My first steps...

Calumet · Post by **Calumet** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:23 pm

Greetings to all,
First of all let me express my gratitude towards all participants on this great forum.
Big up! for the moderators.and everyone sharing knowledge
There a winter full of reading the treads ahead for me.
Beeiing a young father I picked up the art of smoking pipe and trew away the sigaret as a token of an important change in my life
I consider myselve to be a creative person and with determination I will learn the noble art of pipe making,with great help from this forum,offcourse.
Also I like to appologise for the weird kinda english you'll be reading in my posts. But aslong that we can understand one and other it will do.
I live in Belgium and right now I am building myself an working place to put my tools,make music smoke and hopefully one day MAKE pipes.
I just couldn't wait and made my first Tamper,I needed it.
And made one from African ebony with a sanddisk
It work well but it can get a whole lot better.
After a finish with that wax,Carbanau,something..
On the net i saw many tampermakers have an metal part at the bottom
of theire tampers attached,bras,messinf,cupper,all kinds of steel
My Question is how does it's fixed? the metal to the wood or other
Do they use a kind of glue?
Or is it screwed together?
Can anyone here helpe me out with this?
I would like to make another tamper with a piece of cupper at its base.
And if someone likes and can tell me how to add pictures here I will put a picture of my first steps.

Kind regards

Frank

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:03 pm

I use brass rod stock that I buy at a knife makeing supply place, and adhere it to the bottom with epoxy. I sand both the metal and wood with 80 grit sandpaper first, just to rough up the surface so that the metal adheres better.

Calumet · Post by **Calumet** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:26 am

Hi Kurt

Thanx a lot for your quick replie.
The first of many mysteries is getting solved.

I hop to the nearest epoxy store and buy me a little.
Again a few questions:
Is it expensive?
Does it takes long to dry?
Do I have to aplie it on both sides of the material,or will one drop on one side do the work?
Do u use high pressure to put the two materials together?
Can it glue also other materials like acryl or ivory,bone etc.?
Any thing else to keep in mind?

I hope I dont
bodder you to much here

Again
Thanx a lot
Frank

ckr · Post by **ckr** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 7:56 am

Welcome to the board, you are right - there are many knowledgeable carvers here helping all.

I am sure that you have a tool list as long as my arm. I, and those that have a metal lathe, turn half inch brass with a spindle. The spindle has grooves cut into it. The tamper is faced with a forstner bit and then has a hole drilled into the end which is filled with epoxy and the spindle stuck in to set. It is then sanded together like a stem/shank junction for a smooth transition. Once hardened you would have to destroy the tamper to remove it.

Calumet · Post by **Calumet** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:03 am

Woohw

Now I understand.
Thanx a lot for the insights
They are a great help to I

So think I have to look for something simullar,cause I don't own a lathe,yet.
Maybe some plugs one can find in the plumbingstore...?

Happy puffings
Frank

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:27 am

Using the right epoxy, you may find that you don't need to create that spindle. I use either round rod and slice off a thin piece, or I use rectangular bar and use a square chunk of it. I sand the mating surfaces with 120 grit paper, and use a good, strong epoxy. I don't know what you have available near you, but I like to use a structured epoxy for these (T-88 is the brand name), but a 15 or 30-minute epoxy will also do. Spread it around and clamp it in a vise of some sort, and let it cure for at least 24 hours before you sand or further shape.

When using this method, I keep a cup of water nearby to dip the tamper in as I'm shaping it. This will keep the metal cool, and prevent the epoxy from softening and releasing its hold. Machining a spindle is the ultimate in securing the metal foot, but in the absence of a metal lathe, this method is pretty darn good

ckr · Post by **ckr** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 12:50 pm

Machining a spindle is the ultimate in securing the metal foot, but in the absence of a metal lathe, this method is pretty darn good

Not to mention that Kurt's method probably gets about 3 times as many tampers from a rod to boot.

Calumet · Post by **Calumet** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 2:17 pm

Hi Kurt

I realy appreciate what you're doing.
Thanx a lot.
I am gonna stick with your method.
Glue the pieces together!
I went out and got me the first epoxy I could get my hands on.
Yachtcare is the brandname and it is described as a 10 -30 min.
Transparent glue.
Do you think it is any good?
The one you mentioned T-88 do you think it will be available
here in these parts of the world?
I will try several ones.see what I can get here.

peace man