[TheForge] What (square) taper is an outdoor faucet stem?

[LAWRENCE BROWN]

See if you can find a cheap replacement valve and use just the handle
Larry Brown

> On Jun 16, 2022, at 7:03 AM, Bruce <freemab222 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I'm hoping to tap this font of knowledge:
> 
> The pot-metal handle for an outdoor faucet suffered the zinc pest after 25
> years or more and fell apart.  The stem is a square taper, but there's an
> annular rim around it (I don't know why and have contemplated cutting it
> off) that requires a longer-than-typical square-holed shank on the handle.
> 
> I cannot find a replacement.
> 
> One old-neighborhood hardware store did sell me a tool for four stem sizes,
> but the fit isn't great so I consider this only an interim fix.
> 
> So the best fix would be to find a source of such handles, but I won't hold
> my breath about that.
> 
> Another possibility would be to cast a replacement from aluminum or
> bronze.  I can cast aluminum if need be, but it would require considerable
> effort for this one little part.  I've never cast yellow metal.  I expect I
> could, but don't consider it high on my list.
> 
> Yet another possibility would be to forge / fabricate a replacement from
> aluminum or preferably copper / bronze.  The concept would be to take a
> small yellow metal disk or thick-walled pipe and drive a tapered square
> drift into it.  On achieving a fit, I'd fabricate and/or braze that shank
> onto a handle.
> 
> The catch is that I don't know the taper of the square faucet stem.  If I
> can learn that, I can easily make a drift, and the rest is (comparatively)
> easy.
> 
> Anyone have a clue?  Or know where to find out?
> 
> Bruce
> NJ
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