My tennon... Dangit, I shrank it!

[DanH]

I'm a relative newbie, and I'm working on a pipe... probably my tenth I think (all from kits, including this one).

I really wanted a long slow graceful bend in the lucite stem instead of the sharp angle I normally get, so with the stem inserted into the stummel, I slowly heated the whole stem with a heat gun until it was malleable enough for the bend I wanted. Bent it with no problems. Didn't pinch the draft at all (a nice first for me). Visually, the result is really great. But, after the stem cooled, I noticed that I had somehow shrunk my tennon. Basically, unless you're holding them together, it will slip right out of the mortise now.

Is there an easy way to get it back to snug again? And also, if someone has an idea of what I likely did to make it happen, let me know so I can try to avoid doing it again.

[ckr]

Usually folks find a nail that fits into the airway. heat the tenon back up and insert nail and push. The tenon should expand as you compress it, when done stick it in some water and cool it. Try not to press so hard that it is too big.

[FredS]

Instead of a nail, I use the butt end of a drill bit. I have a complete set of drill bits - Number sizes, Letter sizes & Fraction sizes, so it's fairly easy to find one that is a few thousandths larger than the draft hole. From there I do as ckr says. If you get it too big, you can always work it back down to size.

[RadDavis]

I hope I'm not too late.

Try heating the just the tenon up again while it's out of the pipe and then cool it. It should return to its original diameter.

When you heat the tenon up too much while it's in the pipe it will conform to the size of the mortise and become too loose.

Rad

[DanH]

I hope I'm not too late.

Try heating the just the tenon up again while it's out of the pipe and then cool it. It should return to its original diameter.

When you heat the tenon up too much while it's in the pipe it will conform to the size of the mortise and become too loose.

Rad

Hi Rad,

Pipe making is a dreadfully slow process for me, so you're not too late.

I definitely like your solution the best. It simple and non-invasive which appeals on a number of levels. Plus if it turns out it doesn't work, I can always resort to the heat and stretch method.

It's actually sort of funny that you should chime in here since the original design I had in mind for the pipe was inspired by one of yours that I saw somewhere. It has morphed into something different now, but the theft is probably still visible if you look hard enough. Sadly, I discovered mid-way into it that I just don't have the skill to pull off the shape with the finesse you did. That's probably a good thing for me since my ineptitude may keep me from getting sued!

Also, it reminds me that I've been meaning to get in touch with you about a repair job on one of your pipes that I have. What's the best way to contact you about that? It would probably be easiest to explain over the phone, but I imagine email might be more convenient for you, so I can use the contact info from your site, too. Let me know. My email is drhyatt(at)optimus.com.

[LexKY_Pipe]

I use an alcohol lamp to heat stems for bending. For me the heat is more direct and can be controlled better than a heat gun. To each his own.

Learned this trick from Tim West.