Fitting a pipe with a new stem – photo essay

Blog by Steve Laug

I picked up this pipe bowl – a Pete 207 – an early Peterson from the late 40s. It was in need of a stem. I have a couple of cans of stems that are precast blanks. They need to have the tenons turned to make them fit correctly.

I have a PIMO tenon turning tool like the one pictured in the diagram below. I have to drill the stems to fit the guide pin as they are generally very small. Once that is done with a bit on my cordless drill I then put it on the tenon tool and adjust the carbide cutter to the diameter tenon I want to cut. I always start large and work my way down. I have found that trying to cut too much off at once causes the tenon to chip or break. So I start large and work my way down until it fits the mortise. I found this YouTube link that gives a video presentation of the process so I have included that as well for your information http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drKxzteEEPk A quick look at the video will show you the process I use in turning the tenons. I generally turn the tenon until it is close to fitting and then finish the fit by hand. I have found it is better to proceed by hand from that point so as I don’t take off too much of the vulcanite and have a loose fit on the tenon. I will show that process from the point the tenon has been fit in this pictorial essay.

Below is a stem blank that I picked up online from Pipe Makers Emporium. I have several coffee cans full of different sizes of blanks. I sort through them to find one that is close to the outside diameter of the shank. I find that it is not too difficult to get the two to match with a lot of sanding and fine work.

Below is a picture of the bowl prepped and ready for the new stem. I cleaned the top and polished the silver band as I want nothing in the way of a tight fit for the stem. You will also notice in the photo that the tenon is partially turned for a fit. I stopped at this point to show the process. The large portion still remaining on the tenon shows the first turn of the tool to take off the first portion of vulcanite. I keep the tool turning so that the carbide blade removes the face of the stem as well so that the seat will be straight and flush at the union of stem and shank. I find that when I do this at the beginning of the turn it give a good clean finish. The step down in the tenon shows the next portion removed. I have adjusted the tool to take off that portion. After this photo I finished turning the tenon.

The PIMO tenon tool took a bit of work for me to figure out the adjustments as I purchased the tool second hand without the instructions. The fellow I bought it from gave me some quick lessons on how to adjust it. He even threw in the hex keys!! So needless to say, I learned by trial and error how to adjust the cutting head and keep it straight for a straight cylinder cut on the tenon. Since then I have it has been pointed out to me that Kurt Huhn of Pipe Makers Forums has noted the tricks I learned the hard way.

I will try to capture the trick in my own words, combining what I have learned the hard way with Kurt’s recommendations. The first step in the process is to adjust the cutting head. Start by removing small portions at a time. To deep a cut makes the cutter wobble and give an uneven tenon. To adjust the cutting head insert the adjustment hex key (larger hex screw on the tool) and the lock key (smaller hex screw) into their set screws. Do not turn them, just insert them. Push in lightly on the adjusting key and pull up slightly. Loosen the lock key a quarter or half turn. While maintaining the up and in pressure on the adjusting key turn it in increments of a half turn (think half hour on a clock). With steady pressure on it by pulling it up, the arm with the carbide cutting head is not loose and wiggling as it is adjusted. If it is loose while adjusting it, you will get non-cylindrical tenons regardless of the number of turns from zero. Do not let go of the adjusting key, tighten the lock key while the pressure remains on the adjusting key. Pull the adjusting key straight out, being careful not to turn or press down on it. Trim the stem and repeat as you need to get a good tight fit on the tenon.

The next sequence of photos shows the tenon finished and the fit clean and tight. I hold it up to the light to make sure that there is no light showing between the stem and shank. Also note the Dremel with the sanding drum in the photo. I use that to bring the outside diameter of the stem to a close match to the shank. I run the Dremel at the middle speed to allow me more control of the tip as I take off material. If I run it too fast I find that it takes off too much. Too slow and it leaves a chunky beat up finish that takes a lot of sanding to smooth out. As can be seen from the photos there is not much material that needs to be removed for a smooth fit.

