Tag Archives: tenon tools

Pipe Maker’s Emporium Tenon Turning Tool

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Blog by Greg Wolford

Several weeks ago I obtained a tenon turning tool from Pipe Maker’s Emporium (PME). I have been planning on writing my “review” of this tool since I mentioned it in the Big-Ben post but have put it off due to time and wanting to get better acquainted with the tool. Well, I think I am ready so here we go!

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The tool can be purchased from PME here and is, essentially, the same tool that PIMO sells and Steve has and uses. There is at least two differences that I can see: An extra adjusting screw )which is rarely used) and the price of the PME tool is about $9 less. (Having bought from both sources, I have a personal preference for PME: their S/H costs are a bit less and speed and service are better, again in my opinion; I have no affiliation with either company other than being a customer.) Both tools are used in the same way and they both have similar limitations on size. They also both lack precision measurements/adjustment mark, requiring one to go slowly and check often the tenon size so as to not over-turn it.

Steve describes the use and adjustment very well in an article he wrote nut I can’t find at the moment. He also compared the PME and PIMO tools in this article so I won’t go into a lof ground he has already covered, but try to add my impression of the PME tool,

I found the tool relatively easy to use overall. I experimented on a few old stems before re-stemming Big-Ben and have since turned several other stems for different stummels and corn cob pipes. I have had mostly good results but there have been a few massive failures, too.

As Steve has pointed out, the best use of this tool is gotten by turning the tenon very close to size and then finishing the job by hand sanding. I have also learned that the tool not only has no markings to gauge the amount of material to be removed by a single adjustment (you have to look at the cutter head relative to the tenon) but one cannot gauge the amount consistently by using a “formula” such as 1/4 turn of the adjusting screw has been giving me .5′ decrease in diameter so each 1/4 turn will continue to do so – I have over-turned two stems using that type of “formula”!

PME doesn’t sell the right size drill bit for the guide pin (a size #30 or .128″) so you will have to obtain it from another source (PIMO does sell it for $2.50) or make due with another size. At first I used an 1/8″ bit on the vulcanite stems which, while tight, worked okay. However, I had to move up to a 5/32″ bit for Lucite/acrylic and be careful to not get it out of round. I have since ordered the .128″ bit from PIMO and am happy with that.

The extra set screw on the PME tool is really not used except for turning multiple tenons of the same style to the same size: For instance if you needed to slightly turn several tenons for corn cob pipes you would use it. This second locking screw just really sets the cutter head to zero movement but the main locking screw is the one that is generally used since you will mostly be taking more and more material off of a tenon.

I find that using the tool at different speeds helps to get a nice, smooth tenon. I like to start out fairly slow and make my first pass, then increase the speed on subsequent passes. The final passes I will be at full speed and will slowly rotate the stem as I make the pass up then back down the tenon. Generally, this gives me a nice smooth tenon, without a lot of turning marks/lines.

As I mentioned above, the adjustments are not always equal so one has to watch carefully how much the cutter head advances with each movement of the adjusting screw. And in order to get a good, even result it is very important to lock the locking screw with each adjustment. I have found that my digital micrometer (bought very cheaply from Harbour Freight) is a good help in getting the size of the tenon down to where it needs to be. But due to the lack of real precision with the tool, I don’t think one can rely solely on the micrometer; when it is getting close I begin checking the tenon to mortise fit after every pass.

My analysis, then, would be something like this: If you wish to re-stem pipes you have to have one of these tools. I think that either the PME or PIMO tool would work as well as the other and which one you should purchase is simply a matter of preference or economics; the PME is cheaper but if you are ordering from one company or the other buying it with your order will save you on S/H costs. My personal recommendation would be (if you don’t already have some stems to experiment with) buy the tool from PME and order a dozen or two of whatever Carolyn has on sale that week to practice on (usually there are 2-3 styles of vulcanite stems on special for $4-$5) and maybe a couple of closeout acrylic ones, too, to get a feel for the difference (which is big!) in the two materials. The learning curve isn’t huge but it is there. But, if you are like me, learning a new skill to add to your arsenal of restoring these wonderful old pieces is a lot if fun and a big part of the draw of the hobby.

