Need help with a broken tenon stuck in the mortise

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deleon

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 7, 2011
661
216
Texas
An Ebay seller hustled me a awhile ago. He knowingly sold a pipe with a broken stem that he glue and stuck a coffee straw in the airway of the stem. I found out when I was cleaning the pipe and it broke off. When I emailed the guy he said he knew nothing about it but offered half a refund, when I accepted he did nothing. So now I'm stuck with a broken tenon stuck in the mortise. Can anyone help in showing me how to remove the broken piece and may repair the stem correctly.
BrokenNapoli.jpg


 

hobie1dog

Lifer
Jun 5, 2010
6,888
233
67
Cornelius, NC
That's just wrong. There are some great repair guys on here that should be able to tell you exactly how to get them out.
Makes you want to always see a picture of the stem pulled out by itself before buying online.

 

ejames

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
3,916
22
You can sometimes use a wood or sheet metal screw that is a tad bit bigger than the hole in the tenon. Screw it in and use use pliers to pull on the screw--carefully--pull straight out. You can also drill it out by stages until there is just a thin shell left in the mortize, you should be able to slip a knife blade or very thin screwdriver blade in between the briar and the tenon and break it out, Or drill it out and take a small (coping saw etc) saw blade and carefully cut though the tenon in a couple of places and it should pope right out.

 

yohanan

Lifer
Oct 1, 2011
2,120
4,003
Old Belt/U.S.A.
You could take a drywall screw and gently screw it into pipe stem that is broken off in the pipe and then stick it in the freezer for about 5 to 10 minutes, after removing from the freezer, pull on the drywall screw and see if the broken stem will pull free. This procedure has worked for me.

 

mluyckx

Lifer
Dec 5, 2011
1,958
3
Texas
+1 on the screw / freezer trick.
If not, Tim West is probably one of the best pipe repair guys I know of and have done business with. To give you an idea of a pipe repair he did for me, here's the thread with lots of pics

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/wow-jh-lowe-tim-west-rocks
Their website is: http://www.jhlowe.com/
Good luck

 

wayneteipen

Can't Leave
May 7, 2012
473
221
I use a drywall screw also. It grabs nicely but doesn't expand the tenon and make it more tight. The freezer idea is a good one. I haven't tried that in the past. I haven't had to but it's a good safety measure anyway. Good luck and sorry you got the shaft.

 

locopony

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 7, 2011
710
3
If it is stuck in because the glue you can use a small reamer bit and carefully ream the plastic tenon away from the wood. If you have too much trouble you can send it to me and I will get it out for ya, and send it back. I have lots of fun tools for such occassions.

 

deleon

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 7, 2011
661
216
Texas
Thanks again everyone! Hey locopony if i can't get the piece out I will definitely get in touch with you for the repairs and pricing! Thanks again.

 

hobie1dog

Lifer
Jun 5, 2010
6,888
233
67
Cornelius, NC
Could you use a penetrating product like "Kroil"? It supposedly goes into a crack a millionth of an inch wide. I used it in the Mechanical trades to get things "unstuck".
And an "Easy Out" bit used to get broken studs out with would work great too.

 

pipemaker

Lurker
Mar 6, 2010
49
0
you will need a new tenon ata minimum or you can replace the whole stem I'd be happy to do it for you

Bob Clark www.clarkpipes.com

 

deleon

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 7, 2011
661
216
Texas
I was able to remove the broken piece with the help of a drywall screw! Thanks again everyone for the advice, now to decide whether I should get the broken stem fixed or just buy a new one. @pipemaker I might be contacting you soon.

 

kf4bsb

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 23, 2013
166
0
There are a lot of good repair people on here. If I can be of assistance, let me know. http://www.rebuiltbriars.com

 

buroak

Lifer
Jul 29, 2014
1,867
14
This thread was very useful in helping me deal with two pipes that had broken off tenons stuck in the mortises. The screw method worked for one tenon, though I used a deck screw like the one shown in this Rebornbriars article. Also, I used a slightly different technique. I turned in the screw until it had good grip but was not very far into the tenon. I then placed the stummel into my freezer for a few minutes. After retrieving the stummel I gripped the screw head with pliers and twisted clockwise while steadily (and gently) pulling the tenon out. This worked like a charm.
The second tenon was a different matter. The technique that worked so well on the first tenon got me nowhere with the second. The suggestion by ejames to use a coping saw to cut through the tenon gave me an idea and kept me from despair. I used a coping saw blade to cut a slot into the tenon, periodically applying Everclear around the tenon. When I had a well-defined slot I inserted a small slot screwdriver and turned clockwise while subtly working the tenon out of the mortise. I do not know if the Everclear loosened the gunk seizing the tenon, but the tenon came out easily with the turning of the screwdriver.
My thanks to ejames and the other contributors to this thread - may it be useful for another two years!

 

buroak

Lifer
Jul 29, 2014
1,867
14
By the way, my experience has me wondering whether better quality vulcanite/stem work makes this kind of tenon removal easier. One of the pipes I was working on was from a better English maker. The other was a Yello Bole, a line of pipes that have good stems, but probably not the most fastidious stem work.

 

buroak

Lifer
Jul 29, 2014
1,867
14
baronsamedi, I plan to get a pre-molded stem made by Walker. If the pipe is a great smoker, I may someday spring for a hand cut replacement stem from Walker.

 
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