Page 1 of 1

Crap...

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 12:13 am
by JMG
This is only my fifth hand cut stem. For most of you I'm sure it would be a piece of cake, but it was my toughest one yet. Saddle, tapered, and oval. I was pretty pleased with how it was coming out until I realized I had been filing the top and bottom unevenly. The bottom looked too thin so I did a small "bite test" and it snapped. Crap. So now I get to make a new one. Just airing frustration.

Image

Re: Crap...

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 6:07 am
by kamkiel
Hate when that happens

Re: Crap...

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 9:07 am
by sandahlpipe
Done that before. More often than I'd like to admit! Try George's method of thin tape around the slot down the sides of the stem and then file a few strokes and look at where the slot is in relation to your sides.

Re: Crap...

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 11:47 am
by Sasquatch
I stop frequently and look at the stem from the side, aligning my eye with the slot, to determine my top/bottom thicknesses. If my slot is 1.5mm tall, I should be able to file to 4mm in perfect safety every time, and sand from there, shooting for.... 3.85 or whatever. I never sand into the slot. But I check probably a dozen times as I'm shaping and filing. Tapering the edge of the stem (or using a tape line reference) in line with the slot helps too, you can really see that things are flat and straight and doing what you want.

Re: Crap...

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 12:16 pm
by Joe Hinkle Pipes
I've said this before a few times, but i scribe a line with an exact-o knife while the rod is in the chuck. I have a square tool stock in a quick change holder that is set to the centerline of the lathe minus the thickness of the knife blade. it takes about 3 seconds to drop the tool in the quick change, scribe left, right, and across the slot. The slot is always dead center in the rod that way. Then you have a semi permanent line to reference top and bottom while filing. when you're done its very easy to sand or scrape the remaining line away.

Re: Crap...

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 6:55 pm
by LatakiaLover
Not doing that will save time, money, and aggravation.

Hope this helps.

-- Rad's spirit

Re: Crap...

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 10:01 pm
by JMG
Attempt #2. Not perfect, but it's a stem...

Image

Re: Crap...

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 10:19 pm
by Ratimus
LatakiaLover wrote:Not doing that will save time, money, and aggravation.

Hope this helps.

-- Rad's spirit
I wonder if Rad's related to the famous psychotherapist Bob Newhart...

Re: Crap...

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:42 pm
by Charl
I do like Sas. A bit of sanding, filing or whatever, check with the eye. Bit more, check and so on, until you get where you want it to be.