My Pipe Project - FINISHED!

Danny: Good work on the pipe. A small bench grinder with a buffing wheel would be fairly cheap to get at Lowes or Home Depot.

I'd let you borrow mine, but that's a long road trip. Soonest I'll be nearby is Palm Springs in February. :(
 
Don't use wax! I am not an authority on this, but I refinish antiques and wax will discolor and clog pores. There is a product out that is 100 percent natural, using botanicals and I would gladly send you enough to do your pipe, if you like. It is called Kramers Antique improver. It is considered museum quality, so it's good stuff. I would also suggest you look at a Danish oil stain. All that being said, if I can help, just ask.
 
Pugman1943 said:
Don't use wax! I am not an authority on this, but I refinish antiques and wax will discolor and clog pores. There is a product out that is 100 percent natural, using botanicals and I would gladly send you enough to do your pipe, if you like. It is called Kramers Antique improver. It is considered museum quality, so it's good stuff. I would also suggest you look at a Danish oil stain. All that being said, if I can help, just ask.
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Thanks, Ed!

I took a look at the Kramer's website and really like what I see with regards to their product.

The main thing I like is that the Kramer's seems to bring out the natural color and grain in the wood and you get a true natural looking finish rather than the artificial color that a stain would impart.

I noticed that they focus on furniture(rightly so)and did not see any sort of reference to their product being used in the finishing of a smoking pipe. So, I sent them an e-mail with a couple questions regarding safety of the product for this intended use and the ability to acheive a high gloss, polished finish using no wax; maybe you can shed some light based on your experience with using Kramer's.

I'm looking forward to their answers.

Danny
 
I don't know, people have been using carnauba wax on pipes for a VERY long time. I would think if there were some type of problem with doing so it would have popped up by now. I don't know much about finishing antiques, but while I'm sure there are similarities, it's not the same thing as finishing a pipe.

The best pipes in the world are finished on a buffer loaded with carnauba wax.

How you finish the pipe is up to you, of course. :thumbs:
 
Thanks for that Alan. I couldn't remember the name, but I remember seeing it on Boswell's site describing how he made pipes, and the first thing I thought to myself is, "WTF. You can totally use wax on pipes..."


Thanks for establishing that Alan. :thumbs:
 
One thing I can add that I know is fact is there are two kinds of carnauba, yellow and white. The next thing to say is when you buy carnauba, you typically do not buy pure (100%) carnauba. The junk car waxes put in a small amount, but if it is in the mix, it can say carnauba. Now when you move into the concours wax area, they still contain either yellow (the lesser quality) or, for the true aficionado there is concours wax available, varying in content from 25% up.

The next thing to say is that carnauba is a hard wax. The more pure, the harder. I use P21S wax for the car. It has a 25% white carnauba rating. It is a killer on a car, don't know about a pipe. I used a 40% carnauba once, but it had to be applied by hand because it needed the body heat to melt the wax so you could apply it. It was also four times more expensive.

I can easily send you enough wax to do your pipe; but also state that I don't know if you can just buy pure carnauba cost effectively. If you do buy your own, at least buy the white.

Again, if you want some of mine, the bargain price is $0.01 (but leave that at your local B&M).

Best wishes to your for your ultimate choice, and for the Season.


Thank you Alan for improving my spelling of Carnauba.
 
The carnauba wax used for pipes is hard, white wax that has to be applied with a buffer. It cannot be effectively applied by hand. It is buffed into the outer surface of the pipe to create a protective coating for the pipe.

It has nothing to do with car wax or any type of paste.

There are two waxes you can apply by hand (Paragon or Halcyon II), but they are best applied to a pipe that has already been buffed with carnauba as they do not create as hard a protective layer on virgin wood according to everyone I know who has tried it.
 
Thanks for the link. Can't beat $7 so long as it does what it says. I'm hoping to get one of these kits for Christmas, so I'll keep this in mind. :)
 
I have a 2 oz bar of carnauba I bought from Pimo Pipecraft along with a muslin buffing wheel for applying it and a flannel wheel for buffing it out. It is indeed a hard piece of wax.

