Hi John, Your correct, it can and does cause the tube to rust out from the inside, its bad practise really. Already contacted Mark about having wood bunged up his steerer [sounds painful!]
As a framebuilder I've seen quite a few breakages caused by people shoving wood or even rag up the tube, usually seat tubes, not a good idea!
Kevin Sayles
Bridgwater. UK
> At 03:22 AM 05/01/2008 -0800, Norris Lockley wrote:
>
>> It was very a common practice to bang these bungs into place and it was
> held to be a very good one. The bung, often made out of beech or oak, is
> fitted to stiffen up the joint and to provide a sort of insurance policy
> in
> the event of the brazed joint breaking
>>
>
> Just curious what the chances would be of water making its way down the
> stem and soaking the bung, thus rusting the steerer from inside over time.
> Has that happened? I say this because cut out bottom bracket shells are
> supposed to let water drain out to avoid rusting.
>
> John Betmanis
> Woodstock, Ontario
> Canada