Cracked shank

[Mark B.]

I dropped this stummel on the concrete floor while hand sanding to fine-tune the shape. The crack runs about 8mm up the shank.

Thought about cutting off ~9mm, refacing, redrilling the mortise deeper. Rechucking it perfectly in the lathe and without damaging it would be a challenge though. A drill press might be a better choice but I don't have one. Cutting it off would also make the shank much too short and I think the pipe would look stupid.

I could finish it out and do a repair band as the last step. I don't know how to do that though, I'd have to learn.

Should I write it off, chalk it up to experience, and move on to the next one? The grain is so nice and the shaping was going along so well, I'm reluctant to give up on it. What are my options?

[Ocelot55]

I'd cut off the crack and chuck it up in the lathe with a pin gauge through the draft hole, face the end, then try some bamboo or another type of extension.

[kamkiel]

I have messed up the shank one way or another with most pipes I have made. Normally, I throw it to the side until I feel motivated/inspired to try to get it usable. This has given me plenty of opportunities to play with shank extensions. I think for a newbie (like myself) to just throw an unfinished pipe away is a wasted opportunity.

[Mark B.]

I'm not going to throw it away but I might set it aside and come back to it later when I feel like my skills are better up to dealing with it.

I have messed up the shank one way or another with most pipes I have made. Normally, I throw it to the side until I feel motivated/inspired to try to get it usable. This has given me plenty of opportunities to play with shank extensions. I think for a newbie (like myself) to just throw an unfinished pipe away is a wasted opportunity.

[JMG]

I had pretty much the same thing happen lately. I cut it off past the break and put he airway bit through and then chucked the other end into my drill press (don't have a lathe.) From there I lowered it down into some soft jaws, and with my vise loose from the table I began to tight the vise plates letting it pull the entire vise into place around the stummel. With the stummel now tightened into place I backed the chuck and air way bit out of place and carefully refaced, and then VERY slowly as to avoid tear out redrilled my mortise.

This worked pretty well for me, but obviously it leaves you with a drastically shorter shank. Another option would be to drill it out to accommodate SS tubing instead of a typical mortise and use that for a shank extension.

Anywho, I'm sure there are much better/more proper ways to fix this, but it's how much clunky hands crudely "fixed" it.

[mcgregorpipes]

would it be wrong to fix it with CA and clamp the crack shut with a rubber band around the shank? might be just about an invisible flaw, guess it depends on who the pipe is for. might be a good idea to CA it shut first and access even if you went to turn it down after less chance the crack would chip or spread.