Just completed a 12 hour alcohol bath. Did a wipe, a ream, and put it back in for another 8... Here's the result... Notice the huge pit. Going to have to figure something out to work around it...
Ok. Now most of Dremel work complete. Notice the nasty pit in the upper side of bowl? Anyway completely redesigned the stummel based on the original design... Meanwhile, working on the stem... Here's the new design...
@KA9FFJ. Nice restoration👍🏻 From the bare stummel pics, those pits look like they might have been leaking from the inside of the tobacco chamber? If so, you might put a bit of “pipe mud” on the inside to protect the chamber walls from a complete burn-out. I have used “pipe mud” to fill in the bottom of some high airway bowls with great success. I use it to fill the bottom inside of the bowl of my Missouri Meerschaum cobs around the shank “stick” before I even smoke them. I hate the weird spaces in the bottom of the bowls that the “stick” creates. If you are not familiar with “pipe mud”? It is just fine cigar ash (from a good cigar), mixed with a tiny bit of water to make a paste. I am not sure what forum or person told me about it, but it works wonderfully. After you ream and clean the chamber, You can just spread an fine even layer on the inside of the bowl wherever it is required (I use a 3-in-1 pipe tool for a spreader), then let it dry. It dries hard and is pretty durable too. After it is dry, it can be sanded lightly if needed, just don’t take off too much. It does not taint the smoke or have any weird harsh chemicals either. I have used some pipe tobacco ash as well, but you want a nice gray ash from pure tobacco......no aromatics or latakia’s, and no dottle.
@KA9FFJ Oh, something I learned from “Reborn Briar” page. If you know you will have to stain a pipe, you can fill the big pits from the outside. Pack some briar dust from your past sanding and drop a bit of thin “Super Glue” into it. Let it dry, sand it down and stain. A WORD OF CAUTION: If the hole/crack/pit goes through to the inside of the bowl, “Super Glue” is nasty when heated/burnt, use it very sparingly if at all, then use the pipe mud to insulate the repair from the inside. If the hole is much more than a pinhole, I would say cut your losses, throw the stummel and save the stem for another repair. Also, if a pit/crack has been repaired with “Super Glue”/briar dust/“pipe mud” and you decide to sell or gift the pipe away, please fully disclose such repairs.
Thanks @RockyMountainBriar actually it was more of a gash than a pit. I used just a little briar dust with super glue that reduced it by about half. TIP: You can't make it too thick or eventually it will pop out. That's why I only used enough to make it visually acceptable. I then counted on the rustication to mask the rest. Always appreciate any helps and ideas. Never too old to learn... Oh, by the way, it was just a surface gash. I had just rinsed it and some moisture still remained. No problem with the inner bowl... One more thing, I never sell pipes with flaws that I have repaired without full disclouser. That would be unethical...
Thanks @Corey562 and @mfresa There are a lot of steps involved as you know to bring one back to life.
I really liked the article @PappyJoe shared on his restoration. He turned me on to the coffee ground treatment quite a while ago for those stubborn ghosts, and I 'm grateful to him for that. The only thing I haven't tried from his arsenal is using cotton balls instead of kosher salt for the alcohol treatment. Please expound more on the reason(s) you tend to prefer them over the salt... I would love to find out more...
Estate sale provided me with a few pipes to restore/refinish... The top 3 pipes are meerschaums... Oddly enough, the one top right is a Carey magic inch, along with the 2 briars directly below it. Didn't know Carey did meerschaums. A lot of work ahead, but hey, I'm retired... 20 bucks for the lot...
@Jeff20 That pipe should clean up real nice. Good classic shape that never goes out of style... Make sure you post pics when finished... Tip: cigarette ash will brighten that shank band up with no harm to the stummel or stem. Just rub with your finger, Kleenex or soft cloth.
Worked on an S Camali meerschaum off and on today. I sanitized and cleaned the outside a bit. Pretty rough shape and more work to do on it, but I decided to try smoking it earlier this evening before I complete the project. It's going to be a good smoker...
KA9FFJ I really like the look of that kaywoodie. I my mind a square or no round shank looks better no matter what pipe it is, I seem to be liking Bulldogs the most.
