Pipe restoration

[Shamrocker]

I picked up a nice little estate pipe from rramstad's latest sale and was looking for info on removing the oxidization from the vulcanite stem and polishing it up nicely. I started by using some baking soda with a little water mixed in to form a bit of a paste and was rubbing that on with q-tips. It appeared to be working fairly well, but I think it may take a LONG time to continue with that method. Does anyone have experience with using a multi speed Dremel with a cloth/felt polishing wheel and polishing compound? The compound looks a lot like tripoli I used back in shops class in school many years ago, but it's just labeled with the Dremel brand.

When I'm done polishing it up, should the stem be shiny and black, or will it end up with a bit of the greenish-brown oxidized tint it has now?

 

[LilBastage]

Be VERY careful with the Dremel and polishing wheel. The speed of that makes it quite easy to burn the stem.

A low speed buffer is much better suited, but you still have to be careful. It's basically hard rubber, so it's easy to burn and mark the stem. There's no substitute for elbow grease and patience.

I usually use a Magic Eraser or Soft Scrub (without bleach) on stems these days. If it's heavily oxidized, I'll break out the wet/dry 600 grit. However you do it, you'll need to buff the stem afterward to restore the shiny black appearance. I use rubbing compound on a soft cloth to shine it up and then polish with Paragon wax with another soft cloth. Carnauba wax is also used, but you need a buffer for that.

Walker Briar Works sells a stem restoration kit that gets high praise form some. It doesn't require a buffer and apparently does a god job on many stems. I've never used it, though.

 

[Shamrocker]

I figured even though my Dremel has variable speeds, the slowest may still be too fast. I'll try the Magic Eraser though, great idea! Maybe I'll run down to the B&M tomorrow and pick up some pipe cleaners and see if I can find an inexpensive tamping/reaming tool... and some bulk tobacco. Maybe I'll take the pipe down there and see what they think of it, how much work it may need besides cleaning up the stem.

 

[MadMonk]

Alan, great little summary on the subject. I have been doing some reading on this, and the magic eraser is one that I keep coming across. Seems worth a try for sure.

Glad that we have a member who can attest to it's effectiveness in the right application.

As a side note, I also picked up one of Bob's pipes. Damn fine pipe too!

 

[Shamrocker]

I really look forward to trying pipe smoking. I've been interested in it for years, but never got around to buying a pipe or doing anything about it. Now I have a small project to clean the pipe up and get it looking nice and new.

 

[LilBastage]

Be prepared. It may take a fair amount of work to get the oxidation completely gone. It's basically the sulfur in the rubber causing it and you'll be able to smell that as you work. It's easy to get a stem "close enough" but the challenge is to get it to that next level without damaging the stem. I usually just stop at "close enough" anymore. :blush: I don't have a low speed buffer.

Once you get it cleaned up, try it out and stick with it! You may hate it at first. It takes some time to really get the hang of smoking a pipe. Don't rush it. It's worth the effort.

 

[Shamrocker]

I took a Magic Eraser to the stem today and worked it for a good 15 to 20 minutes until the eraser stopped taking on colour. Now to polish up the stem and give the rest of it a little once-over before packing (and re-packing, and re-packing) and lighting my first bowl.

I looked up the specs on my Dremel, and the speed is variable from 5000-35000 RPM. Even at the lowest setting I think that'll be too fast. Some sites I ended up Googling mentioned 1600-2700 RPM being an ideal range. Hand polishing it is

Thanks for the help!

 

[ad720]

I took a Magic Eraser to the stem today and worked it for a good 15 to 20 minutes until the eraser stopped taking on colour. Now to polish up the stem and give the rest of it a little once-over before packing (and re-packing, and re-packing) and lighting my first bowl.

I looked up the specs on my Dremel, and the speed is variable from 5000-35000 RPM. Even at the lowest setting I think that'll be too fast. Some sites I ended up Googling mentioned 1600-2700 RPM being an ideal range. Hand polishing it is

Thanks for the help!

What do you plan to use for hand polishing? (I've picked up a couple pipes I'm anticipating will need the same treatment)

 

[Shamrocker]

I took a Magic Eraser to the stem today and worked it for a good 15 to 20 minutes until the eraser stopped taking on colour. Now to polish up the stem and give the rest of it a little once-over before packing (and re-packing, and re-packing) and lighting my first bowl.

I looked up the specs on my Dremel, and the speed is variable from 5000-35000 RPM. Even at the lowest setting I think that'll be too fast. Some sites I ended up Googling mentioned 1600-2700 RPM being an ideal range. Hand polishing it is

Thanks for the help!

What do you plan to use for hand polishing? (I've picked up a couple pipes I'm anticipating will need the same treatment)

I haven't gotten around to any polishing yet. Unfortunately work took me out of town for nearly 2 weeks and I haven't had a decent chance to get things done that are necessary, nevermind the hobby stuff

Back home now, and thinking I'll check out some polishing compounds at a hardware or hobby store. The B&M here may be able to suggest something so I might even stop in there to see what they have to say. I'll update this thread if I get some good info to share.

 

[LilBastage]

Try Simichrome if you can find it. I use the stem restoration kit from Walker Briar Works now. The cleaning compound works great and the wax/polish is good, too.

 

[ad720]

Try Simichrome if you can find it. I use the stem restoration kit from Walker Briar Works now. The cleaning compound works great and the wax/polish is good, too.

Thanks for the lead! I grabbed the restoration kit, happened to look at the estate pipes and got a really cool meer lined briar.

 

[mrcigar]

I got a pipe buffing cloth, and it is impreganated with some kind oil, and it has been good in cleaning up pipes. So how did your plan go?

I picked up a nice little estate pipe from rramstad's latest sale and was looking for info on removing the oxidization from the vulcanite stem and polishing it up nicely. I started by using some baking soda with a little water mixed in to form a bit of a paste and was rubbing that on with q-tips. It appeared to be working fairly well, but I think it may take a LONG time to continue with that method. Does anyone have experience with using a multi speed Dremel with a cloth/felt polishing wheel and polishing compound? The compound looks a lot like tripoli I used back in shops class in school many years ago, but it's just labeled with the Dremel brand.

When I'm done polishing it up, should the stem be shiny and black, or will it end up with a bit of the greenish-brown oxidized tint it has now?

 

[Shamrocker]

I got a pipe buffing cloth, and it is impreganated with some kind oil, and it has been good in cleaning up pipes. So how did your plan go?

I picked up a nice little estate pipe from rramstad's latest sale and was looking for info on removing the oxidization from the vulcanite stem and polishing it up nicely. I started by using some baking soda with a little water mixed in to form a bit of a paste and was rubbing that on with q-tips. It appeared to be working fairly well, but I think it may take a LONG time to continue with that method. Does anyone have experience with using a multi speed Dremel with a cloth/felt polishing wheel and polishing compound? The compound looks a lot like tripoli I used back in shops class in school many years ago, but it's just labeled with the Dremel brand.

When I'm done polishing it up, should the stem be shiny and black, or will it end up with a bit of the greenish-brown oxidized tint it has now?

I haven't had much time to work on it lately. I've been out of town too much for work... now being one of those times. Even when I'm home there's a big "honey do" list, and a 10 month old occupying the rest of my time