I guess where I'm still conflicted is on the stain because there are no "do overs" if I stain the pipe and don't like how it turns out.

The tannin method I spoke of earlier in this thread turned out to be a disaster on the test piece. Briar is evidently naturally high in tannin and when applying an iron acetate solution (vinegar soaked in steel wool) to it even briefly it reacted too strongly and turned the wood black. There is some good potential for a beautiful, almost zebra striped finish in appearance using this method of staining but I'm not willing to experiment with it on this pipe.

I like the idea of the pipe coloring naturally over time as I smoke from it as Alan has mentioned, so I'm going to try waxing a piece of test briar that has been sanded to the finish of the pipe and see if the wax alone will bring out the grain and yet keep the natural color.

Aside from that, I have only enough test pieces left to try one more sampling and would like to try the Kramer's as the initial stain (I know it is not a stain but it does work to bring out the grain) and then maybe wax it after 2 or three applications to see how that looks.
 
Ed, I got the Kramers in the mail yesterday. Thanks!! I think the little bottle you sent will last a few years! lol

I tried it on a test piece and liked the results so I jumped in and did the first application to the pipe.

Wipe on, wipe off and the grain looks amazing!

John Kramer told me to give it about 3 - 4 applications but didn't mention any prep between applications.

Do I sand it again with the 600 grit after letting it set a day or two or simply apply the other coats?

Photos to follow once it is complete.
 
DesertRat said:
Ed, I got the Kramers in the mail yesterday. Thanks!! I think the little bottle you sent will last a few years! lol

I tried it on a test piece and liked the results so I jumped in and did the first application to the pipe.

Wipe on, wipe off and the grain looks amazing!

John Kramer told me to give it about 3 - 4 applications but didn't mention any prep between applications.

Do I sand it again with the 600 grit after letting it set a day or two or simply apply the other coats?

Photos to follow once it is complete.
Click to expand...


No sanding, as I mentioned, we apply this to our cupboards about once a month. I lightly picks up any stuff the might have accumulated, smoke, grease etc., and just deposits its next layer. Ours has darkned (gently ) over time. It you are not raising the grain, sanding or buffing will do nothing, and even clog the small pores. I would keep this test piece a virgin and see the final out come after four apps and then your buff. Dying (well, almost) to see what this looks like. Remember to SHAKE it.
 
Pugman1943 said:
.



No sanding, as I mentioned, we apply this to our cupboards about once a month. I lightly picks up any stuff the might have accumulated, smoke, grease etc., and just deposits its next layer. Ours has darkned (gently ) over time. It you are not raising the grain, sanding or buffing will do nothing, and even clog the small pores. I would keep this test piece a virgin and see the final out come after four apps and then your buff. Dying (well, almost) to see what this looks like. Remember to SHAKE it.
Click to expand...

The grain did not raise at all but it did enhance the contrast in the grain beautifully.

If you remember, I was concerned about the odor of the Kramer's lingering in the wood but as of this morning there is no noticeable odor.

So far, I'm very pleased with the outcome and can't wait to start seasoning the bowl. I was hoping to be able to smoke it on Christmas Day but patience may have to win out. I will smoke no pipe before its time. :)
 
bfreebern said:
Any updated pictures?
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Ok, here are some poor quality cell phone photos since I can't seem to find my good camera.

This is my test piece. Raw wood on the left and treated with one application of Kramer's Best Antique Improver on the right. (sorry for the focus)
Photo0349.jpg



Now for the pipe -
These are after one application of a very thin coat and having let it set for 24 hours
Photo0350.jpg

Photo0351.jpg

Photo0352.jpg



edited to add: The surface of the pipe looks irregular in the photos but that is all the grain showing and giving the illusion of a dimensional surface.

The surface (other than the top of the bowl) is as smooth as glass with no tangible bumps, ripples, dents of dings evident when you run your fingers over it.
 
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