Tonight after work I finally made a new meerschaum bowl insert for a pipe that originally had a ceramic bowl insert. (That was after I first made the aluminum mandrel to hold the meer bowl blank.) I broke the original insert when I tried to remove the retaining ring, it was stuck royally when I got it. I wanted to clean under the bowl before I smoked it.....oops🙁. I was going to make a briar insert until I found some meerschaum blanks. It turned out great.
@RandyB1966 Thank you🙂 I wish I had a lathe 25-30 years ago. I always wanted one, just did not “pull the trigger” as it were. Now, I am having great fun with it, but dammned if I’m not getting “older” and can’t see as well up close 😢🙁👎🏻🧐 Now I want a milling machine too😬 I think my next project will be to attempt to make a stack billiard, or Dublin, meerschaum bowl for my Kirsten pipes🤔
I own quite a few estate pipes that have oxidixed stems. Back then, I didn't know how to fix them up, so I left them as is (besides sanitizing them). Now that I have the tools to fix the stems, I'm slowly going back to restore them. Today, I fixed up a Savinelli Dublin I picked up in 2012, and a Jobey from 2014. They look much better now after a stem cleaning and briar polish.
@Zouave White Diamond buffing compound on a soft buffing wheel. Don’t spin it too fast or too long, Acrylic can’t take the heat. It does not do well with strong alcohol either, it will get soft and haze. Those chatter marks may need some super fine grit sanding? Or a heavier grit buffing compound and work up to a finer grade? I have heard “gritty” toothpaste works like a buffing compound? I have not tried it, so I personally can’t recommend it. I’m pretty sure you would have to buff it with a finer polish afterwards, and a wax. I use original Chapstick on my stems after I smoke them to polish them back up. Chapstick contains Ultra-Violet light inhibitors, so it protects Vulcanite from the sun, a nice bonus for Vulcanite stems.
@RockyMountainBriar thanks for the info. The buffing wheels I have at work only have a fast setting. I was afraid of melting the acrylic. It seems to work great on the vulcanite, but I was worried about other stem types.
Here is my next project, a Charatan’s Make Belvedere #1180DC. I have cleaned, the pipe inside and out. I removed some of the dents on the bottom of the bowl with the “steam” method. It had been beat around a bit, and may have been the reason the rim was worked over, to remove some “knock-out” dents? Since a previous owner may have been a bit over zealous in cleaning/fixing the rim, I had to re-stain this pipe. I used Fiebing’s Mahogany wiped down with Everclear to lighten it and bring out the grain. The stem was chewed through on the top of the bit. To begin the stem buildup, I made a balsa wood plug for the airway, scuffed up the edges of the break and wiped it down with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. This will give the epoxy something to hold on to. I filled the bit breakout and built up the stem. It is now curing.To be continued.......
I got through the next few steps. I filed down the gray epoxy and took it down a little bit “below grade”. I need to overcoat the epoxy with “Black Max” Loctite 380 to give it more strength and a nice solid black color. If I left the epoxy proud of the surfaces, it would just sand down to gray again. I need a little layer of the black to make it polish up nice and black. Some of the pics are out of order, but the progression should be fairly easy to figure out.
Well, here it is. I drilled and filed out the balsa plug in the bit and polished the stem a little more with some Novus #2 Fine Scratch Remover. I polished the bowl and stem with Carnuba Wax on the buffing wheel. The DC stem on these Charatan’s are pretty thin, a bit of the gray epoxy is visible on the repair edge, but the bit is now a serviceable bit. “Black Max” is not quite “jet black” and it shows up more so under the flash illumination. It is good enough for the girls I date though😉, especially since I don’t plan on getting rid of it. It is a nice smaller size pipe about a 3 Dunhill or so, just right for me. As a final caveat, I’m not sure that this is an authentic Charatan’s Make pipe. I think it is, but I would not bet money, I don’t know their idiosyncrasies. Anyway, it does not really matter to me, I like the pipe, and don’t plan on selling it.
Just finished my latest repair. I took this old GBD and refinished the stem. I never liked the gap in the stem, so I made a Sterling silver band and added a millgrain finish to it. I am happy with the way it turned out, it's one of my favorite smokers!
Well, here is the initial ream and clean. The retort comes next. It has not been stained or to the buffer yet. I will repair the hole in the stem after I buff the stem shiny and black.
