as I know, this is no different than the facing process for drilling after shaping (on flush fit stems), and to the best of my knowledge everyone uses a lathe tool to do this.

To be honest, while it's much more convenient to do this with pin gauges, you can achieve the same result with any rigid material you can turn down to the appropriate diameter.

Apologies if I'm not keeping up here.

[The Smoking Yeti]

Ah. Switch it around and use paper, not a cutter. Got it.

mmm... one of us is not understanding this thread, but I can't say if it's you or me at this point. I use a lathe tool to do this - much more precise than sandpaper. As far as I know, this is no different than the facing process for drilling after shaping (on flush fit stems), and to the best of my knowledge everyone uses a lathe tool to do this.

To be honest, while it's much more convenient to do this with pin gauges, you can achieve the same result with any rigid material you can turn down to the appropriate diameter.

Apologies if I'm not keeping up here.

I think I was thinking the same thing as Ernie- HSS rod of the proper diameter works great. Stick the mortise on it, fire up the lathe, tiny cut, TADA!

[pipedreamer]

You are right about the pin gages. I have a chest of them in order to function. I use sand paper,habit from many years sans lathe. With a metal lathe it is simple. Yes, I have done the same on a wood lathe. The learning curve is much different. The bottom line is I have many different ways to solve a problem, This opens up the ability as SAS says to think outside the box.Thanks for your precious time. I appreciate it. Looking forward to any tid bits , you wish to share.