How do you make wood expand?

[Goathead]

Not a sex thread. I have a Souix Fourwinds pipe from Pipestone, Mn and the wooden stem doesn't fit into the pipestone bowl anymore. It is too loose. I think it is either sumac or ash. If I soak the stem in hot water, will that cause it to expand? Thanks.



on edit:added pic

[ET Awful]

1. It would expand, but would shrink again as it dried.

Your best bet might be to remove the stem, soak it in water for a while, then wrap it in something like a very thin piece of leather or perhaps some thin wood veneers, then reinsert it. While it's wet, it will be more pliable and should be easy enough to re-mount with the additional material acting as a spacer for when it dries.

[Goathead]

2. I'll try it, thanks! n/t

[ET Awful]

3. The leather might be the best bet if you can find some really thin

stuff. It will also shrink as it dries and possibly act as a seal around the wood/stone fitting.

[Goathead]

6. I have another pipe made from clay.

It has a reed stem and the clay bowl has cork for the stem to slip into. Seems to work pretty much like the way you are talking about with the leather.

[wideopen]

4. It will

but once it dries out it will probably loosen up again. Soak the whole pipe so it will expand in the hole or you may have a hard time getting it in. Damn this really does sound like a sex thread.

[HereSince1628]

5. If the fit was was tight before winter, its likely a matter of drying

I know nothing about pipes but it might not be necessary to soak the pieces. I'd worry soaking might cause too much swelling.

You might put the pieces assembled into a humid environment, say a box with a dampened sponge. People with wooden musical instruments protect them by placing various "humidifiers" in the cases.

[Goathead]

7. No, it's from taking it apart and putting it back.

It has kind of worn down a bit.

[Boo Boo]

8. Hmmm. I wonder at what temp

Epoxy starts freaking out? Probably too low. And if you did try it and it didn't work out...

Soaking the stem and using a leather gasket might not work because the stem will shrink as it dries. Also the swollen stem will make it a lot tougher to find a piece of leather that'll work.

Do it dry first, that's my advice.

[Goathead]

10. Fuck that shit.

I don't want to be smoking epoxy. Plus you are right it would ruin it.

[Blue-Jay]

9. Why don't you just cork the stem?

You know, like a clarinet tenon. You can buy corks at any music store that deals in woodwind instruments.

[BlueJazz]

11. If it was me, I would attack the problem from another angle.

I would get some high temp wood filler (not the cheap stuff) and add some to the inside diameter to the shaft of the bowl. After it dried, you could gently sand the inside of the shaft so the stem fits snugly.
(You curl your sandpaper into a tight circle and insert in the bowl shaft)

[Wilber_Stool]

12. Sound like you might have to

build up the surface. Check this out:

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Department&ID=64

[miss_kitty]

13. I would call a museum that has that type of artifact and ask.

They deal with your question all the time.

If you soak it in water, it'll dry out and be worse.

Generally you want to go with the most gentle, least changing remedy for an artifact. I saw someone suggest cork-which IMHO is the best, only because you aren't altering the original material in any way and it is reversable.

Wood needs sustained humidity to stay plump. Well, the kind of wood we are discussing here, anyway.