In the photos above I have used the Dremel and removed material to the point that the stem and the shank are almost level. I did it in stages with the stem on the shank and rotating the pipe to keep the perspective round and even. Once I got it to the stage above I move to my table and continue the rest of the work by hand. Sand paper in a variety of grades starting with 180 allows me to work the remainder of the material off and to get the scratches and grooves from the Dremel worked out of the stem.

Each of the next seven photos shows the progress of the stem toward the finished product with the different sand papers. Once I have removed the majority of scratches and grooves left by the Dremel with the 180 grit (pictures 1 &2) I move on to using 220 grit and 240 grit to take down more material. Care must be exercised to not scratch the band or the shank. The idea is to leave the shank exactly like it was without scratches or marks (pictures 3,4,5).

Pictures 6, 7 & 8 show the stem after using 1600 grit wet dry sandpaper. Each sanding step removes more material and evens the flow of the stem to shank. It also removes scratches and prepares the stem for the finish sanding.

The last four pictures show the pipe after sanding with micromesh pads – 1800, 2400 and 4000 grit. Generally each of the pads progressively polishes the stem. Any places that still show scratches send the stem back to the 600 wet dry sanding or even further depending on the depth of the scratches. When the polish is clean and smooth I take the stems to my buffer and buff with white diamond that raises a deep reflective finish on the stems.

My Wife Says that I am a Scavenger…

Looking at the picture below, you might agree with her and think that I have lost whatever was left of what few brain cells that remain in my 57 year old head. My wife and daughters are likely convinced that this is closer to the truth than I care to admit.  I will even agree that while both you and they may be correct, you need to understand that I intentionally bid on and won this lot from EBay recently. While nobody else wanted the lot I did!

I just received them in the mail today. They came well packaged and labelled. In fact they were better packed than virtually every other pipe I have ever received from EBay shippers. The box was a solid 2”x4”x8” and stuffed with paper packing materials. The stems and pipes were then bagged and wrapped in bubble wrap and stuffed in among the packing papers. It was as if the seller was trying to protect a rare treasure. I opened the box and cut the tape on the packaging to expose the pipes inside. Five of the six pipes had cracked bowls and the sixth had a cracked shank and stuck stem. The bag included 9 extra stems that were actually quite old and three of those were military bits for spigot style pipes. The five cracked pipes were admittedly firewood and beyond repair.  The sixth one, with the split shank, which was the cleanest of all, could be repaired with glue and a band. I set it aside for a rustication project. In examining the split bowls I noted that they all had the same problem – a huge amount of cake. I am talking about cake so thick that you can barely stand a pipe nail spoon end down in some of the bowls. The cake had erupted from the tops of the bowls and had exerted so much pressure that the bowls were split in multiple places, as you can see in the picture below. It is a shame really as two of them, the ones with the stems on in the picture below, are opera pipes with oval bowls.

Now you might wonder why I would purchase this lot. It was not a surprise or a disappointment to me, after opening the box, because I had asked enough questions of the seller to know exactly what I was getting. I had been the sole bidder, no other competitors for the lot to drive the bid higher.  In the past, when no one else bid, it used to bother me because I asked myself what I was missing. You see I was not bidding on the pipes.  I could care less about these pieces of firewood that were beyond redemption. What I wanted in the lot were the older stems and I bid accordingly, and I ended up with 15 stems, once I took the pipes apart, added the stems from the lot and found an extra one in the box.  I could not have been happier because I prefer to use stems from a similar era to re-stem the older pipe bowls that I have. These stems provide me with a solid batch of stems and in the next few months they will have new bowls attached to them. The beauty of this lot is that none of the stems were chewed or gnawed, and only one has a very repairable tooth mark. In this sense the old stems were my real and intended acquisitions.

I am a scavenger of pipe parts. It only is a matter of perspective that enables one to see beyond burned out unsalvageable shells of pipes and identify the many salvageable parts they contain. There are always parts on the worst of them that I reuse – stems, bands, logos, etc. that can be scavenged and re-used.  I have a box of these parts that has come in handy more times than I can remember. But another good part of the lot is that once I clean up the older briar some of the shanks could provide the base for tampers and such. The rest may well go in the fire pit this summer but you never know. Part of my hunting through thrift shops, rummage sales, garage sales, and Craig’s List for pipes always includes the element of hunting for pipe parts. I have scavenged old broken KWs and Yello Boles and kept the stems to use on sister pipes. I have cleaned up chewed KW and GBD stems so that I could remove the logos and medallions and re-inserted them on new stems or stems missing the logos. Even these little parts are always removable and reusable. It only takes eyes to see the possibilities in old castoffs.

