Keyholes and endcaps

[Bluesytone]

Curious if you folks tend to leave a keyhole on your shank exposed or like to cap,it off with something like decorative wood, flat Japanese ebonite or arcrylic etc? I got a couple pipes that I want to do a military style push in tenon on and the keyhole looks ugly to me in this context. Another trick I thought of which it’s too late to do on this pipe would be to dril the mortise deeper, do the keyhole and then face the keyhole off.. this is just a theory and I haven’t investigated if I can even get away with it.

[LatakiaLover]

Don't do anything that will prevent the reaming of the airway with a drill bit (or equivalent) down the road. Bad ju-ju awaits if you do.

Here's a full explanation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MFkHjIZ9sI

[Massis]

Curious if you folks tend to leave a keyhole on your shank exposed or like to cap,it off with something like decorative wood, flat Japanese ebonite or arcrylic etc? I got a couple pipes that I want to do a military style push in tenon on and the keyhole looks ugly to me in this context. Another trick I thought of which it’s too late to do on this pipe would be to dril the mortise deeper, do the keyhole and then face the keyhole off.. this is just a theory and I haven’t investigated if I can even get away with it.

If you can face the keyhole off, you could also just drill it without the keyhole in the first place?

[sandahlpipe]

I don't tend to cap off the keyhole, though sometimes I have to for some more awkward shapes. I think my most common technique is to make the mortise wide enough to hide the keyhole, if possible.

[Bluesytone]

So when you say make it wider are you talking about a larger diameter mortise and tenon? That makes sense.

[sandahlpipe]

Yes. Your variables are length and diameter of mortise, keyhole, ramp, and angle of airway (and to a lesser extent, the angle of the chamber). Find the sweet spot by adjusting them to make the least compromise necessary.

[Bluesytone]

Yes. Your variables are length and diameter of mortise, keyhole, ramp, and angle of airway (and to a lesser extent, the angle of the chamber). Find the sweet spot by adjusting them to make the least compromise necessary.

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the help.

[wdteipen]

I agree with Latakialover. Early on, I made the mistake of covering the keyhole with caps and it creates issues down the road when you can't ream the airway. You're options are a larger tenon like Jeremiah mentioned, drilling higher in the mortise and ramping the airway, or work the design so it's internally sound. An exposed airway notch looks terrible and isn't an option in my opinion. Another option is to cover the notch with a cap but attach the cap to the stem so it looks the same but the airway is accessible.

[Adirondack Pipes]

A stupid question, but one I'll ask anyhow. Why ream the airway later? I've never had to do this with any of my pipes. Now i'm afraid i'm missing something.

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[Massis]

A stupid question, but one I'll ask anyhow. Why ream the airway later? I've never had to do this with any of my pipes. Now i'm afraid i'm missing something.

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A pipe that's been smoked for 25 years and never decently cleaned, will have so much residue in the airway that it'll form a solid cake which has to be reamed/drilled out.

[Adirondack Pipes]

Ah, key words there, "decently cleaned".

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[LatakiaLover]

Ah, key words there, "decently cleaned".

The problem being that "decently cleaned" means taken back to wood, which can only be reasonably accomplished by mechanical means. Something that the vast majority of pipe smokers do NOT do.

It is the responsibility of a pipe maker to deal with the world as it is, not make products that require "perfect customers" to work properly.

[DocAitch]

I am unconvinced of the necessity to “take it back to the wood” periodically. Seems to me that a vigorously applied bristle cleaner and a little of your favorite libation would be sufficient, but then I possess no pipes that have been smoked for 25 years without “proper cleaning”, nor do I deal with abused pipes very often.
I will bow to Georges experience and expertise in this matter.
DocAitch

[wdteipen]

I am unconvinced of the necessity to “take it back to the wood” periodically. Seems to me that a vigorously applied bristle cleaner and a little of your favorite libation would be sufficient, but then I possess no pipes that have been smoked for 25 years without “proper cleaning”, nor do I deal with abused pipes very often.
I will bow to Georges experience and expertise in this matter.
DocAitch

I was too until one of my pipes that I didn't leave a keyhole to ream was clogged after two years of smoking English tobaccos. Luckily, the customer was Nate King and he was able to fix it.....by cutting a keyhole so he could properly ream it. Lesson learned the hard but-not-as-hard-as-it-could-have-been way.

[sandahlpipe]

For times when I made the airway high in the bottom of the mortise and needed to ramp the airway, I used a torch to bend a file at a curve. It works ok, but Tyler (I think) recommended a special hacksaw blade instead. I think one may be able to ream an airway with such a tool, even despite end cap. It's an untested theory, though, and depending on the cap, it may be a bit tedious to avoid the mortise walls.

[DocAitch]

I use a bent mono tooth wax saw to cut a ramp, same idea. It would still only clean the ramp and not get the upper part of the draft hole.
DocAitch