Blog by Steve Laug

This one has been sitting on my desk for a long time in need of a stem. I have restemmed it with at least two different moulded stems that I have fit the tenon on and carved the surface down to make a slab like stem but none of them worked for a variety of reasons. One of them I sanded right through the top of the stem as I flattened it. The second just was not wide enough in the flare that makes a Barling stem what it is. I scrounged on EBay for old stems or ruined Barlings so that I could scavenge a stem. I found several but when they arrived they were oval stems or stems with a smaller diameter at the shank. So I was stuck and the pipe sat for probably four more months.

One evening I was chatting on Skype with Dan Chlebove from Gabrieli Pipes about it and asked him if he would be willing to cut a piece of vulcanite rod stock for me to work on. He agreed and quickly did that for me and sent it up to the Great White North! It arrived and I fit the tenon to the mortise with very little effort. After that I again set the pipe aside while I worked on the fortitude to go to work on the stem. The piece of rod stock looked daunting to me and I had never hand cut a stem before. This was going to be my first hand cut a stem and a Barling slab stem to boot. I was not sure whether I would be able to pull it off. So it sat! Probably another month went by with it sitting on my desk next to the computer just quietly, silently taunting me to take the plunge.

The long and short of it is that five months to the day from when I received the pipe stummel in the mail, I finally went to work on the stem. I set up my Dremel with the large sanding drum and got out my wood rasps and files and went to work on the stem. I did the initial shaping and cutting away of material with the Dremel and the sanding drum. I decided to start by cutting back volume on what would be the slab part of the bit. Notice in the pictures below I left a bar at the tip for where the button would be when I finished the stem. I did not work on the diameter of the saddle or the curves of the Barlings saddle at this point. I was only interested in removing material to begin to get the rod shaped into the stem and remove as much material as possible with the Dremel. The three photos below show the first steps in the process and the result of sanding with the Dremel. I have shown the stem on the pipe from the top and bottom view to give an idea of what I was aiming for and in profile in the third photo to show how much material had been removed at this point in the process.

There was still a long way to go to get the stem to even close to the final shape. I used the Dremel and sanding drum to remove more material and begin to take the saddle down to size to fit the diameter of the shank. At this point the saddle is slightly conical as I was working particularly on the junction of the stem and shank. I also sanded away more of the slab material and used the drum to shape in the portion of the rod that would end up being the button on the finished pipe. The next three photos show the results of the next process of sanding with the Dremel. The shape is beginning to emerge from the rod stock.

The next two photos show the file and rasp that I used in the next part of the work of shaping. I would come back to the Dremel to remove more material but I wanted to flatten the slab and not have any waves in it that the round sanding drum left behind (visible in the photos above, I was careful so they were not too bad, but they were there). I sent up the pipe on the work bench and use the rasp to cut away material. I held it horizontal to the slab and worked the length back and forth until it was straight and smooth. I used a file to take out many of the deep cuts of the rasp and to work on the edge of the button on the end of the rod stock. The first photo shows where the stem is beginning to more clearly emerge. There is still a lot of work to do at this point but it is beginning to tentatively take shape. All through the process from this point on I kept a picture of a Barling’s Make Billiard close at hand to compare as I removed more and more material. It has been wisely said that you should progress slowly because you can always remove more material but you cannot put it back. The saddle of the stem is still conical because I still needed to work the taper and slight flare of the slab bit. The flat slab is very proportional in the second profile picture. It is flat at this point but still far too thick for the finished stem. The button is better defined and the stem is very clearly outlined in both pictures.

At this point I took the pipe back to the Dremel to remove some the saddle and some of the thickness of the slab. The picture below shows what the pipe looked like when I brought it back to the work bench to use the files again. You will note that I worked with the stem on the pipe. I do this because I want to keep things in proportion and find that when I work with it off of the stem it is easy to lose the roundness of the saddle portion and a feel for the look of the pipe in profile. I use the pipe bowl as a guide to keep me focused in what I remove of the vulcanite. Each step the stem is emerging more and more from the rod stock.

In the next three photos I used some 80 grit sand paper to remove more material from the saddle. At this point I still left a bit of the conical shape. I was working on the profile to bring the saddle into line with the horizontal lines of the shank. You can see that there is still a lot of material to remove before it is in line. I also began to work on the taper back to the button. I would have to remove some more of the thickness of the slab but I wanted to narrow the flow back to the button.

The next two photos show the pipe from the top and the bottom next to a smaller Barling’s Make billiard that I was using as an example along with the photos I had collected. I was ready to start working on the taper of the slab on each side. Note the way the little billiard stems line go from the shank to the button in the photos. I wanted to make the lines on the slab I was working on to go the same angles. You can see what I am speaking of most clearly in the second photo of the top of both stems. I was aiming for the shape and angle of the sides of the original to match the stem I was shaping. At this point the stem is really taking shape and I can see it more clearly as I work on it. There is still much material to remove from the thickness of the slab but care must be exercised as I needed to open up the airway with a larger drill bit before going much further. I did not want the stem to be so thin that I would drill right through the top or bottom.

