pipemakersforum.com

Here is a little different take on the slot cutting jig. Took about an hour to make so it isn't perfect but it works really well. My tooling is not really the norm for pipe making but I have my own methods like the rest of you.
The whole jig is held in a manual mill or drill press vice and the endmill or drill bit is adjusted to the level of the fulcrum so when it is pivoted from side to side the bottom of the slot will funnel to the diameter of the bit. (don't make a bow tie slot) The rod stock is griped by two adjustable jaws and is centered in the v groves. The jaw is suspended by pins at the fulcrum where it is pivoted to create the v grove of any desired width.
I hope this helps, or if anything makes you chuckle.

Nice machine!
It is similar in principle to Oklahoma Red's jig. You must be a pretty practiced machinist to have made it so quickly.
It should work just fine, but you will still have to work the junction between your machined slot and the airway.
I have stopped using my (admittedly less sophisticated) jig because of a couple of easily introduced errors, which this jig will avoid. I have gone back to cutting the slot with a funneling tool, which takes longer, but which produces nicer, narrower slots with smooth internal geometry.
My end point, before sanding and polishing, is the easy passage of a fluffy pipe cleaner.
DocAitch

Well done!

Cool.

As much as I love tools and sophisticated solutions to shop problems, I feel obligated to mention---so that newcomers don't get the wrong idea---that such things aren't necessary to make good pipes, and unless REALLY well designed often take longer to use than doing things by hand. (Kind of like building a programmable robot to play the piano. You can either spend a long time designing, building, and fine-tuning it, or you can use that same time learning to play the piano yourself.)

I make more stems in a month than most whole-pipe makers do in a year, and after years of experimenting with every method I could think of to cut slots, ended up settling on a 100% manual technique that's lightning fast. And which cost $3.99.

Not a modified blade saw or wax/wire saw, btw, but this. A rotary cutter designed for duck decoy carvers. One modification and one caveat: 1) slightly round the needle sharp tip as shown; and 2) the best motor to use is a low speed/high torque one like Foredom's LX. The key to using the thing is VERY LOW SPEED and (relatively) HIGH PRESSURE. With a bit of practice, cutting a perfect-every-time slot takes 1-2 minutes from start to finish. Material just floods out in little ribbon fragments.

LatakiaLover wrote:Cool.

As much as I love tools and sophisticated solutions to shop problems, I feel obligated to mention---so that newcomers don't get the wrong idea---that such things aren't necessary to make good pipes, and unless REALLY well designed often take longer to use than doing things by hand. (Kind of like building a programmable robot to play the piano. You can either spend a long time designing, building, and fine-tuning it, or you can use that same time learning to play the piano yourself.)

I make more stems in a month than most whole-pipe makers do in a year, and after years of experimenting with every method I could think of to cut slots, ended up settling on a 100% manual technique that's lightning fast. And which cost $3.99.

Not a modified blade saw or wax/wire saw, btw, but this. A rotary cutter designed for duck decoy carvers. One modification and one caveat: 1) slightly round the needle sharp tip as shown; and 2) the best motor to use is a low speed/high torque one like Foredom's LX. The key to using the thing is VERY LOW SPEED and (relatively) HIGH PRESSURE. With a bit of practice, cutting a perfect-every-time slot takes 1-2 minutes from start to finish. Material just floods out in little ribbon fragments.

I have used this.....It is awesome!

Thanks for the comments! Each of you are right in some respects. I like jigs because it can give a consistent result and with stems every part is always adjusted by hand to make it right but when the starting point is right it makes everything else easier. That is my point of view

Jigz is fo suckas.

I edited this commentbecause I don't want to sound like a jerk. That is all

DocAitch wrote:Nice machine!
It is similar in principle to Oklahoma Red's jig. You must be a pretty practiced machinist to have made it so quickly.
It should work just fine, but you will still have to work the junction between your machined slot and the airway.
I have stopped using my (admittedly less sophisticated) jig because of a couple of easily introduced errors, which this jig will avoid. I have gone back to cutting the slot with a funneling tool, which takes longer, but which produces nicer, narrower slots with smooth internal geometry.
My end point, before sanding and polishing, is the easy passage of a fluffy pipe cleaner.
DocAitch

Thanks for the comment. Yeah the challenge of any jig is to get it stiff enough that the play is minimal. The picture is the first one that I had cut with this jig so i used a larger diameter endmill first to see how hard i could push it without the bit breaking. and after success moved to a smaller diameter. The cool part is not having any wobble and ending up having pretty smooth walls. Endmills are great because unlike drill bits the flutes are designed for lateral cuts and for smooth finishes.

LatakiaLover wrote:Cool.

As much as I love tools and sophisticated solutions to shop problems, I feel obligated to mention---so that newcomers don't get the wrong idea---that such things aren't necessary to make good pipes, and unless REALLY well designed often take longer to use than doing things by hand. (Kind of like building a programmable robot to play the piano. You can either spend a long time designing, building, and fine-tuning it, or you can use that same time learning to play the piano yourself.)

I make more stems in a month than most whole-pipe makers do in a year, and after years of experimenting with every method I could think of to cut slots, ended up settling on a 100% manual technique that's lightning fast. And which cost $3.99.

Not a modified blade saw or wax/wire saw, btw, but this. A rotary cutter designed for duck decoy carvers. One modification and one caveat: 1) slightly round the needle sharp tip as shown; and 2) the best motor to use is a low speed/high torque one like Foredom's LX. The key to using the thing is VERY LOW SPEED and (relatively) HIGH PRESSURE. With a bit of practice, cutting a perfect-every-time slot takes 1-2 minutes from start to finish. Material just floods out in little ribbon fragments.

Hey George, what bits are you using? The pic doesn't show up. Where can I pick these up. Interested in trying this out because my slots are not so goot.

LatakiaLover wrote:https://mdiwoodcarvers.com/products/ste ... ing-drills

Thanks George, are you using just the 1\16 or also the 3\32? Only wanna pay shipping once

Get the 1/16"

The only way to get a 5/64"---which is the perfect pipe size---is to grind your own from a 3/32"

Smaller is usable, though, while 3/32" is too big for anything we do.

Also, shop around. I bought a bunch of those things for $4-5 a few years ago. Use this place as a last resort (I just linked it because it was the first one my search found)

LatakiaLover wrote:Get the 1/16"

The only way to get a 5/64"---which is the perfect pipe size---is to grind your own from a 3/32"

Smaller is usable, though, while 3/32" is too big for anything we do.

Also, shop around. I bought a bunch of those things for $4-5 a few years ago. Use this place as a last resort (I just linked it because it was the first one my search found)

Thanks George, I've already been shopping around, I'm a frugal fu_ker. Sometimes even cheap.

Cool jig.

I agree with George, though. It's faster by hand once you've done enough of them and just as consistent. It takes me about two minutes to cut a slot.