The International STa"M Forum

I'm not a big expert on batim so advice is appreciated. I know that one broken tefira (or even sometimes 2) can be kosher if it's on the side, but the a broken tefira in the corner that ruins the Zavit is Pasul. This shel yad had a long gid coming out of it. I wasn't sure what it was so had a look and it seemed that it's from the corner tefira underneath.  Perhaps it was the end of the tefirot but it seems to have been badly looped because I pulled lightly at the bottom at it almost pulled out all the way through, so it seems that it's not actually tied to anything. Just pulled through.  The other 3 cornea tefirot (2 on top and 1 on bottom) are a bit loose but they seem to be still connected even if loose. Does this one bottom corner tefira that isn't really connected posel the tefillin? Must it be opened and re sealed?

Today, when I was learning how to assemble/disassemble tefillin with my sofrus tutor, we opened an old pair of my tefillin and found that the batim were lined with what appears to be posterboard or plastic of some sort, glued into the bayis.  The only part of the batim that was exposed leather/klaf was the flap of the titura, and, on the shel rosh, the klaf separating the compartments (the tefillin are peshutim mehudarim.)  My tutor had never seen anything like it before. Has anyone seen this sort of thing before?  Thoughts on the kashrus of the batim?  My tutor was of the opinion that this would constitute a chatzizah, but allowed that there might be a kulah of which he was not aware. Pictures below, for those who are interested.  I apologize for the quality, as I was shooting the pictures with my phone's camera, which is not quite designed for this sort of work.

Can anyone recommend a source for high-quality small Batim? By "small" I mean 28mm and under, including pitzponim . I am looking for good craftsmanship as well as hiddurim such as truly prudos , holes for chut ha-tfira on the outside, etc. Preferably a Batim Macher you rely on personally or has an excellent hechsher such as Eidah Chareidis . Thank you.

What is SA H arav's opinion about parshiyos that descend from the batim into the area of the titura? SA Harav 32:55:   Totafos mentioned in the Tora chachamim received [the explanation] as 4 [batim] pockets of leather for 4 parshiyos, each parsha in a [special] pocket by itself … "each parsha in a [special] pocket by itself " – each parsha has a designated area - its private bayis. If it isn't in its bayis, it is pasul [from the Tora – this is not totafos ]. SA Harav 32:61:   The charitz [crack separating] between the batim must descend till the tfira, if not it is [still] kosher, if it [the charitz] is at least recognized at the top of the bayis… When is this so, when inner separations [mechitzos] were made [added-glued] between the pockets [batim] from the top till the end of the width of the parsha … but if he did not do so [these inner separations] or the leather between each parsha and parsha was torn it is pasul … SAH is clearly teaching – any par...

Question for Reb Moshe: Today I checked a pair of tefillin where the ribuah of the bayis was OK on the top but towards the bottom the bayis got a little wider and swollen (probably from moisture or sweat). When measurimng with a caliper it was like 1.7 out (between orech and rochev). So I used a knife to shave off some of the bayis from both sides. I took off about .5 of a mm from each side, thus bringing the ribuah back to a kosher size. My concern is that I remember once speaking with R' Yossi Altien, (a sofer and batim expert in the US) who told me to be careful when shaving batim as it could open a "fold" and one could unwittingly make a hole. I am no expert on batim, so the big question is,what are the chances of this happening? I lifted the batim to the light after I shaved them before I repainted them. The dull light came through but I did not see any "bright light" indicating a crack or hole. Also when looking at the actual bayis where I shaved, I se...