Dear Readers and Members, The forum has been down for over 6 months because the domain name (www.stamforum.com) lapsed and it is no longer available to re purchase. Although this forum is now defunct (it has morphed into several whatsapp groups), I have had many requests to put it back online because it contains so much information (over 1,800 posts and thousands of comments in the discussions, on a wide range of topics related to STa"M). I have therefore put the forum back online at blogger, so the address is www.stamforum.blogspot.com. The forum lasted for a decade...not a bad effort! It was pretty popular back in the days before whatsapp and managed to receive over a million hits in it's short life. It was one of the only organised forums in the STa"M world and definitely the largest in it's heyday. I would like to thank all those who cobtributed over the years, particularly the early members who helped build it up. Thanking you all, Eli
yes and no (if the ribuah is possul)
ReplyDeleteif ribah is goodand you are just sharpening corners, then yes
Deletemay one draw out the extra ink through a napkin? yes
ReplyDeleteWhy would you want to use tefillin dust to sharpen a corner? it offers NO halachic advantage. Whatever the status of the corner, adding dust will not change it. if it is fine as is then leave it alone. if it is not mehudar and that is what the customer wants then pull it out and fix it kehalacha.
ReplyDeleteif the corners are kosher but not sharp, many batim machers will fix gassos by dipping the corners in super glue and then dipping them into ground leather. after it dries they sand on a sanding belt an repaint, with excellent results.
Deletere: drawing out the ink -- Q-tips work really well
ReplyDeleteI've got a good few 1000 pairs of new/used tefillin under my belt and am aware of the obvious results. The point is that if the corners are mehudar then there is no need to use the dust and if they are not mehudar then the dust not only doesn't make it mehudar but it is also wrong because the owner/buyer assumes he has mehudar corners when in fact he doesn't. We do put on super glue after pulling out the corner but this is just to cause the corner to harden before sanding/shaping.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you totally that adding the pirurie ohr to thye corners is a bit of a cheat and does not amopunt to anything halachically. But I think people do it because its a quick fix that makes the batim look good.
DeleteI wouldnt bother with this for the simple reason that if its not broke dont fix it. A bayis is not an esrog. and if its so round that its possul, then this is not an acceptable way of fixing, you must expand the leather with water and fix it that way, as mentioned in some of the otehr comments.
By gassos water works but does it work for dakkos? it does not seem so to me.
Deleteregarding using super glue R' Zalmen Shimon Dvorkin said that it is a chatzitzah and therefore werever chatzitzah is an issue it shuld not be used.
ReplyDeleteI have heard this before but how does this sit with hermetic sealing, a practice theat requires super glue and done on virtually all new tefillin today
DeleteRegarding chatzitza the parshios need to be roieh avir hoilam and therefore anything on the bayis itself (not the titurah) that is not the same min is a problem.
Deleteon the titurah the only place were chatzitza is a problem is when its on the center of the titurah tachtoina and there is a chatzita between the parshios and the persons head/hand
OK so hermetic sealing woul dnot be a problem then according to R' Zalman Shimon
Deletethere is a very simple way of pulling out corners without glue,
ReplyDeletemake the corner wet with a tissue and let it sit untill the corner gets soft then using your finger nail push out the corner and let it dry. then just paint it over.