Apparently I got just a bit of runout when I drilled my most recent stummel. The hole and the tenon are exactly the same size. That makes for a fit that's just too loose. However, this didn't surface until I was almost done with the pipe!
Thank goodness the epoxy breaks down under heat. I used my heat gun to heat up the stem enough that the epoxy failed. Then I removed the tenon and machined a new one with a piece of 7/16 delrin rod. I had to trim the face of the stem where it will meet the shank just a hair to clean off the eopxy that bled out. The result is perfect!
So, if for some reason your tenon is a hair loose, this might be a good way to effect a repair without having to make a new stem.
I used your idea already today. I needed to re-drill my mortise which left the tennon to short. I heated it and pulled out the old tennon and just inserted a new one. Great hint. Much better than trying to drill it out.
It kinda came to me when half asleep. I went to bed trying to figure out what the best way to deal with that loose stem was. It hit me just before I fell asleep.
I tried this last night and I could not get it to work (I won't say why, but let's just say I am having my problems actually completing a 9th pipe). What method are you using to heat the stem up? I could not get the tenon out, so I ended up cutting it off and re-drilling out the stem.
I used 2 part, 90 sec epoxy from walgreens, which might explain my success I heated it with a lighter and pulled it out with pliers. Worked great. If you are using quality products, however, you might have more trouble.