I've kind of hit a wall.

Discussions of tools wether you bought them or made them yourself. Anything from screwdrivers to custom chucks and drilling rigs.
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n80
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I've kind of hit a wall.

Post by n80 »

New pipe maker here. I think I've made about 10 pipes. I do not have a lathe. Despite that I feel like I'm doing a fair job of getting the stummel shape right. I'm getting the basic drilling parts down, which has been a bit hard with nothing but a sloppy old drill press, but I'm getting there.

Where I'm not improving much and where there are obvious flaws in my pipes is the stem-to-shank junction. They aren't horrible but they aren't perfect either. In other words, if I hold the pipe up to the light I can see a slit of daylight between the stem-to-shank junction. It might be small but its there. And with my current methods and tools I don't see this getting a lot better.

I tried facing the stem end of the shank with a Forstner bit but that hasn't helped. Otherwise it is just tedious filing and sanding which sometimes makes the fit even worse.

A metal lathe is probably not in the cards. I've looked at the $600 Harbor Freight units from China but I worry that would be $600 for poor quality for a hobby that isn't ever going to become a profession for me.

So I'm wondering if there are other options? I see that Vermont Freehand has a tenon cutter that can be used on a drill press (they even say it can be used with a hand drill). I don't know if that just trues the diameter of the tenon or if it also trues the face of the stem that meets up with the pipe shank. And even if it does that still leaves the face of the pipe shank to be trued up.

Any work arounds would be much appreciated. As it is, and being a bit of a perfectionist, if I can't figure this out I might have to give up on the hobby or see if I can find a lathe........and funds for a lathe are simply not there.

George
LatakiaLover
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Re: I've kind of hit a wall.

Post by LatakiaLover »

Learn to lap the end of the shank on a piece of sandpaper. I do it all the time and can hit light-tight in less time than the spin-the-stummel-on-a-pin-gauge method takes to set up. It's a handy skill to develop. Use 600 or 800 grit, full sheet, tape only the top edge with stage or duct tape, cut using the same grip and pulling motion regardless of stummel position.
UFOs must be real. There's no other explanation for cats.
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KurtHuhn
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Re: I've kind of hit a wall.

Post by KurtHuhn »

Without a lathe, the sandpaper lapping method is probably going to be your best bet. I've tried the counterbore tool, but was not satisfied with the finish. The only tool I know that can get a perfectly straight shank face on-axis with the mortis, is a lathe (wood or metal, either will work).
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n80
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Re: I've kind of hit a wall.

Post by n80 »

Thanks LatakiaLover. I don't know if I can acquire that skill but at least that is something I can shoot for and maybe press on for a while.

Kurt, I think I'm going to buy the tenon tool from Vermont Freehand. It does square the stem shoulder as well as cut the tenon. That way at least the tenon and the stem shoulder will be true then I can try Latakia's method on the shank face.

I've been doing a little research on metal lathes. They are very pricey. And while reviewers say the cheap little ones are junk but do okay for what you pay they are still around $1000 and prone to failure. Getting a decent larger one looks like $2000 minimum not including the needed tools.

Wood lathes are much cheaper but don't seem to be as well suited to pipe making. I may start a thread and see if anyone has a decent pipe making work flow with a wood lathe.

Thanks again guys. This site has been very helpful.
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Sasquatch
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Re: I've kind of hit a wall.

Post by Sasquatch »

There's no reason at all you can't make perfect joints with a drill press. Read through this: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3537 and modify as you need.

Basically the takehome idea is that you need to face the stem or rod first, drill it for delrin in that exact same position, and then drill the airway in that exact same position. There's a perfect flat 90 degree tenon to stem shoulder. And on the stummel end, you face the shank, then drill the mortise in the exact same position - again there's no deflection, you now have a perfect 90 degree shoulder on the shank face. And they just fit together.

The tenon cutting tool will also work with premolded stems, but there's a few tricks to getting a nice fit with that too.

This comes down to Chuck Yeager's maxim: It's the man, not the machine. Great pilots shoot down bad pilots.
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
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Re: I've kind of hit a wall.

Post by LatakiaLover »

Bottom line ---

You have two choices when it comes to precision --- 1) Invest in equipment of a quality sufficient to deliver the desired result "automatically" (so to speak); 2) Learn methods and techniques that will let you create the desired result by hand.

There is no third option.

Why? The Universe categorically hates any and all activity that attempts to bring order to chaos, and will fight you every step of the way.
UFOs must be real. There's no other explanation for cats.
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Sasquatch
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Re: I've kind of hit a wall.

Post by Sasquatch »

Pretty much!
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
n80
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Re: I've kind of hit a wall.

Post by n80 »

Sasquatch wrote: Sun Sep 29, 2019 9:57 am This comes down to Chuck Yeager's maxim: It's the man, not the machine. Great pilots shoot down bad pilots.
Yeager flew the P-51 Mustang.

:wink:
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Sasquatch
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Re: I've kind of hit a wall.

Post by Sasquatch »

He also flew the captured MiG-15 in head to head trials against the F-86 Sabre, and although the Sabre was faster outright and more reliable, the mock dogfights came down to who was at the controls. EDIT (but I get what you are saying, if you have great tooling it's easy to say "Oh heck, this little thing? Oh I guess it helps...."
ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!
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