I repaired the stem today. Next on the list is to smooth and polish the stem again, then polish the stummel. It looks like I may not have to stain the stummel, it looks pretty good🙂. I am in a quandary whether or not to top the bowl? I have looked for this #57 shaped pipe to see if it suppose to have a flat rim. The only picture I found was another well used “Golden Arrow” a (Comoy’s second) that had the rounded rim as well...factory....maybe🤔
@RockyMountainBriar yes. I took flat Sterling stock, formed it around a tapered rod the same diameter as the stem, soldered it closed and then added the millgrain work to it.
@RockyMountainBriar I have had the extreme fortune of inheriting or having been gifted nearly all my pipes, but that means I have had to get creative with repairs. Up till nownow kind of been shooting in the dark.
@RockyMountainBriar do real like your refinished pipe work, wil I am trying to get the guts to do it myself. I was given two Dr Grabow's from a guy I work with that belong to his father nothing special. One is a Grand Duke straight and the other may be a Grand Duke bent but its not marked. Both of the bowls little cakey and the tops are a little charred.
@Zouave Awesome, I am an electronics bench tech by trade and have done oodles of soldering. I can weld with stick and wire, braze with brass and silver solder. I always wanted to work with silver. I have several pipes that I want to add silver work to. I bought the tool rest for my lathe for metal turning and at some point I want to try to make a replacement dome army mount for an old WDC that the nickle band has partially disintegrated on. I also want to make a silver band for and old Comoy's Royal that someone in the past had re-stemmed. They sanded down the shank to meet the replacement stem and tapered the shank..it looks like hell. I plan to make a band that is not tapered, then fill the stem side with epoxy to give it back it's original straight lines. Then make a replacement stem. I have not worked up the courage to try my hand at either. I have the silver sheet, some of the tools, and the ideas...that's as far as I have made it.
@RandyB1966 They sound like the perfect pipes to try your hand at a little refurbishment
@RockyMountainBriar that's awesome, I'm a goldsmith by trade. There are two ways you can go about making silver spacers like that. You can form the sheet or wire around a tapered bezel mandrel, then solder it closed with easy silver solder, or you can carve a wax model and have it cast. This requires far less fitting and fooling around most towns have a place that will cast a wax into silver for a decent price.
Well, I got the Royal Comoy all polished up and ready to smoke🙂. The stem repair almost disappears. I decided against re-staining or topping it. It gives it some character. The little Dunhill with Devil’s Holiday was just the right size for a “work” pipe too👍🏻
Comments
Thank you🙂
I wish I had a lathe 25-30 years ago. I always wanted one, just did not “pull the trigger” as it were. Now, I am having great fun with it, but dammned if I’m not getting “older” and can’t see as well up close 😢🙁👎🏻🧐
Now I want a milling machine too😬
I think my next project will be to attempt to make a stack billiard, or Dublin, meerschaum bowl for my Kirsten pipes🤔
LIKE
White Diamond buffing compound on a soft buffing wheel. Don’t spin it too fast or too long, Acrylic can’t take the heat. It does not do well with strong alcohol either, it will get soft and haze. Those chatter marks may need some super fine grit sanding? Or a heavier grit buffing compound and work up to a finer grade? I have heard “gritty” toothpaste works like a buffing compound? I have not tried it, so I personally can’t recommend it. I’m pretty sure you would have to buff it with a finer polish afterwards, and a wax. I use original Chapstick on my stems after I smoke them to polish them back up. Chapstick contains Ultra-Violet light inhibitors, so it protects Vulcanite from the sun, a nice bonus for Vulcanite stems.
I am happy to post them. I was wondering if people may be getting tired of seeing some of my restoration projects🤔
Thank you for the kind words.
On the pipe you added the silver band to, did you make the band from scratch?
Awesome, I am an electronics bench tech by trade and have done oodles of soldering. I can weld with stick and wire, braze with brass and silver solder. I always wanted to work with silver. I have several pipes that I want to add silver work to. I bought the tool rest for my lathe for metal turning and at some point I want to try to make a replacement dome army mount for an old WDC that the nickle band has partially disintegrated on. I also want to make a silver band for and old Comoy's Royal that someone in the past had re-stemmed. They sanded down the shank to meet the replacement stem and tapered the shank..it looks like hell. I plan to make a band that is not tapered, then fill the stem side with epoxy to give it back it's original straight lines. Then make a replacement stem. I have not worked up the courage to try my hand at either. I have the silver sheet, some of the tools, and the ideas...that's as far as I have made it.
@RandyB1966
They sound like the perfect pipes to try your hand at a little refurbishment