The next four photos show the pipe stem after I have drilled the airway and opened it up. I then removed more of the material from the slab and the saddle with the sanding drum and then sandpaper. The stem was getting closer to the shape I was aiming for. I also sanded the taper from the saddle back to the button with the files and the sandpaper. I wanted a gradual move and flow back while keeping the profile flat. The upper portion of the stem next to the saddle was close to flatness I wanted but the nearer the button the stem was crowned and needed to be sanded flat once again. I shaped the button and removed material from the thickness of it to approximate the finished profile. I also slanted the lip of the button away from the stem. In the last two photos of the foursome I show the top and bottom views of the stem at this point. I had the angles from the saddle to the button along the sides with the right flare. The overall look of the stem was very close to the original, just a bit thick and crowned rather than flat at the button end. More sanding needed to be done!

In the next four photos the crown on the stem has been removed, the diameter of the saddle and the shank are very close and the fit is excellent. The button has been shaped a bit more but there it still a lot of material on it. The slab of the stem is still thicker than I would like but it is getting closer to the finished stem. The shape is very clear now and the round piece of rod stock has all but disappeared. You will notice at this point that the saddle and slab are at right angles and there is not the curve of the original Barling’s Make stem where the saddle merges with the slab. That remains to be done. The angles of the slab from shank to button are finally getting there. Lots of sanding has been done and more to come to get this just so.

I used the Dremel sanding drum to carve the angles of the saddle to slab transition. I needed to go from the ninety degree angle in the above photos to more of a curved flowing transition. I drew the curve I was aiming at with a carpenters pencil on the saddle portion of the stem so that I could see how much material to cut away with the sanding drum. The next three photos show the stem after the sanding drum had done its work. It is hard to see in the profile shots but I pushed the drum a little too deeply into the slab portion and caused the flatness to have a slight dip on the top and the bottom of the slab. It would take much sanding to bring that back to level with both files and sandpaper. I used a file to work on the surface first to smooth out the surface and level it and then 80 grit sand paper to begin to smooth out the slab and bring it back to level.

The next two photos show the progress of removing the dips. The first shows the profile and if you look closely you can see the dip in the top and bottom is lessening though it is still present. The sanding disk in the picture is a soft sponge with 100 grit sandpaper attached and it is perfect for working the curve of the angles on the saddle. I also worked on the angles from shank to button some more with the sandpaper and also the button to give it more definition.

The next series of photos show the work that was done to remove more of the material in the saddle and smooth out the shank/stem junction. There was still material that need to be removed from the underside of the saddle at this point as can be seen in the two profile pictures. The top is pretty close but both need more sanding to make the surface horizontal from the bowl to the saddle transition to the slab. I also worked on the width of the slab horizontally. I would also need to flatten the sides of the slab rather than curve them as they are in these photos. The curve of the saddle to the slab it looking very good at this point and is a match to the original stem in terms of angle and position. I sanded the button some more as well to thin it down and to taper it backward toward the slot.

The next series of photos show the stem after I have removed much of the thickness around the shank junction. The top is just about perfect in terms of it horizontal look. The bottom needs to have a bit removed near the slope to the slab. The side profile shots show that the taper in terms of width is getting very close. I also flattened the edges of the stem profile from shank to button to give it a more Barling’s shape. The button is getting a cleaner look as I shape it with the sandpaper and the slab is just about the correct thinness and flatness. The last two photos of the top and bottom of the stem show that the angles of the stem flow nicely from the bowl to the button

The last four photos show the pipe with the shaping finished. The stem fits the shank well and the diameter of the shank and saddle match. The curved edge of the saddle is matching and when overlaid on a picture of the original stem it also matches. The taper of the bit from saddle to button is smooth and flowing. The width of the bit tapering from the bowl back to the button is equal and smooth. The button has been shaped and the width and angles on it are matching the original stem. I have opened the slot on the end of the stem but still need to shape the slot to be more like the Barling slot. There are also scratches that need to be removed from the surface of the stem to get the rich polish on the vulcanite. Those are minor things that need to be completed before the stem is completely finished but it has gone from a vulcanite rod to a Barling’s stem shape.

I enjoyed the process of stem shaping from start to finish. Though this took probably about 5 hours or more, and I am sure there are faster ways to do the work, I learned far more than the time spent can spell out. I would not change anything about the learning as I do my best in hands on experiences. The process of shaping a piece of rod stock into a stem has been demystified for me and I have gained a new appreciation for the work of pipe makers and repairmen who hand cut stems. There is no way a craftsman can be compensated adequately for the painstaking detail that goes into shaping and crafting a hand cut stem. My hat is off to those who take the time to do that on the pipes they make. Thank you.

UPDATE: I just finished shaping the button and the slot on the new stem. I used needle files and folded sandpaper to smooth out the slot. I funneled it back quite a ways. The pictures below show the shape of the button and the slot as it stands now.

Here are a couple of photos of the shape of the button in profile and from above.