So what are you waiting for? Place your order and step into the next phase of the art of restoration.

Positives and Negatives of the PME Tenon Expander

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After reading about it online, I picked up a tenon expander from the Pipe Makers Emporium several years ago. It can be ordered online at http://www.pipemakers.org/tools02.html The website describes it as follows: Tenon Expander: (Three sizes-in-one: 1/25, 1/50, 1/60) “An absolute must for pipe repair! One tool that will do 99 percent of all loose tenons. Throw away that ice pick because this will do a much better job. Heat the Tenon with an alcohol lamp until it is soft. Insert the Expander to the next size. Place Tenon and Expander into cold water to set the Tenon to its new size. Remove the Expander and your Tenon will maintain its new size. .” The sell for $29.00 each

The concept of the tool is actually quite simple – heat the tenon with a heat gun/ hot water or heat the tenon expander tool with a flame or heat source. Once it is heated, push the expander into the tenon and twist it until the tenon expands. Cool the tenon under clean or cool water to set the expansion and then remove the tool. You will notice in the picture below that the tip is tapered and gets larger in diameter the farther you move up the tip toward the handle. By pushing the tool into the tenon you can expand it for a tighter fit in the shank. In my use of the tool I would heat and expand, then cool the tenon in water, remove the tool and try the stem on the pipe for a fit. If it needed more expansion I repeated the process until the fit was snug. The gradated slope on the tenon expander gives you a broad range of possibilities in accomplishing that task. After I had used it for a while I decided to evaluate the tool in terms of its positives and negatives. What about the tool did I like and what were its deficiencies?

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The positives –

In thinking through the positives the obvious ones were those advertised on the PME website.

  1. The ease of use is the first thing that stood out with the tenon expander. It is very simple to use even though it came with no instructions. It was not hard to figure out how to use it correctly.
  2. The tapered end is also billed as a positive feature of at first glance as it works to open the tenon to varying degrees and you can repeat the fit until the stem is snug. I will explain in the negatives why I have come to believe that the tapered end is not as great a feature as it initially appears to be when you begin.
  3. The grooves on the handle of the tool are cut to make it easy to hold on to as you work with it.

The negatives –

Over time and experience working with the tool I have found some of the features that I first thought were helpful have grown to irritate me and work as limitations of the tool.

  1. The first thing I have learned is that the taper on the end of the expander, while being helpful, is also a negative feature. The expander does not expand the entire tenon but rather the end of the tenon. With use the tenon thus is no longer cylindrical but can flare at the end. The snug fit is thus only for the first 1/8 inch of the tenon. The rest of the tenon is not touching the walls of the mortise.
  2. Heating the tenon to insert the expander makes the tenon very pliable and if you are not careful the tenon can be bent at an angle thus ruining the fit at the shank. I have found that if I heat the expander instead then the tenon does not soften as much and I avoid the potential of tilting the tenon.
  3. A final negative for me is the handle of the expander. I use a pair of heat mitts to hold it as I heat it but if I were going to continue to use it regularly I would make a wooden handle and epoxy the expander into it. In my opinion it would make it more usable.

Other options: As I pushed the limitations of the tenon expander that I purchased I decided to look and see if I could find other tools that would address the negatives that I have spelled out above. I have been experimenting with various sizes of ice picks and awls to use for tenon expansion as they have a longer shank and less taper. This allows me to expand the tenon the entire length of the tenon rather than just the tip. So far they have worked very well. I can easily heat the shaft of the awl or ice pick while holding the wooden handle. They slide into the tenon and are easily twisted slowly to expand the tenon. The final verdict is still out on them as I continue to look for picks and awls with a variety of diameter shafts.