Newbie Question About Customizing a Pipe

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scribe16

Lurker
Aug 7, 2017
4
0
Greetings,

I'm new to pipe smoking (about 1 month now). I prefer longer, curved pipes like churchwardens as I find it better to have the bowl down and away from my face. I recently purchased a Tsuge 551 bent egg sitter with a bamboo shank and would like to put a 6" or 8" vulcanite churchwarden stem on it. However, the hole for pipe's tenon is tapered (military tenon I think it's called).

I have the technical skills to taper the tenon on the stem which is expensive but no so much that if I messed up I would hate myself forever whereas If I tried to ream out the tenon hole on the shank and messed it up.....well, I don't want to think about that.
So my question is: Considering that I want the stem face to meet flush with the shank face, and that the pipe is a bent pipe; how solidly would a tapered tenon hold or should I instead have a professional pipe repair person ream out the shank to fit a stem with a push tenon. Basically, I'm afraid that if the tenon is tapered and the faces are flush, then the pipe might fall off the stem while smoking.
Right now I'm just taking my time breaking the pipe in with some nice hand rubbed Virginia flake.

 

jpmcwjr

Lifer
May 12, 2015
26,264
30,363
Carmel Valley, CA
Some photos would help others trying to assist you.
Once your photos are on a photo hosting site (such as Imgur.com; Photobucket; Postimage; Dropbox, etc.), or on virtually any site, select the full image, then Control-click (Mac) or Right-click (Windows) on the image itself, then choose copy image location. Now paste that URL (the full web address, which should end in .jpg) into the IMG box in the reply window of the thread you're posting to.

 

saintpeter

Lifer
May 20, 2017
1,158
2,636
Were it me, I would have a professional make a replacement stem for the pipe.
Definitely. That seems like a bit of a higher end pipe to learn on if you have only been around pipes a month or so.

 

bassbug

Lifer
Dec 29, 2016
1,176
1,150
It sounds like you have some experience in woodwork and the ability to do it, so even practising on some hardwood would probably give you a better idea of how to approach it and succeed.
I'd love to see and hear about your results.

 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
6,164
17,067
So my question is: Considering that I want the stem face to meet flush with the shank face, and that the pipe is a bent pipe; how solidly would a tapered tenon hold or should I instead have a professional pipe repair person ream out the shank to fit a stem with a push tenon. Basically, I'm afraid that if the tenon is tapered and the faces are flush, then the pipe might fall off the stem while smoking.
Lots of landmines await down either path.
Something that will (hopefully) give you pause is that quite a few seasoned, professional pipe makers choose to use Delrin inserts rather than deal with the difficulties & hazards of achieving a reliably good integral tenon to mortise fit.

 

scribe16

Lurker
Aug 7, 2017
4
0
"Were it me, I would have a professional make a replacement stem for the pipe"
Any recommendations for someone to do this kind of work?
"That seems like a bit of a higher end pipe to learn on if you have only been around pipes a month or so"
Yes, it is. Currently I'm smoking with a long, dutch clay pipe and I also have a Butz-Choquin Petite Churchwarden which I love for it's elegant shape and light weight but the bowl is too small for long, evening sessions.

The Gouda pipe stinks...literally, It smells like an ashtray after one smoke and I have to keep it in the space between the screen and window or it smells up the room. My briar pipes always smell nice as long as I clean them once a day (depending on wether or not I smoked out of them).
I'll try to post some pictures soon.

 

scribe16

Lurker
Aug 7, 2017
4
0
Something that will (hopefully) give you pause is that quite a few seasoned, professional pipe makers choose to use Delrin inserts rather than deal with the difficulties & hazards of achieving a reliably good integral tenon to mortise fit.
So I could potentially alter the geometry of 1 or more inexpensive inserts rather than risk customizing an entire stem?

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
46
I would PM the fellow who posted above you, George D, and see if he might be interested in fabricating said stem. I hear he dabbles in pipes. :wink:

 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
6,164
17,067
So I could potentially alter the geometry of 1 or more inexpensive inserts rather than risk customizing an entire stem?
No. What you think I meant isn't the case at all.
The subject of stem/summel attachment methods & achieving proper fit is too involved to explain / describe on a forum like this, I'm afraid. For me, anyway.
Maybe someone else will give it a shot. :D

 

scribe16

Lurker
Aug 7, 2017
4
0
Sorry about the bad quality:
Here's the pipe:
36263360732_1b36a9332d_z.jpg

Here's the shank and current stem:
36263360562_10226d54bf_b.jpg

My petite churchwarden...
36263360412_c55bbf48f6_b.jpg

What I'm trying to achieve but with a longer stem (and one that fits):
36263360312_b2da629789_b.jpg


 
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