Inlay help....I'm thicker on one end than the other

[Tyler]

As I didn't make the coasters I'm pretty sure they are even

I know that a Taig isn't going to help me make better pipes than I am now......only hard work and turning out a bunch of pipes will do that. But getting a wood lathe helped a great deal with shaping stummels (edit...and drilling). I think a Taig might do the same for my stems for about the same money it will take me to properly tool up my wood lathe like I want to specifically for stems.

It did for me what you are hoping it will do for you. I am always careful to say tooling won't make better pipes for you, but when it comes to a metal lathe it adds a functionality that ALMOST prompts me to say it is an exception.

[WCannoy]

As I didn't make the coasters I'm pretty sure they are even

I know that a Taig isn't going to help me make better pipes than I am now......only hard work and turning out a bunch of pipes will do that. But getting a wood lathe helped a great deal with shaping stummels (edit...and drilling). I think a Taig might do the same for my stems for about the same money it will take me to properly tool up my wood lathe like I want to specifically for stems.

It did for me what you are hoping it will do for you. I am always careful to say tooling won't make better pipes for you, but when it comes to a metal lathe it adds a functionality that ALMOST prompts me to say it is an exception.

Nope. Not true at all. A lathe will not make better pipes. (all due respect, Tyler, and noting your use of the word "almost")

I can make a perfectly round, perfectly fitted flush stem/shank joint, as good as anything produced with a lathe, using nothing but a hand drill, files, and sandpaper. However, this is neither pleasant, nor practical. I'd have to charge a king's ransom for a pipe made to lathe standards using nothing but hand tools. It takes alot of time and effort, attention to detail, and learning of a few new skills, but it can be done. (If anyone wants video proof, I'd be happy to make one... It'll only cost you two days' wages!)

On the plus side, those skills can be used to correct issues that might arise at a point in the pipemaking process when it is too late to go back to the lathe.

Having said that, I do not recommend using hand tools over using a lathe, just to be clear. Go get your lathe. Make life easier for yourself! Just remember, the tools do not make the pipe, you do!

[Tyler]

As I didn't make the coasters I'm pretty sure they are even

I know that a Taig isn't going to help me make better pipes than I am now......only hard work and turning out a bunch of pipes will do that. But getting a wood lathe helped a great deal with shaping stummels (edit...and drilling). I think a Taig might do the same for my stems for about the same money it will take me to properly tool up my wood lathe like I want to specifically for stems.

It did for me what you are hoping it will do for you. I am always careful to say tooling won't make better pipes for you, but when it comes to a metal lathe it adds a functionality that ALMOST prompts me to say it is an exception.

Nope. Not true at all. A lathe will not make better pipes. (all due respect, Tyler, and noting your use of the word "almost")

I can make a perfectly round, perfectly fitted flush stem/shank joint, as good as anything produced with a lathe, using nothing but a hand drill, files, and sandpaper. However, this is neither pleasant, nor practical. I'd have to charge a king's ransom for a pipe made to lathe standards using nothing but hand tools. It takes alot of time and effort, attention to detail, and learning of a few new skills, but it can be done. (If anyone wants video proof, I'd be happy to make one... It'll only cost you two days' wages!)

On the plus side, those skills can be used to correct issues that might arise at a point in the pipemaking process when it is too late to go back to the lathe.

Having said that, I do not recommend using hand tools over using a lathe, just to be clear. Go get your lathe. Make life easier for yourself! Just remember, the tools do not make the pipe, you do!

I understand the sentiment of "not true at all," and in the starkest of ways, I agree with you --as you noted in my "almost." However, in any practical sense I still stand by my hedge. Let me say it this way: I'll have a fit and finish contest with anyone any day if you give me a functional metal lathe and the other guy a hand drill.

My intent with my post was, and my advice remains:

Buy the dang lathe.



Metal lathes are the right tool for pipe making.

[WCannoy]

... in any practical sense I still stand by my hedge.

Agreed!

[AlfaDog]

Here's what I came up with: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8220

[AlfaDog]

Scottie - I found another suggestion in a two year old post by Kurt that's great till you get your metal lathe. Cast acrylic sheet in different colors and thiknesses can be bought from www.delviesplastics.com. Uniform thickness and can be cut with a hole saw. 3/4" hole saw from Mcmaster-Carr is less than $5.00 and the thingy that holds the drill bit is about $5.00.