Only one final word… if you begin to pick up my scavenging ways make sure to leave some parts around for me. Also if you need someone to blame for your newly adopted bad habit I am more than willing to take the blame… for a small price – say a few stems and parts. That is it for now I am off to take apart those old pipes and strip them down.

 

Another Rustication – another finish with the new tool

Blog by Steve Laug

I have been looking through my box of pipes for refurbishing for a second one to rusticate with the new tool. I had several laid aside as potential candidates for this treatment but had not gotten around to doing it yet. Then this week I received a box of pipes and pipe parts from a purchase on EBay. In the box was this little apple shaped pipe. It had a large split in the shank that is visible in the photo below. The bowl was also extremely caked and needed to be reamed and cleaned. I always do that field dressing before I go to work on the deep clean and refinishing. Before I could do anything with the finish on this pipe I would need to repair the cracked shank. I cleaned the surface of the shank and used a dental pick to remove the grit that had built up in the crack. I wanted the surface to be clean so that the glue would adhere correctly and bind the two sides of the crack cleanly together. I then filled the split with superglue and squeezed the crack together with a pair of pliers. After the glue dried I banded the shank with a pressure fit nickel band. I reworked the tenon so that the stem fit correctly.

When I had repaired the pipe I examined the bowl to see what choices I might have regarding refinishing. The shape is one of my favourites so I would have like to just do a clean and re-stain of the bowl. However, the closer I looked the more I realized that my only option, if I were to hide the fills and crack well, was a rustication. So my choice was made and I decided to rusticate it with the new tool I had crafted from the Philips screwdriver. I also decided to give it a bit of a different rusticated look than the previous one I have posted here. I wanted to see if the tool would give a bit of versatility in the rustication pattern that it created. With that mission in mind I attacked the bowl seen in the pictures below.

I wiped down the outside of the bowl with some acetone to clean off the grime and give me a fresh surface to work on. I spread out a cloth on my work table to collect wood chunks that came out in the rustication. I have found that it is easier to clean up after my work this way as I merely have to fold up the cloth and shake it out when I am finished. From the last time I used the tool I had learned that the handle was hard on the palm of my hand so I also wrapped it with a thick cotton cloth to act as a pad. This additional padding would add a cushion of comfort for me as I pressed and twisted the shaft into the briar of the bowl. The picture below shows the beginning of the process of rustication. I generally start with the side of the bowl while holding the bowl in my hand and pressing the shaft of the tool into the wood and twisting it and moving across the surface of the wood. I often move from the side of the bowl to the shank. In this case I did a portion of the bowl and then moved to the shank and did the rustication all the way around the shank and on the bottom of the bowl before moving on to finish the bowl.

This rustication pattern is slightly different than the previous one. I was aiming to experiment with the versatility and it was working well in my opinion. I decided to go over the surface of the bowl only one time before checking and roughing up sections that needed further roughening. I wanted the finish to have a softer look on this bowl than the first one I did. I also wanted to leave some high spots that could be polished to give a contrast finish rather than a matte finish. I think the feature I like the most in the new tool is the ability to navigate the tip very close to the band without damaging it. It is very easy to control in tight spaces on the pipe. The four pictures below show the pipe after the rustication is completed. Above and to the right in each picture is the blade of the tool that I use in the process of rustication.

Once the rustication was completed I used some 240, 400, and 600 grit sandpaper to sand the top of the bowl and clean it of stain and dark spots. My goal for the rim was to be able to see the grain patterns once it was stained as it would serve as a contrast to the rough surface of the bowl.

