Dovetail in ebonite??

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Bobostro61

Bobostro61

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I was sanding away at a piece of German ebonite ( from PME ) for a a new pipe I'm in the process of making and ran in to what looks like a dovetail joining two pieces of ebonite together.  Didn't expect this at all!  Anyone ever see anything like this before??


 
OH CRAP!!!!  I JUST REALIZED WHAT IT IS!!  I just sanded into the delrin rod for the tenon.  F---!!!!
 
The design of the pipe was with a longer shank, and a short stem. 
Oh well, its my first try at making a stem.  Back to the drawing board!

 
As they say "... learn by doing " ! You weren't happy with that stem anyway and wanted to make another :twisted:
 
Perfection is attained only by hard study and constant practice.
(Quoting a dead uncle that was a machinist extraordinaire)
 
I knew exactly what that was as soon as I saw the picture... I will not explain how I knew this, only that I knew :(

rev
 
I knew it too, and I'll explain why! :p I've got a veritable graveyard of stems that look just like that. Boy it sucks to see that delrin.

Here are a few things that will help you avoid this:

1. only sink your delrin 1/4" into the stem.
2. when cutting a saddle on your stem, be sure to measure a little past that 1/4" mark before you start cutting.
 
Yup, major "duh" factor!  Well, I went ahead and finished using that messed up stem anyway.  Stained a base coat of black, sanded it off, and then a coat of purple.  Yes...  PURPLE!  Came out OK I guess.  Not my best but it will do. 
Here's the pics:











 
i just did that to a stem on the poker i'm making that is taking entirely too long to finish. made me sad, but hopefully i won't be doing that again!
 
Hey, you took the egg on your face graciously, Bobo, and it taught me something.  I didn't know what it was until you figured it out.   :lol: 

Keep up the learnin', brother. 

8)
 
I've got to admit, as unfortunate as this is, it made me laugh. Live and learn, I guess. It's still a great looking pipe.
 
That sucks man. Stem practice is always a good thing, so hopefully you can see it as a learning experience.

And, I've got a full proof way of making sure you don't EVER run into this again. Skip the delrin and go with integral tenons :D I know, to each is own, and everyone has their reasons for using delrin. But if you don't use it, you don't have to avoid it. 

Anyway, you'll make the next one even better!
 
Hear hear.  As someone with a few pipes that I discovered used two-piece pipe stems, there's been some airflow issues with delrin tenons that didn't seat very well with the rest of the stem.   Not sure if they drilled them independent of one another, but whatever happened, it was noticeable (Brebbia being one where I love their pipes, but I HATE their stemwork). 

One-piece stems all day long for my preference.  :D
 
all stem mistakes aside, it's a pretty sweet looking pipe :cheers: I like the coloring
 
Etch along the lines, put your initials inside. Smear some paint in the etching.  Shazam!  Logo'd stem.
 
Thank you for all the good replies.  After all my duh moments, it turned out just fine.  Smoked the a break-in bowl (1/2 bowl of Sweet Kilarney) out of it yesterday.  Excellent  smoker.  Got the airway nice and open and not a gurgle through the whole thing.  Think I'm going to have to open up the airways on all my premade stems.  Thanks again!  More to come soon!
 
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