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This is my first pipe. What is the best way for me to make the stummel flush with the stem. If I leave the stem on I'll scratch it up with the sand paper. If I take it off I might mess up the shape? Thoughts, concerns?

Thanks,
Miles

Leave it on and shape the stummel. You are going to sand the stem anyway when you finish it.

Maybe im missing something, but what is the point of sanding the stem? wont it scratch it all up? As you can tell im very new at this

The lower grits will scratch it up, sure. As with the briar, as you work up through the grits you will remove the scratches. The finish that comes on those acrylic preform stems is horrible anyway. Sand it good, at least to 600, and it will shine after you buff it.

what do i use for the buff on the stem? wax...etc

Take a look through "Finishing" section and you should be able to find most of the information and tools/buffing compounds to use.

the premade stem is not finished it is a rough blank, they need drilled to the proper airway diameter, and the button needs to be finished properly, remember while you are sanding the stem shank junction to give the stem a quarter turn every now and then to help keep everything round

oh man i didn't realize that with one of these briar kits that i would have to widen the stem airway

do you have a way of measuring it? they usually only come with about a .062 or .093 airway, you want to be closer to .150 I think thats right..LOL 9/32

No i don't. I just figures that the draft hole was the size it needs to be. Is the button the end of the stem. Didn't know you had to work on that either. So with these briar kits do I have to drill the chamber more and the mortise or whatever its called?

If you can't fit a 9/64" or 5/32" drill bit a fair ways into the stem, drill it out until you can. The rest of the drilling should be adequate if it was a pre-drilled kit.

Mtlayne wrote:No i don't. I just figures that the draft hole was the size it needs to be. Is the button the end of the stem. Didn't know you had to work on that either. So with these briar kits do I have to drill the chamber more and the mortise or whatever its called?

If you are making the pipe for yourself or to give it away, you can do as little or as much as you want on it. Treat it as a learning experience. If you are intending to sell it, I would suggest to research what is acceptable and good work on this forum. Study other pipes and do a lot of reading. It is always ok to ask us questions too.

Welcome to the forum.

Great advice! No I'm not gonna sell anything. Just doing this for fun and to relax after work.

So when I level out the stem with the stummel, how do I get the stem back to the original shine when i got it in the mail

scotties22 wrote:The lower grits will scratch it up, sure. As with the briar, as you work up through the grits you will remove the scratches. The finish that comes on those acrylic preform stems is horrible anyway. Sand it good, at least to 600, and it will shine after you buff it.

Scotties22 already told you how to do that. There is a lot of good information on this forum that you should check out.

Welcome to the forum!

Kiel

To get it back to the original shine, sand, sand, sand. I sand to 1000 or 2000 grit and then buff with tripoli and white diamond. By the time you get to 600 grit, start wet sanding. If you run into specific issues getting it shiny, look in the finishing techniques section of the forum and you'll probably find what you're looking for. The nice thing about this forum is that people of all skill levels ask questions, so you're likely to find an answer by searching.

If the pipe is just for yourself and you don't have access to all the tools everyone is insisting you use and you don't really want to spend the money right now just tape off the stem with some good blue masking tape or something and carefully get it as close as you can. It won't be perfect but it sounds like it will suit your purposes just fine.

I will have access to most of the tools. I just want to do it right the first time. I understand its gonna take long long time to get good. But i just don't want to skip over the basics. I appreciate the advice that i have received so far.