Replacement stem making A to Z (instructional video set)

[pipeguy]

Outstanding presentation George,My question is how
Long does the whole process take you? I think a lot of repair people who do this for money see a law of diminishing return.Time vs.what there client baservice will
Pay

[Ratimus]

Last I heard, George was charging by the hour. Last I saw, his signature claims that no customer ever says "I wish you had made this stem an hour faster." Thus, we can assume that George has reached a level of proficiency such that his customers do not end up paying for inefficiently used time. QED.

I'm guessing the old saw "fast, good, cheap: pick two" applies. My personal approach is to strive for "good," pursue "fast" as a secondary goal that naturally develops over time but never overshadows the primary goal, and let the "cheap" part be a constant struggle between the customer feeling they got a good deal and me feeling like I got screwed over. I'm just a no-name a hobbyist, so I can afford to price my work anywhere from so high nobody buys it to so low I barely break even and the labor ends up being free. If i needed to earn a living at it, i wouldn't have that luxury.

Since George does do this sort of thing for a living, he's probably found some reasonable balance there. I guess my ultimate, long-winded point is that everybody's quality of execution, efficiency, and market value will balance in different proportions. Or something. There's room for all of us. Kumbaya.

[LatakiaLover]

R2 --

The tag line is Adam Davidson speaking, not me.

Anyone who sends me their stuff knows going in it's a time & materials situation. I tell them the rate and that's it. No time estimate until I can inspect their pipe in hand, and when I do it isn't binding.

Anymore, most don't even ask. They just say, "Do your thing." (Trust is a scarce word in the 21st century, but there you go.)

Pipeguy --

I just checked, and the pipe in the video took 5.5 hours + 4" ebonite + the ivory for the dot. (time spent on video production tasks wasn't charged, of course)

[caskwith]

If you don't mind saying, what did that job cost the customer?

[LatakiaLover]

$400,200,000,000,000,000.00

(that's Zimbabwean dollars)

[seamonster]

$400,200,000,000,000,000.00

(that's Zimbabwean dollars)

Soooooooooooo after some google-ninja work, (and a deep dive into what I remember from middle school math)
discovering that in 2014, when actual Zimbabwean dollars became to cumbersome to use,
100 trillion Z-dollars was roughly equivalent to 300 us dollars, that
puts the price of that restoration at roughly $1,200,600??!?
Dang.

George, you said in the video you thought that an in-person apprenticeship was unlikely,

BUT ARE YOU OPEN TO THE IDEA??????????????????????????

[LatakiaLover]

Looks like the Interwebz has inconsistent data floating around in its digital-ness. (imagine that )

I was using 100 trillion ZD = 40 cents US. (apparently that's as worthless as it ever got, or something)

Anyway, here's a screenshot of the relevant portion of the "It's finished" email:

[LatakiaLover]

Mr. C. Monster ---

I thought you were a school teacher. Not so?

[pipeguy]

George if that hourly wage is true the recipient of that pipe
Got a gift.Worth far more IMHO.

[seamonster]

Mr. C. Monster ---

I thought you were a school teacher. Not so?

So, actually. But I live in the elementary world, even that math is above my pay grade....

[LatakiaLover]

I was referring to the apprentice thing, not math.

[seamonster]

I was referring to the apprentice thing, not math.

Oh crimony.... have you seen the sorry state of public school education lately? I'm just BEGGING for a better offer to come along....

Sent from my bloopty-bloop, using hooty-hoo.

[caskwith]

Thank you George.

[RickB]

Okay so I'm going to bump this with a couple of questions:

1. Are these the discs I'm looking for: https://www.amazon.com/3M-RADIAL-BRISTL ... 00VZ3DW2E/ ?
2. As much as I want to get a proper sandblasting set up, the cost/space required makes it unfeasible at the present time - could something like this be used for a decent effect over the entirety of a stummel? I recognize that time-wise that will be hideously inefficient, but that's an easier pill to swallow at the moment. If I were going to try to do this for an entire stummel, would it make sense to also pick up some of the bigger wheels (it looks like there are 3" varieties with the bristles running radially like the small ones, and much larger ones with the bristles on the face of the disc) and chuck it in my usual sanding/buffing set up at a slower speed?

Thank you again!

[oklahoma red]

Okay so I'm going to bump this with a couple of questions:

1. Are these the discs I'm looking for: https://www.amazon.com/3M-RADIAL-BRISTL ... 00VZ3DW2E/ ?
2. As much as I want to get a proper sandblasting set up, the cost/space required makes it unfeasible at the present time - could something like this be used for a decent effect over the entirety of a stummel? I recognize that time-wise that will be hideously inefficient, but that's an easier pill to swallow at the moment. If I were going to try to do this for an entire stummel, would it make sense to also pick up some of the bigger wheels (it looks like there are 3" varieties with the bristles running radially like the small ones, and much larger ones with the bristles on the face of the disc) and chuck it in my usual sanding/buffing set up at a slower speed?

Thank you again!

My experience with these discs has been for sanding only. They are made of flexible plastic with abrasives mixed in. They tend to wear pretty quick if you get too aggressive. They do work pretty well for what they are designed to do.

[RickB]

Very cool, thank you. If nothing else, maybe they'll do cool things for the rustication I've been doing occasionally - I could see the bristles tracking into the grooves and possibly adding some interesting texture.

[Doug535]

Hey George, what tennon cutting tool are you using in these videos and are they available somewhere?

[LatakiaLover]

Tim West's machinist father-in-law used to make them, then he aged out.

I've heard that someone obtained the design and is making them for Tim again, though. Can't recall his name---a tall, cowboy type guy from Wyoming if memory serves---but Tim can both confirm and get you in touch with him if it's true:

614-761-3465

[Doug535]

Tim West's machinist father-in-law used to make them, then he aged out.

I've heard that someone obtained the design and is making them for Tim again, though. Can't recall his name---a tall, cowboy type guy from Wyoming if memory serves---but Tim can both confirm and get you in touch with him if it's true:

614-761-3465

Thanks George.

[scotties22]

Tim West's machinist father-in-law used to make them, then he aged out.

I've heard that someone obtained the design and is making them for Tim again, though. Can't recall his name---a tall, cowboy type guy from Wyoming if memory serves---but Tim can both confirm and get you in touch with him if it's true:

614-761-3465

Thanks George.

I just bought one from Tim at the Columbus show. He had three more on his table.