Bought a cheap Standard System B42 Heritage about a year ago. Smoked it a few times, then put it back in the closet.
I pulled it out yesterday since it is dedicated to C&D Sun Bear, and even though it’s cold and snowy, I was in the mood for Sun Bear.
Smoked a couple bowls, and the thing I noticed was the wiggly stem. The tenon on the stem only engaged the mortise by about 0.200”. There was no “System”, indeed the chimney came nowhere near going past the airway.
So I went to the shop and started reworking it.
I had to take material off the tenon so that the stem would seat properly, and come forward enough to provide the “System” function.
While I was doing this, I noticed the nickle band was loose and spinning around, so I glued that back in place.
Finally, the bend on the stem was all wonky. A sharp bend in the middle with gradual bend going towards the back, and the bit being pointed at a bit more of an extreme downward angle than required. The bit was twisted in relation to the rest of the stem, and the saddle was tweaked off the right hand side slightly. So I did a reset on the stem and bent and set it properly.
I wiped the stummel and gave it a little buff with white diamond. The briar looks like heartwood. There were several small putty filled sandpits that revealed themselves. I may just restain the stummel black…
I pulled it out yesterday since it is dedicated to C&D Sun Bear, and even though it’s cold and snowy, I was in the mood for Sun Bear.
Smoked a couple bowls, and the thing I noticed was the wiggly stem. The tenon on the stem only engaged the mortise by about 0.200”. There was no “System”, indeed the chimney came nowhere near going past the airway.
So I went to the shop and started reworking it.
I had to take material off the tenon so that the stem would seat properly, and come forward enough to provide the “System” function.
While I was doing this, I noticed the nickle band was loose and spinning around, so I glued that back in place.
Finally, the bend on the stem was all wonky. A sharp bend in the middle with gradual bend going towards the back, and the bit being pointed at a bit more of an extreme downward angle than required. The bit was twisted in relation to the rest of the stem, and the saddle was tweaked off the right hand side slightly. So I did a reset on the stem and bent and set it properly.
I wiped the stummel and gave it a little buff with white diamond. The briar looks like heartwood. There were several small putty filled sandpits that revealed themselves. I may just restain the stummel black…