Pin Gage.....plus, minus whats the difference?

[wdteipen]

Oh, and obviously a metal lathe is better suited for the task but it's not entirely necessary. With a little patience you can cut a tenon by hand using a wood lathe.

[scotties22]

I hadn't thought of that, Wayne. That's genius!!

[Growley]

I hadn't thought of that, Wayne. That's genius!!

That's why on some cheaper pipes, you'll actually see the smaller cut as Wayne's describing. They cut it too small, but didn't bother to take it off and get the entire tennon the right diameter.

[LittleBill]

You'll waste less material if you cut your tenon thick then use the last 1/8" to get the diameter just right. If you test that 1/8" and it's still too big then cut the rest of the tenon the same diameter and repeat until you have it real close but ever so slightly too tight then sand. That's how I do it so I don't waste a bunch of expensive rod stock.

I've been doing this for years on wood, so I guess moving it to ebonite should work well enough. I think I'll start out on some short stemmed examples first, although if I start with a really long one, it could end up short!

[LatakiaLover]

Oh, and obviously a metal lathe is better suited for the task but it's not entirely necessary. With a little patience you can cut a tenon by hand using a wood lathe.

Yup. I've watched it done. Anthony Harris is a woodturner/pipemaker here in KC who can cut a blemish-free, parallel-sided tenon to within a thousandth or so by hand, that looks like it was cut by a milling machine. Not every time---he has a start-over once every three or four stems---but that's still mighty impressive.

And Scottie is coming along fast. I think most of her tenons to date took two or three tries, and though she has the parallel thing down, there are still a few scratch-deep low spots that show up as rings here and there. Given that she's only been doing lathe work for a short time and is making do with only a few rudimentary tools, that's also mighty impressive, imo. (Especially seein' how she's just a girl. )

[BobR]

Thanks guys. My impatience comes from having three pipes I would like to finish that need to be squared with the mortise.

What am I missing? Why not square up the rod stock and the shank area on the block before drilling?

[LatakiaLover]

Thanks guys. My impatience comes from having three pipes I would like to finish that need to be squared with the mortise.

What am I missing? Why not square up the rod stock and the shank area on the block before drilling?

I'm sure she did. But it often doesn't stay square. Moisture redistributes itself every time wood is removed from a block, and dimensional changes result.

Keep in mind that a half-thousandth of an inch is easily seen by the human eye when it's a line of light surrounded by something dark, the way a stem/shank gap is.

[scotties22]

My lathe is a little off...I use a shim, but it's a crap shoot as to whether its gonna come out square or not. The forstner bits imo leave a hell of a mess behind in the form of tearout. Pin gages will fix all this shit and let me tighten up that area of my pipes.

[andrew]

Are you shimming the tailstock?

[scotties22]

I sure do. It comes out right now. The pipes I need to use the pin gages on are from before I figured out it was off. They are great pieces of wood and I really want to finish them.

[Vermont Freehand]

what rpm's are y'all running at for facing the shank on a finished stummel, using a pin gage? The whole idea of it is about as scary for me as the freehand drilling is

and what about the larger or taller pipes, does a wobble factor come into play?
and what about a long enough cutting bit so the top of the bowl doesn't smack the cross slide or tool holder?

[wisemanpipes]

what rpm's are y'all running at for facing the shank on a finished stummel, using a pin gage? The whole idea of it is about as scary for me as the freehand drilling is

and what about the larger or taller pipes, does a wobble factor come into play?
and what about a long enough cutting bit so the top of the bowl doesn't smack the cross slide or tool holder?

steve,

my pin gauges are extremely sturdy and have no flex, even on stack or chimney sized bowls. I put my tool rest as close as it can go and then use a boring bar as a rest for a skew chisel and just face it off. the slowest my lathe goes is about 350-400 rpm, so thats what I do it at.

id be actually more worried to do a bent long shank than a tall bowl.

[BigCasino]

IMO-- you can flip a drill bit around if you are in a bind, which, incidentally, will show you the value of having a set.)

I tried this I drilled a 5/16 mortise and used the same bit backwards and I couldn't get it to fit, and I was afraid to force it in, did I do something wrong?

[Tyler]

IMO-- you can flip a drill bit around if you are in a bind, which, incidentally, will show you the value of having a set.)

I tried this I drilled a 5/16 mortise and used the same bit backwards and I couldn't get it to fit, and I was afraid to force it in, did I do something wrong?

Well, you proved why a set is handy. Wouldn't it be nice to have a pin about .001" or .002" smaller?

It should be snug, or it will spin on the bit when you try to cut. It's hard to know one man's "forcing it" from another, so I'm not sure what to tell you.

[BigCasino]

I tend to break things which is why I stopped...LOL

[LittleBill]

I tend to break things which is why I stopped...LOL

I feel your pain. "Just a little bit further and..." SNAP!

[Charl]

When using a pin gauge (aka drillbit, real ones are real hard to come by here in SA) I use the highest possible rpm that the lathe have, like with normal turning.