Well, I'm starting 2 more refurb jobs. These are part of a lot of estate pipes I picked up the other day. The one on the right is a Dr. Mac... The one on the left is a Kaywoodie Super Grain... Now for the fun part. I took a dental tool I sometimes use for my pipe work and removed the cob web. Yep, you guessed it. I can't complain since they didn't charge me extra for the "bonus"... Needless to say, both have had a preliminary reaming (after I got rid of the little guy), and are presently soaking in an alcohol bath for 24 hours...
@Jeff20 - There are plenty of shops that will do a professional cleaning and polishing of your grandfather's pipe. That last time I sent one out, it was under $50. If you want to attempt it yourself, check out rebornpipes.com for some good tips.
There are also a lot of good tips in some of the past discussions on here.
I would find another old estate pipe or two and work on them before doing anything with your grandfather's though.
That sounds like the best decision Pappy, yes i want it cleaned up not destroyed. Lol, yeah, ive never attempted to refinish one and really dont know all the tools or steps involved. Would just like to carry on being able to smoke the pipe my papa smoked. Thank you.
Comments
Nice restoration👍🏻
From the bare stummel pics, those pits look like they might have been leaking from the inside of the tobacco chamber? If so, you might put a bit of “pipe mud” on the inside to protect the chamber walls from a complete burn-out. I have used “pipe mud” to fill in the bottom of some high airway bowls with great success. I use it to fill the bottom inside of the bowl of my Missouri Meerschaum cobs around the shank “stick” before I even smoke them. I hate the weird spaces in the bottom of the bowls that the “stick” creates.
If you are not familiar with “pipe mud”? It is just fine cigar ash (from a good cigar), mixed with a tiny bit of water to make a paste. I am not sure what forum or person told me about it, but it works wonderfully. After you ream and clean the chamber, You can just spread an fine even layer on the inside of the bowl wherever it is required (I use a 3-in-1 pipe tool for a spreader), then let it dry. It dries hard and is pretty durable too. After it is dry, it can be sanded lightly if needed, just don’t take off too much. It does not taint the smoke or have any weird harsh chemicals either. I have used some pipe tobacco ash as well, but you want a nice gray ash from pure tobacco......no aromatics or latakia’s, and no dottle.
Oh, something I learned from “Reborn Briar” page. If you know you will have to stain a pipe, you can fill the big pits from the outside. Pack some briar dust from your past sanding and drop a bit of thin “Super Glue” into it. Let it dry, sand it down and stain.
A WORD OF CAUTION: If the hole/crack/pit goes through to the inside of the bowl, “Super Glue” is nasty when heated/burnt, use it very sparingly if at all, then use the pipe mud to insulate the repair from the inside. If the hole is much more than a pinhole, I would say cut your losses, throw the stummel and save the stem for another repair.
Also, if a pit/crack has been repaired with “Super Glue”/briar dust/“pipe mud” and you decide to sell or gift the pipe away, please fully disclose such repairs.
One more thing, I never sell pipes with flaws that I have repaired without full disclouser. That would be unethical...
https://pappyjoesblog.com/restoring-a-royal-danish-991r/
I really liked the article @PappyJoe shared on his restoration. He turned me on to the coffee ground treatment quite a while ago for those stubborn ghosts, and I 'm grateful to him for that. The only thing I haven't tried from his arsenal is using cotton balls instead of kosher salt for the alcohol treatment. Please expound more on the reason(s) you tend to prefer them over the salt... I would love to find out more...
Again, thanks guys...
A lot of work ahead, but hey, I'm retired...
Tip: cigarette ash will brighten that shank band up with no harm to the stummel or stem. Just rub with your finger, Kleenex or soft cloth.
Now for the fun part. I took a dental tool I sometimes use for my pipe work and removed the cob web. Yep, you guessed it. I can't complain since they didn't charge me extra for the "bonus"...
Needless to say, both have had a preliminary reaming (after I got rid of the little guy), and are presently soaking in an alcohol bath for 24 hours...
There are also a lot of good tips in some of the past discussions on here.
I would find another old estate pipe or two and work on them before doing anything with your grandfather's though.