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I got hold of a plugcutter a while ago, thinking that it might be a cheap way to turn down the tenons on premolds with my drillpress. So far it went OK, just screwed up one tenon when trying it at too fast a speed. The only problem is that you have to sand down the face of the stem by hand. Anybody else ever tried something similar?

Can we see a picture?

The idea had occurred to me, but you're still left with having to get that perfect 90 degree shoulder. Since I have a lathe, I didn't persue the idea further. It might be less hassle just to use the Delrin/ABS tenon method.

The other question remains, how well does it match/fit the mortise?

Yep, the 90 degree shoulder still have to be done by hand. The only reason I tried the idea was beause I do not have a lathe and also can't get hold of 8mm delrin. And as luck would have it, it fits the mortise perfectly!

If you have a bench grinder (or a steady hand and a belt or disc sander) maybe you can grind the shoulder on your cutter to be square like this one. The flutes are probably too narrow to cut the full width of the stem, but it may give you enough of a "groove" that it would be easy to file the high area down flush.

FredS! Is this a readymade or a custommade bit? Anyways, where can I get one? Please!

Those are sold at woodworking stores all over the place - I've even seen them at the big box stores like Lowes and Home Depot.

Come to think of it, I saw a selection of sizes in the little mom-n-pop hardware store I was in last night when I stopped in to buy some fresh drill bits.

KurtHuhn wrote:Come to think of it, I saw a selection of sizes in the little mom-n-pop hardware store I was in last night when I stopped in to buy some fresh drill bits.

Somewhat off topic but, as most folks know, I'm a right old cheapskate. One thing I hate doing is tossing away blunt drill bits because I suck at sharpening them by hand. I finally found a bit sharpener that works, about the 4th that I've tried, each one costing more than the last: http://www.drilldoctor.com/
I have the model 750 and it actually works. To most folks, it might seem a bit pricey, but solid Cobalt and Silver & Deming bits are bloody expensive, so to me it's worth it.

tritrek wrote:: Is this a readymade or a custommade bit? Anyways, where can I get one? Please!

This particular one is from Woodcraft.com but as Kurt says, they can be had locally from a well stocked hardware store. The trick is to look for a tennon & plug cutter instead of a regular plug cutter

This is what mine look like:

Nothing as fancy as yours, FredS.
Sanding the shoulders by hand is a bit of a pain, but well, if I want to try pipemaking without a lot of money at hand , I have to try the cheapskate ideas! Might try my "steady" hand at the grinder.