Eurika!!

Discussions of tools wether you bought them or made them yourself. Anything from screwdrivers to custom chucks and drilling rigs.
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DocAitch
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Eurika!!

Post by DocAitch »

I am a shape first and then drill pipe maker from the 1970s. Some of you may have seen my elaborate clamp to drill the mortise and face the tenon a couple of entries down. I redesigned my clamp and was in the process of building it when I came up with another solution.
I had been intrigued by Scott Thile's presentation in Pipedia using the lathe and a pin with little briar blocks. I was sure that I could not do that because my lathe is a tiny 7"x10" from Harbor Freight. With a pin in a Jacobs chuck, I had a max of 2.25 " to work in.
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While I was waiting for the glue to dry on my new design custom clamp, the solution popped up. I had an extra arbor for a chuck and I proceeded to grind it into a pin. I also ground off the last 3/4" from the arbor which gave me additional space.
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This eliminated the chuck and gave me almost 5.5" to work in with the combination counter bore and drill from Vermont Freehand. Except for the vent hole drilling, I can both drill the tobacco chamber and mortise and face almost any size pipe I contemplate
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I was able to mortise and face the straight stummels in my queue in just a few minutes.
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One change that I made in Mr Thile's method was to use the thermo malleable plastic as buttons instead of briar blocks. It took me almost an hour to shape and glue the briar blocks on 5 stummels, and only about 10 minutes to use the plastic on 10 more. I also didn't glue most of the plastic, it stuck well enough except for 2 which popped off (which I glued).
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I still have to work out the drilling of the stummels which have mortises on different axes from the vent holes, and I have to grind the ears off the counterbore, but I am extremely happy that I could work out a method to use my lathe.
DocAitch
Last edited by DocAitch on Thu Feb 18, 2016 2:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Hettinger, if you stamp 'hand made' on a dog turd, some one will buy it."
-Charles Hollyday, pipe maker, reluctant mentor, and curmudgeon
" Never show an idiot an unfinished pipe!"- same guy
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oklahoma red
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Re: Eurika!!

Post by oklahoma red »

Congrats Doc. I would call that ingenuity and progress. :thumbsup:
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sandahlpipe
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Re: Eurika!!

Post by sandahlpipe »

I appreciate your posts about the ingenuity you use in tool making. Even if it's not how I do things, it's interesting to think about different ways to achieve results.
---
Fail early, fail often. Your success depends on it.

Jeremiah Sandahl
http://sandahlpipe.com
Charl
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Re: Eurika!!

Post by Charl »

Cool! That's half the fun of pipemaking: making things work for you in your own shop and making your own tools.
Two things I thought to mention, not just for you, but more for other guys that start with "shaping first".
That pin from what I can see is quite sharp. You ideally want one that has been dulled severely. The pin should only keep the block in place and not get to make a deep hole that you're gonna struggle to sand out (if using stummel as is, without little bits of briar) or, even worse, break the little bits of briar. In your case, with using the big blops of malleable plastic, it might not make a difference though.
That bit you use for facing and drilling the mortise in one go (sorry, forgot what it's called), might tear out the face a bit, unless very sharp. Also, once it's been sharpened a lot, it might not keep the face flat and at 90 degree to the mortise. Guys normally drill the mortise, airway and then bowl. Then they use a pin gauge inserted in the mortise and chuck it up, to face the shank. For me, it provides a much smoother face.
A hundred pipemakers, a hundred ways. But that's how it works for me.
Oh yes, it's "Eureka", btw! :wink:
DocAitch
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Re: Eurika!!

Post by DocAitch »

Charl,
Thank you for the tips. That malleable plastic is quite tough when cooled, but I still have a few stummels with the briar blocks glued on. I will take that pin to the grindstone. That will actually give me a bit more space.
I "grew up" drilling the airway first then the tobacco chamber, then the mortise. In the past, I rarely used a different axis for my airway and mortise, and that worked fine. Now that I have my new appreciation of the "S" curve and modern aesthetics, it has become problematic.
I may change my sequence if I don't get good results with my present methods. That's the reason for my first 20 + pipes.
I am still working on the details. I am depending on that bit to get me into the ball park on the facing. The rubber will meet the road when I fit my stem blank. I have several back ups in case I don"t get a good face, and am working on those.
I don't really like the idea of a pin gauge with a large chunk of spinning briar on my tiny lathe and working between that briar and the knuckle eating chuck jaws- I may come around, but we will see.
Thanks for the spelling correction BTW, unfortunately, I don't think I can change it.
DocAitch
Last edited by DocAitch on Thu Feb 18, 2016 10:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Hettinger, if you stamp 'hand made' on a dog turd, some one will buy it."
-Charles Hollyday, pipe maker, reluctant mentor, and curmudgeon
" Never show an idiot an unfinished pipe!"- same guy
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sandahlpipe
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Re: Eurika!!

Post by sandahlpipe »

Yeah. A 7x10 lathe is too small for facing properly with a pin gage unless you make really short bowls. I just upgraded from the 7x14 I've had for 3 years and there's no way around it. The bowl starts knocking against the tool post.
---
Fail early, fail often. Your success depends on it.

Jeremiah Sandahl
http://sandahlpipe.com
DocAitch
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Re: Eurika!!

Post by DocAitch »

Yes, I saw your post on your new lathe. It is very nice. I am still green with envy. I am even contemplating selling a chunk of my firearms collection/accumulation to upgrade, since I am not shooting very much since starting to make pipes.
DocAitch
"Hettinger, if you stamp 'hand made' on a dog turd, some one will buy it."
-Charles Hollyday, pipe maker, reluctant mentor, and curmudgeon
" Never show an idiot an unfinished pipe!"- same guy
DocAitch
Posts: 1109
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 12:44 am
Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Re: Eurika!!

Post by DocAitch »

Charl,
I rounded off that pin, got a whole another 1mm of space, but that was not the "point", (snork!).
Thanks again.
I also find that the InstaMorph buttons pop right off with minimal leverage. They are recyclable. The CA'd briar buttons have to be ground off.
DocAitch
Last edited by DocAitch on Thu Feb 18, 2016 11:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Hettinger, if you stamp 'hand made' on a dog turd, some one will buy it."
-Charles Hollyday, pipe maker, reluctant mentor, and curmudgeon
" Never show an idiot an unfinished pipe!"- same guy
pipedreamer
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Re: Eurika!!

Post by pipedreamer »

Ingenious!!! :notworthy:
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