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Man, I worked for a couple hours last night on trying to make an insert for a pipe, with no luck at all. Snapped the piece both times. Perhaps it was just the wood I was working with.

Hehehe. Sorry about my bad use of the language. I think we're talking about the same thing. Adding a decorative piec of wood onto the stem. I'm sure it all has to be very precise. I'm getting there I supposed. I keep telling myself its a learning expirience.

Nick,

What snapped, and how were you doing it?

Depending on tools, inlays shouldn't really be all that hard. Give us a little more info and I bet we can help you avoid that issue forever and always.

Tyler

Well, I took a pen blank of ....ooohh it starts with a J and has a dark orange/peach color to it. Well I took the blank and cut off a slice close to the width I needed. Sanded down the faces to a nice smooth finish and drilled a whole. One my first attempt I split the wood trying to get it to fit. Bone heade me, trying to force the issue. Once I got the second piece to fit right, I clamped it into the vice and started to cut it down with a hack saw. SNAP! The wood just cracked in half. Maybe I had the vice too tight? Either way, I called it a night as far as inlays go.

My method:
- chuck the pen blank in the headstock of my lathe
- square the end of the blank with a scraper and skew and then sand it smooth
- drill the blank with the right size hole
- use a narrow (like 1/16") parting tool to slice off the right amount
- epoxy the ring/square to the stem, not worrying about making it flush (that will come later when the pipe is finished).

This assumes you have a lathe, of course. However, there's probably half a dozen other methods that you can use that don't require one. For instance:
- drill the blank with the right size hole
- sand the face flush
- cut off the right amount
- sand the other end smooth
- epoxy to the stem

The important part here is using epoxy to fasten the inlay/ring/whatever to teh tenon on the stem. Using an epoxy that's thick will fill in any gaps between the ring and the tenon, and it will appear as one single unit when removed from the pipe.

OK, I got the thin, non gap filling epoxy. Darn, I gotta go back to the woodcraft shop.

No lathe at my house, but I think I can still manage. Gonna try again soon. I've got some neat Zebrawood that I intend to make an insert for a pot shaped pipe I'm carving atm.

Question(s):

Why does the inlay have to be epoxied to the stem?

How do you keep it flush with the stem as the epoxy expands and fills gaps??

claification: How do I keep the faces flush if the epoxy is going to expand?

I use my lathe (turned off and not running) and clamp it between the headstock and the tailstock. This has worked well for me and the parts do not expand. The only problem is it keeps the lathe from being used for other things. I often will set it up before going to bed and then take it out of the lathe the next day after the epoxy has cured.

I've never seen on of my stem rings get pushed around by expanding epoxy - hmmm. I wasn't aware that stuff expanded. Maybe the 5-minute epoxy I use doesn't expand? I don't know. Either way, it's never been a problem for me.

I also don't use very much of the stuff - just a drop or two, spread around, and squished together.

OK, that clarifies it pretty much...

Random, what do you mean inside the ring AND inside the tenon/mortise joints? Do you make your inlay pipes a solid piece? Cause if it was in the ring and in the tenon/mortise joing then it would be one solid piece, right?