The pipe was ready to be stained. I decided to use a dark brown stain on this one, knowing full well that when I gave it a buff it would lighten considerably. I applied the Fiebings stain with the dauber that came with it. I find that the wool ball on the end of the dauber is thick enough that it carries the stain into the nooks and crannies of the rusticated surface. When I stain a pipe bowl, I always start on the bottom of the bowl as the stain will run toward the top. I follow it up the sides with good coverage and finish with a coat on the rim of the pipe as the last thing. It seems to also help keep the stain on the outside of the bowl. I generally stain the shank once the bowl is completed.

When the entirety is stained I light it with a match to flame the stain. The flame burns off the alcohol with a blue flame that sets the stain more deeply in the briar and helps it dry it quickly. The fire is short-lived and there is no concern of setting your bowl on fire. Be sure however to remove the open jar of stain so that you do not inadvertently set that on fire. I then re-stained the pipe a second time following the same pattern, flamed and set it aside while I work on the oxidation on the stem. I let the stained bowl dry for two hours before taking it to the buffer and giving a light buff with Tripoli and White Diamond. I decided to buff this bowl instead of just leaving it rough like the previous one because I was trying to achieve a different look.

I finished the buffing by giving it a light buff with carnauba wax. I am happy with the finished pipe and the look that it has. It is very different from the previous pipe I rusticated with the tool and demonstrates the capacity of the tool to work different finishes.

The final four pictures below show the finished pipe.

Refurbed Social by Comoy’s

This afternoon late the postie delivered the Social pipe made by Comoy’s that I picked up off Ebay a few weeks ago. I took it apart and went to work. The bowl was pretty caked and broken up inside… cake falling off the walls. The The top was tarred. I reamed and cleaned it. Interestingly this is an old timer. It has the old orific button as I show in one of the before shots of the stem. It has some kind of reservoir between then end of the stepped tenon and the the airway into the bowl. It is below the airway and the tenon is drilled with the airway high to match up.

I put the bowl in an alcohol bath and cleaned it up. The mess came off really well. I then sanded the bowl with 600, 1800, 2400 and 4000 grit and then restained it with a medium brown stain. The Stem was soaking in Oxyclean and when I removed it I cleaned the grime off of it. It was a bit oxidized so that came off no problem. I then buffed the entirety with white diamond and then Carnuba. Here are the before shots:

You will note there are some pretty deep dents in the side of the bowl. These came out a bit but they remain as character marks. There were some on the underside of the shank as well. They too remain.

After refurbishing:

Father Tom – Spring Had Arrived

Springtime had officially arrived in Vancouver. The tulips were ready to burst, while the snow drops were up and the cherry trees were budding and beginning to bloom. Even the rhododendrons were full of buds, waiting for a bit more warmth before opening. It was time, thought Father Tom, to clean off the winter mess from the front porch and get it ready for the spring season and the pleasures of summer smoking outside, for a change.  For him this meant firing up a “work pipe” – one that did not require concern if it fell out of his mouth or was knocked out by an exuberant swing of the broom.  He opened the door to his shop, picked a pipe off the rack of work pipes he kept there.  He filled it with tobacco from the pouch in his shirt pocket, lit it with his Bic, tamped it down with his Czech pipe tool, and relit the pipe. Once done with this ritual, he got his broom and bucket and rags to clean off the porch.

He closed the door to the shop and walked back toward the front of the house and the porch while puffing away.  Moving the chairs, table and planters down to the lawn, he prepared the porch for a good sweeping, still puffing on his pipe.  He knocked down the cob webs and leaves that hung on the hooks for the planters. He swept the floor and the walls to get them ready to be scrubbed. He filled his bucket with hot soapy water and scrubbed down the walls of the porch which turned the water in the bucket a muddy black. He then washed them down with clean hot water, removing the soap scum. Again, he filled the bucket with more soapy water and scrubbed the deck of the porch. He washed down the porch railings and the steps down to the ground, pouring the soiled water on the flower beds below the porch, before refilling the bucket each time.  Once done, he contemplatively puffed on his pipe and discovered that he had to relight it, as the task of scrubbing had caused him to forget to puff. He had found that puffing on a pipe made most things go much more smoothly.

