Any tips for getting this Salsa woodchipper bar into a quill stem? I can't get it past the curve at the drops, and even that is tough. the stem i want to use has very little gap so i can't get a coin and a nut in there to spread the stem.. honestly not sure how far it will spread anyways

I know a stem with a removable faceplate is the obvious solution, but any tips that won't cost $? or recommendations for a nice black 1" quill stem with 25.4 clap area and removable face plate

Use a thin blade screwdriver or a sharp small cold chisel tip as a wedge to open the gap. Somehow you have to spread the clamp or you are going to damage the bars.

well i managed to widen the gap enough to get past the curve I was at, though now i'm at a new problem where the end of the end of the bar is preventing the stem from being able to rotate the way it needs to go to make the final turn. i see other people have cut off the end of their bars.. i'm not sure if i want to do that before at least trying them full length :\

It should be possible to do it another way so the bars don't foul the quill.

i tried a few more times but i really don't think it's going to work w/o a removable faceplate

this stem is ok looking, though I'm not sure which size i'm gonna need.. i'm gonna try to source a cheap used faceplate stem to at least get an idea what kind of reach i'm gonna need

"the end of the end of the bar is preventing the stem from being able to rotate the way it needs to go"

Difficult to tell from your description, but would removing the stem from the bike help you to get things rotated the way you need them?

Regular stems like Cinelli1A were narrower on the side with the bolt.
as the bar was inserted you turn the bar so the inside of the curve
faces the narrower side of the stem.

Yea stem Off the bike..

yeah the stem i have is narrower on one side, and the narrow side has to be on the inside of the curve. unfortunately there is a point where you cannot rotate the stem so that the narrow part is in the curve, because the stem makes contact with the flared out end of the bar. if the ends of the bar were a tiny bit shorter I would be able to rotate the stem and get the bar on the rest of the way.

this person had the same problem and cut the ends of the bar https://forums.mtbr.com/salsa/had-cut...em-722946.html

i might be able to force it but i don't want to gouge the bars

i'm looking at replacement stems now.. *grumble*