How to make a military stem?

italdesign · Post by **italdesign** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:46 pm

Hi,

I just joined the forum today but have been reading it for the last few months. I was hoping someone could give me some advice on how to make a military style stem. I have a Savinelli Dry System pipe and I love the stem design. It seems to be much sturdier than the regular tenon. Any advice on how to go about making one? Thank you.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 2:21 am

Most military mounts such as Savinelli, Peterson System, WDC Wellington, etc. tend to have a slightly tapered mortise with matching tenon. For this you will need a custom ground drill bit. Fitting the tenon is sanding & fitting, rinse & repeat, until you achieve the fit you want. You should also be able to achieve a military mount without a taper.

I've no idea where one would obtain the shank band, but for a tapered mortise/tenon you would almost certainly need one to reinforce the shank.

Not sure if this answers your question.

ckr · Post by **ckr** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:53 am

Actually the taper is not much of a taper on the Sav. It is a straight tenon and at the end it flares. The flared portion acts as a stop and the tenon and mortise are snug. The flared portion can exert pressure if shoved in too tightly. The wellington cap adds strength to the shank. The shank is shaped to fit the cap fairly tightly and epoxied in place. You can get Wellington Caps from JHLowe.com They are not listed on the website but Tim does have them.

Drill the airway first then bore the portion to hold the filter. I also find them less obnoxious if the sump is drilled a bit deeper than on a Sav.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 10:58 am

ckr wrote:You can get Wellington Caps from JHLowe.com They are not listed on the website but Tim does have them.

Oh! That is good to know.

Also interesting, that the Savinelli has a straight mortise/tenon.

ckr · Post by **ckr** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 4:04 pm

It is also interesting that the straight mortise will also hold the pre-fabed tapered military or wellington bits. The cap opening, a half inch wide, allows a tapered stem to be inserted with enough force that it will also hold quite securly. So it would seem that either works fine as long as the taper exceeds the diameter of the opening.