Following up on this old post. I am excited that this beautiful old Chacom straight grain is back in action. George did an amazing job of shortening the shank and remounting the stem- now I have an awesome stubby billiard
How Would You Repair This Stem? (an ISPD Tragedy)
- Thread starter hiplainsdrifter
- Start date
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Nice, not stubby by my specs, but that's a great save. I have a couple of pipes in with George and I'm even more excited now.
Great looking repair by George.
Since it is a short Canadian, it could be nicknamed Rick Moranis :lol:
Since it is a short Canadian, it could be nicknamed Rick Moranis :lol:
I've never seen work by George that wasn't invisible. He's a remarkably talented guy and that's why people entrust some pretty expensive pipes to his care. Not to mention his workmanship far exceeds the prices he charges. I would never go to anyone else for a repair.
George really out did himself with your pipe save, Josh. Rick Moranis might be a good name for the pipe, but Stubby is another one that works.
I just now caught this thread.
Some of you are probably wondering why the shank ended up being shortened instead of banded (which was my first suggestion and was attempted).
It goes like this: Contrary to what they look like at any distance, repair bands are actually slightly conical. It's necessary for two primary reasons: the physics of application & mounting, and that's how most pipe shanks are also shaped (it's an artifact of stem/shank leveling).
The shank on Mr. Drifter's pipe, though, had no taper at all. The only way to band it was to fabricate a parallel-sided band that would be a "slip fit", and glue it in place. For both strength and aesthetic reasons, it would also have to be countersunk. Meaning the wood's contact area would have to be uniformly lowered/relieved by hand exactly where the band would go.
And... the only way to make such a band would be to either cast it, jeweler-style, or chase it from a piece of sterling silver tubing. (Either option a fair project in its own right)
I didn't have the equipment for the former, tried the latter, and finally gave up. (Hammer-shaping a 1" long, oval cross-section, parallel-sided band on a circular-cross-section, tapered ring mandrel is madness, I discovered. Don't tell Cosmic I even tried... he'll laugh me off the board.)
So, the backup plan was shortening the shank. Easier, but no cakewalk. Drilling accurate (i.e. axially aligned) holes in irregularly shaped objects and achieving a glide-smooth, dead-flush fit in three dimensions---with do-overs not an option---is why most pipe repairmen have gray hair, I think. :lol:
The pipe was an exceptional specimen worth going to the mat for, though. The overall end result is better than I expected, too. In hand, it doesn't look or feel out of balance at all, it's simply an oval-shanked Lovat. If someone didn't know the pipe was originally a Canadian, they wouldn't be able to tell.
And finally, thanks for the many kind words, gents. Especially Mr. Drifter. After doing a glue-up prep step using epoxy, I set the pipe on a shelf to cure, dived into another project, and completely spaced it. The guy is so ridiculously polite that he didn't ping me for a progress report for two months. :?
Some of you are probably wondering why the shank ended up being shortened instead of banded (which was my first suggestion and was attempted).
It goes like this: Contrary to what they look like at any distance, repair bands are actually slightly conical. It's necessary for two primary reasons: the physics of application & mounting, and that's how most pipe shanks are also shaped (it's an artifact of stem/shank leveling).
The shank on Mr. Drifter's pipe, though, had no taper at all. The only way to band it was to fabricate a parallel-sided band that would be a "slip fit", and glue it in place. For both strength and aesthetic reasons, it would also have to be countersunk. Meaning the wood's contact area would have to be uniformly lowered/relieved by hand exactly where the band would go.
And... the only way to make such a band would be to either cast it, jeweler-style, or chase it from a piece of sterling silver tubing. (Either option a fair project in its own right)
I didn't have the equipment for the former, tried the latter, and finally gave up. (Hammer-shaping a 1" long, oval cross-section, parallel-sided band on a circular-cross-section, tapered ring mandrel is madness, I discovered. Don't tell Cosmic I even tried... he'll laugh me off the board.)
So, the backup plan was shortening the shank. Easier, but no cakewalk. Drilling accurate (i.e. axially aligned) holes in irregularly shaped objects and achieving a glide-smooth, dead-flush fit in three dimensions---with do-overs not an option---is why most pipe repairmen have gray hair, I think. :lol:
The pipe was an exceptional specimen worth going to the mat for, though. The overall end result is better than I expected, too. In hand, it doesn't look or feel out of balance at all, it's simply an oval-shanked Lovat. If someone didn't know the pipe was originally a Canadian, they wouldn't be able to tell.
And finally, thanks for the many kind words, gents. Especially Mr. Drifter. After doing a glue-up prep step using epoxy, I set the pipe on a shelf to cure, dived into another project, and completely spaced it. The guy is so ridiculously polite that he didn't ping me for a progress report for two months. :?
Very cool! I learned something new "puzzle break" and I hope to never have to use that term again.
As my old wood shop teacher used to say "it looks like it growed that way". Nice job Mr. Dibos!
As my old wood shop teacher used to say "it looks like it growed that way". Nice job Mr. Dibos!
My first thought: send to George. He will summon the power of the gods and a few weeks later, you get a brand new looking pipe.
I guess that was your idea too.
That is Georgeous. ( correct spelling under the circumstances.)
I guess that was your idea too.
That is Georgeous. ( correct spelling under the circumstances.)
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