Fitting Stem Blanks

[olewaylon]

I'm working on a pipe restoration and my last step is fitting a stem blank with the rest of the pipe. After receiving the blanks today and examining the pipes shank I've realized this is going to be harder than I was expecting. Is it possible to do this without a Tenon turning tool?
I received 5 cheap blanks from Ebay so i wasn't too worried about ruining them. I tried sanding the tenon by hand but can not get it to fit snug at all.
Any advice is appreciated.

 

[kashmir]

I've used a tenon turning tool before. Here's a few links that may be helpful.
http://www.pimopipecraft.com/tools.html
http://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/comparing-pimo-and-pme-tenon-turning-tools/
Lots of good info on pipe maker's forums too. See:
http://www.pipemakersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25

 

[snagstangl]

So when you say you cant get them to fit tight at all, do you mean the tenon in the mortise or end of shank and the stem after the tenon? If it is the tenon that you over sanded, go slow. If you do remove to much then you can heat up the tenon a bit with a lighter or some other flame and push the tenon down on a table, squarely and you can smash it out a bit to make it fit. If it is between the stem and shank, I haven't successfully done that. I have read that putting sand paper on either side of a standard washer you would get at say Menards and slowly turn it betwen the two pieces, checking often until you get a tight fit. I have hand filed and sanded a half a dozen into shape that way.

 

[olewaylon]

I mean the tenon and the mortise. I sanded the tenon unevenly so there are plenty of places for air to pass through. By hand I wasn't able to get the sandpaper close enough to where the tenon meets the stem. Thats interesting your technique with the washer and sandpaper but I don't fully understand how it works. Can you show me a picture of that type of rig in use?

 

[snagstangl]

I haven't done it yet so no pictures of the rig yet.

 

[eaglerico]

Look at the pipe makers forum that kashmir linked above. You have to sign up for a membership before you can see the good stuff. But once you do it is amazing the info there. There are links to some great videos there showing how to make a stem without a tenon cutting tool. Mostly a lot of careful work with a band saw.
Another way is to cut the tennon off flush. Drill a mortise into the stem and glue in a piece of derline rod that is the same diamter of your mortise. That is what a lot of current pipe atisans due. It is difficult to cut a stem and tennon out of one piece, plus the derlin is less likely to get stuck inside a pipe.

 

[ejames]

Not only does the tenon need to be turned to size,the stem needs to be faced-the end of the stem needs to be perfectly square (perpendicular) with the tenon,otherwise you will have gap.

Delrin is good stuff,but may not be the correct OD to fit your mortise,it to may need to be turned to the correct diameter,or the mortise drilled out to the size of the delrin. Delrin is not easy to work.Requires sharp tools and is hard to sand. You can buy pre-drilled delrin tenons in a limited number of sizes.Tim West carries some. Delrin rod needs to be drilled and requires locking grooves cut into it to give the epoxy something to grip. Epoxy and Superglue will not stick to it.

 

[olewaylon]

Thanks for the advice. Ill be spending some time reading up