Cutting tenons

[zanthal]

I've tried use a flat dremel sander slowly in order to get the correct shape, I've tried wrapping sandpaper around the tenon and twisting, and now I've moved onto a metal file to slowly whittle it down to size.

I have no lathe, I wish.

But anyhow I got the idea to use an appropriately sized core drill bit, and I wanted to know if anyone has good or bad experiences.

For example, this is what I'm about ready to purchase

The way I'm doing it takes quite a long time and I'm hoping this will at least shave a few hours of sanding time off the task.

[andrew]

I think at that price it would be a low cost attempt at getting where you want to go, but those things might cause you more pain than they alleviate. If you have access to a drill press I would suggest delrin and a forstner bit. You can do a lot with that combination while you save for better equipment, if that's where you want to go.

[scotties22]

If you have a drill press go get a pen maker's vise and some delrin. Put the stem in the vise and lock her down. Use a forstner bit to get rid of the preform tenon (you can cut if off before you go to the drill press too). Then face the end of the stem. Drill it for the size delrin you are using. Don't waste a bunch of time on the preform tenons....I never did get one to come our right. Delrin is easy to work with and will save you a lot of time.

Andrew beat me to it

[zanthal]

No drill press, but I've thought of it.

Now if I'm not mistaken, you're talking about buying delrin rods and forming your own stems from scratch?

And a Forstner bit, it doesn't drill cores, how would you use that to form a tenon?

I'm buying my stems from Pipe Maker's Emporium and sizing them to fit. The stems I'm working with now have a quite wide start tenon, which means a lot of sanding to get down to the 5/16" I'm wanting it at.

[scotties22]

You can buy delrin rod to use as tenons....the stuff I have is 5/16" (what I use most of the time). Tim West at JH Lowe sells pre-drilled and cut to length delrin tenons (in various sizes) for about $13.00 per dozen. I would suggest this if you don't have a drill press.

You just use the forstner bit to face the end of the stem so you get a nice flush mount against your shank. If you have a vise you might be able to do this with a hand drill, but I can't imagine it would be much fun. Then you drill a 5/16" hole in the end of the stem (I think the pre-drilled tenons Tim sells have a 3/8" nub you insert into the stem) and glue it in. (You need to make sure your hole for your tenon is at a right angle to your stem face or your stem won't fit against your shank flush) If you did things right you will have a centered tenon and a flush face on your stem for about a tenth of your time and trouble as trying to whittle one of the preforms down.

[zanthal]

That does sound quite a bit easier.

I have been drilling with a vise and electric hand drill and yeah, it's not exactly working out as I'd hoped. Maybe I can find a good used drill press

Forstner bits and delrin rods for the win, thank you, I understand now.