Originally Posted by ctp
I have built frames but never a stem. I want to build a couple out of steel. What should I be looking for for quill tubing, and clamp tubing? I can't seem to find any clear idea of what to get from Nova or Henry James. Any ideas?
I have no idea.
If I were going to do it, I'd start w/ an existing stem, like a nice, old cro-mo Ritchey and just replace the extension tube.
I'd cut the extension out and measure and look for something similar. Josh listed a couple of sources here:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/build/suppliers.html
Looks like Metal Buyers Mart might be a good place to start.
I'm guessing that an extension is about 7/8" tubing with maybe 0.065 walls.
You could do the same for the quill. Cut up and old one and see what size it is.