pipemakersforum.com

I am trying to get a bunch of 1920's pipe making equipment up and running.
I have a lot of pieces, and everything cleaned up. I'm just curious about any recommendations as I proceed forward.

I figure the best way to walk through this would be a step / process at a a time. I had mapped out the following steps start to finish and created a PDF. Some of this is information from the previous owner. Some of this is internet searching. Some of this is just a pure guess.

Take a look as see if these 10 steps make sense, or if there are any other notes or precautions I should be taking.
I am currently at Step 3. My question is should I pilot bore? Curious if the boring machine is the correct choice, and just to skip this step.
In looking online, or seems that these spoon style bits are best to work with an already started hole.

I have attached a picture of the cutting head (one of several) that have for Step 4.
I believe there are additional heads for steps 6 and 7.... but I'll get there next.

Thanks in advance for any commentary on this. See the attached diagram and photos.

Steps as I see Them:


Current Boring Head for Chamber:


4 Heads that were found no the machine. I have dozens more, but I figure these are the most important.
The all look like they will be fore the facing, airway and tenon work (future questions)

No images.
DocAitch

Was there no instruction from the person you bought the tools from? Ideally you would have someone who knows how to use them set them up for you.

No to little instruction. The last time they were used successfully was the 1960's.
I have pieced together all that I was able to document after several meetings.

Hopefully the images are coming through Doc.
Otherwise, I have also posted them HERE

That's a shame, where did you buy them? Any chance of finding a local pipemaker to help?

Basically bought from the Old Albert-John Briars, Ltd. in Milwaukee.

Forgetting the machine because I can most likely figure that out my questions would be:

1. Do you pre drill before using a spoon bit with something more aggressive and
2. How does one sharpen spoon style bits.

Thanks!

1. Yes. A half inch standard bit works fine.

2. A belt grinder or bench grinder. Just think of the spoon bit as a knife blade that needs a single bevel edge of 75 degrees or so. Do NOT let the edge turn blue when sharpening. Quench frequently in a nearby bowl of water.