While the deck was drying he went to work on the hanging baskets in the yard. He readied them for the new flowers he had picked up earlier that morning. He emptied the soil from the baskets into his wheel barrow. Then he sat on his chair and mixed in the new soil with the old. Once he had a good blend mixed he filled the baskets with the soil and transplanted the flowers to his hanging baskets. He sat back and took a pull on his pipe and looked them over. They looked promising and would certainly fill out as the summer came on. He looked around at his little patch of Eden – his flower garden. Things were really growing quickly, soon he would need to add more soil and clean out some of the weeds and volunteers. He had planted largely perennials so that came up each year and only needed to be filled in and thinned out a bit. He enjoyed the serenity that came to him in his garden.

By the time the baskets were finished the porch was dry. He brought the baskets up to the porch and hung them on their hooks. He carried up his planter boxes and put them on the railings. Things were looking a lot brighter and more alive. It was time to set up his porch. He went to the basement and got out the straw mat that acted like a rug on the floor of the porch. He carried out the wicker set – a love seat, two high back arm chairs and a table to hold his pipes, tobacco, books and drinks. Once he had it set up he turned on a little music and sat back on love seat with his feet on the table to enjoy his favourite time of the year. He tapped out the remaining dottle in his pipe and reloaded it with some good Virginia – McClelland’s 5100 that had 10 years of age.   He savoured the scent of the tobacco as he loaded his pipe. He had done this for so long that he scarcely needed to look as he filled the bowl. He just sat and enjoyed the warm air, the smell of fresh soil and the flowers that that had begun to give off their fragrance. He put the jar of tobacco on the table in front of him and picked up his Bic lighter and tamper. He puffed on the pipe as he drew the flame into the bowl. The first light and the puff of blue smoke that rolled from the bowl told him it was a good light. He tamped it and relit it another time. Once he saw that it was burning well, then he leaned back to relax.

One of his favourite things to do as he quietly smoked his pipe was to quietly observe what was happening in his neighbourhood. He was sitting up above the street enough that he could watch unobtrusively as life went on around him. In his peripheral vision picked up a squirrel on the fence post busily washing it face and chattering away. In the birdbath on his left two sparrows took turns splashing in the fresh water he had put out. A female robin was in the cherry tree over the bath just waiting until, in her impatience, she chased the sparrows out the bath. In the oak tree overshadowing the porch a pair of crows were cawing and making a ruckus. It was a perfect morning. He was glad that he had started early and now could enjoy the time on the porch. On the sidewalk just outside his gate two little guys went rolling by on their bicycles with training wheels, laughing and racing each other. Behind them came a third boy, who by the looks of him was their brother, careening toward them on his scooter. He knocked the younger of the two boys off his bike. There was an expected uproar with loud crying and yelling. Within seconds their mom appeared from just beyond the hedge on the neighbour’s property. She came and picked up the fallen lad and brushed off the dirt, looked at the battle scars and wiped them off with her hankie. After a quick scolding of the older brother for his carelessness the foursome were off down the street as if nothing had happened.

Silence encircled the porch world once again. Out on the street, across the parking lot, the metro buses came and went, as trucks and cars hurried back and forth. The pleasant smell of jasmine incense wafted in on the breeze from the altars in front of shops owned by Vietnamese Buddhist shopkeepers. Two houses down a group of elderly Chinese women chattered back and forth. His world was truly a global village. He had read that in his neighbourhood alone there lived immigrants from 60 different countries. It was a good place to live and see the world without leaving his porch.

Laying his pipe down, he went inside to get a cup of tea to enjoy with his pipe. He fired up the tea kettle and filled a tea bag with some bulk Earl Grey tea. He put a wee bit of milk in his mug, put the tea bag in and poured the hot water over it to steep. When it was the way he liked it he returned to his seat on the porch. He picked up one of his books off the table and contentedly puffed his pipe while reading, with a pause to sip the Earl Grey.  He could not imagine a better way to enjoy his day off than this sublime repose.

When you want to find Father Tom early or late on a Spring or Summer day, check his porch first. Follow the smells of the tobacco smoke and listen to the music filtering over the garden and you will find him on his porch of tranquility.