Options
Bit Replacement
Having over a dozen pipes in use, I am now looking for a good craftsman that can replace the bits on five pipes with broken bits. Does anyone out there have any recommendations? It would be great if such an artisan is available in the mid west.
Comments
If you want to use that stem, I assume?
I would start by cleaning it very well with Everclear.
I would then fit a balsa wood wedge that goes just past the break-out into the stem by about 1/8” and the same height and width of the button, maybe slightly under size to give the repair some thickness, and extend slightly past the bit.
Carefully scratch up the beveled/broken edges of the break in a cross-hatch pattern with an X-Acto knife. You can also use a small bit in a pin-vise to drill a few shallow holes into the edges of the break to “pin” the epoxy.
Mix some PC-7 Epoxy or, if not available, some other somewhat stiff epoxy. PC-7 can be a dark gray almost black when mixed, and lay the epoxy over the balsa wedge and “tamp” it down into the cross-hatch scratches. Build up the epoxy to form the bit ledge. Let the epoxy dry completely.
File the epoxy flush and file the lip profile.
Take an X-Acto and shave/carve down the epoxy so it is a little below the final stem profile that you want.
Clean the epoxy and stem with Everclear again.
Use some Loctite #380 Black Max Cyanoacrylic and apply that over the epoxy and “feather” it out a bit past the broken area. Let that dry.
File the profile of the stem, lip, and bit end, and sand it until it is pretty much smooth.
Use a small pin-vise and drill bit to carefully remove the balsa, it is pretty easy to remove. Carefully clean the bit and airway with a pipe cleaner and some more Everclear.
To strengthen the repair some more, carefully add small drops of Black Max inside the bit with a drop on a straightened paper clip to apply it. You don’t want to close the airway with Black Max now that you are this close. You can use CA Accelerator to speed up the Black Max set, go easy with that stuff too, sometimes it will “frost” the CA Glue.
once that is all set, do the final sanding and polishing.
That particular pipe stem looks like an easier one to fix, nice wide angled edges on the break, and pieces of the bit on either side to shape to.
There you go. You asked for it...you got it😀. Hope it helps.
At least that is how I would do it😉