Sorry for the confusing thread title, but it's the situation.
The maker of the pipe made two significant alignment errors that would confound the repairman who replaced the stem's tenon when it broke several years later, and cause HIM to screw up the situation even worse.
Here is the top view of the original problem. (I should have taken a shot of the side view with the pin gauge as well---the mortise tilts "up" the same amount it goes sideways---but didn't notice it in the moment, because the shank has a Hawkbill component that is deceptive at first. It's doubtless what bit repairman #1)
How did repairman #1 exacerbate the problem? By sanding the shank face to try to compensate for the off-axis tenon:
Top view:
Side view:
Bottom view:
The resulting crooked, gappy mess finally drove the pipe's owner to get the entire stem re-made. One of those "It's a favorite pipe, but I rarely smoke it because seeing its problems kills my mood" situations.
The nasty part for repairman #2 (le moi) was after re-cutting the shank face to get a light-tight fit, the new stem had to be carved to COMPENSATE for both the sideways and upwards axis of the mortise.
The sideways component was relatively easy---just "let" the airway go where it wants to---but the upward component meant cutting everything straight, then bending the stem, then shaping it again AFTER it's bent.
Adding fuel to the fire was the original maker's "hawkbill shank arc" was uneven, requiring a choice to be made of which line to follow, or whether to "split the difference" between them. (The latter is what I ended up doing)
Anyway, here are some in-process shots for those of you who like shop stuff. (In case you find yourself wondering, the reason everything's white instead of orange-y brown is because the material is acrylic, not vulcanite.)
Further shaping after bending ---
Finito ---
The maker of the pipe made two significant alignment errors that would confound the repairman who replaced the stem's tenon when it broke several years later, and cause HIM to screw up the situation even worse.
Here is the top view of the original problem. (I should have taken a shot of the side view with the pin gauge as well---the mortise tilts "up" the same amount it goes sideways---but didn't notice it in the moment, because the shank has a Hawkbill component that is deceptive at first. It's doubtless what bit repairman #1)
How did repairman #1 exacerbate the problem? By sanding the shank face to try to compensate for the off-axis tenon:
Top view:
Side view:
Bottom view:
The resulting crooked, gappy mess finally drove the pipe's owner to get the entire stem re-made. One of those "It's a favorite pipe, but I rarely smoke it because seeing its problems kills my mood" situations.
The nasty part for repairman #2 (le moi) was after re-cutting the shank face to get a light-tight fit, the new stem had to be carved to COMPENSATE for both the sideways and upwards axis of the mortise.
The sideways component was relatively easy---just "let" the airway go where it wants to---but the upward component meant cutting everything straight, then bending the stem, then shaping it again AFTER it's bent.
Adding fuel to the fire was the original maker's "hawkbill shank arc" was uneven, requiring a choice to be made of which line to follow, or whether to "split the difference" between them. (The latter is what I ended up doing)
Anyway, here are some in-process shots for those of you who like shop stuff. (In case you find yourself wondering, the reason everything's white instead of orange-y brown is because the material is acrylic, not vulcanite.)
Further shaping after bending ---
Finito ---
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