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I am having trouble getting a consistant taper on my stems. I have a small belt sander with a 1 1/2" belt and was wondering if it would be easier with a wider belt sander?

It might be. But first, how many stems are we talking about? 10? 20? It takes a certain amount of practice and repetition to get good results no matter what tool you use. FWIW, even if I do a lot of stem shaping on a wheel (I suck at using a belt) after I cut the button I switch to files and rasps, which make a pretty smooth line anyway.

Jack

If speed isn't an issue, I would say get good with rasps and files. The leave things fairly flat and uniform. If anything you will wind up with a hump rather than a depression, which in terms of a taper, is probably a good thing. A wider belt would ease things for you, performing the same function, but it's still going to be a bit hard to control. Belts = rough shape, for me anyhow. I'm sure there's guys here who can get it very very close on a belt.
But when I have a pipe or a piece of pipe that just doesn't taper well (and that's.... uh, almost every pipe!), it's file time.

I remember a while back some one made a jig to use on a router table for a consistent taper. if i remember correctly, he used a wood block on each end, the button end being shorter than the tenon end. the he just ran them over the router. Flip it over and you get the same slant on the other side. Seemed like a nifty idea to me. But i don't have a router table. So i never tried it.

JHowell wrote:...files and rasps, which make a pretty smooth line anyway.

Jack is right, with practice and right files it gets easy.

You can get a more consisent taper if you turn (wood or metal lathe, perhaps even a drill press) the stem first and cut your round taper out to the button end. Then remove material from top and bottom of the stem to get your flats.

practice-practice-practice

Its a good thing I enjoy this hobby because sometimes it can be frustrating.

Thanks guys

kbadkar wrote:You can get a more consisent taper if you turn (wood or metal lathe, perhaps even a drill press) the stem first and cut your round taper out to the button end. Then remove material from top and bottom of the stem to get your flats.

Hey Kris,

I've seen guys do this, but always considered it a wasted step. I can't figure out what problem this is solving. Also, what do you do with the inch or so of material that's held in the chuck while turning? Doesn't the perfect taper end up stopping an inch from the end, and then you're back to grinding it to shape again?

TJ

I use a 1" wide belt on my grinder to shape most of the "flat" areas of a stem (which are rarely actually flat), but then I typically switch to files. A smooth consistent taper is difficult to get without practice - even with files and wide belts.

If you turn the taper, you can be sure that the taper is centered and symmetric around the draft hole. Here's an example of a turned taper.



I chuck the stem on my tapered drill bit right after drilling the draught hole, with the live center in the 1/16" hole (later to become v-slot) on the other end... so you can turn it all the way to the shoulder, if you so please.