I think...🤔....I have decided to stain that Savinelli 2000 black. It won’t cover the grain completely, but it will hide the fills and be closer to the original finish.
I just received another old pipe in the mail today. Guess what? I actually remembered to take a few before pictures this time. Here they are. To be continued.....
Well, it is with the next few steps finished. Internals cleaned and most of the oxidation on the stem removed, sterling polished, exterior wiped down, tenon coated lightly with graphite. I still need to get the band loose and removed so I can buff the stem without rounding over the edge or thrashing the silver. It’s going to be tough to leave the rim so raggedy, but I really don’t want to top this pipe at all. I do have a few dents to steam out as well. The sump was kinda nasty, internally it was not as nasty as the Savinelli 2000 though. No Latakia nastiness in this one👍🏻 I’m thinking it was smoked with Velvet or Sir Walter Raleigh....some old codger aromatic. I have had several estate pipes that I have cleaned that have a very hard cake and the same smell so, at least with my reasoning, it would be some readily available and popular OTC tobacco.
@KA9FFJ I am going to see how much I can pull out with steam first. If I top the bowl at all, it will have to be stained and it is tough to match the stain, we will see. After all, it's a 70+ year old pipe. Yes, I usually use tape, but this band stands proud of the mortise, so the edge of the stem is covered slightly. I would not be able to get right to the edge of the stem without taking off the band, and adding a spacer/washer between the stem and shank won't work well either because the band hangs over the edge a bit. I may try to add a filler piece or something to bring the top back into round, it's pretty gnarly looking.
The next steps in the refurbs....Yes, I decided to stain the Savinelli, for a reason to be revealed later 🙂. Yes, I decided to top the Peterson too, the rim was just too ratty.
Now, the reason I stained the Savinelli 2000 black, I already have one in a natural stain Grade “L” Straight Grain. The top pipe is the 120 Anni also in a natural stain Grade “L” Straight Grain.
@RockyMountainBriar your 1st pic scarred me when you said you topped the Peterson and I saw that hand axe in the background... 😏 As usual, you've done some really nice work!
@KA9FFJ I did say topped not chopped😬 By the way, I hung that Gränfors-Bruk handle on that Norlund Hudson Bay head myself. It’s almost sharp enough to shave. 🙂
Working on the three Ascorti (2 Business, 1 Peppino). Doing an alcohol/cotton ball soak first and will follow it with the coffee treatment tomorrow. from the top side view
These are all basically sitters so I took some old, smaller stems and put the fingers from a thin pair of vinyl gloves over the tenon and inserted into the stummel. It makes a good way to plug the airway and prevent the alcohol from leaking out.
Ok, here's a noname solid block meerschaum bulldog that I don't think has ever been cleaned! The meerschaum was actually grayish and little pings and dings were all over it... not to mention the charring on the rim and the teeth marks on the stem...
Long story short: Filed, sanded and buffed out the teeth marks = stem deep cleaned and ok. Reamed/sanded the bowl, decharred the rim, used 1000/1200 grit to carefully remove all the shallow pits and dents (he was a pipe knocker) = 2/3 removed, some were just too deep. Waxed and polished. May have to rewax again later... Sidenote: That black in the stem near the button is actually the insert showing through the stem.
This second pipe is a noname billiard with a acrylic stem. It had been varnished (ugh), and the varnish was getting blotchy and coming off. Personally, I HATE varnish on pipes, so it was coming off no matter what. The charring on the rim was bad as well. Here's before:
@PappyJoe@RockyMountainBriar Yes gentleman, when I saw the stem, I wanted the pipe, even though it was varnished. Stripping it did reveal some fairly nice grain to which I was pleasantly surprised. That's why I 2-tone stained it. And tnx for the compliment @RockyMountainBriar Much appreciated...
Here's one of the two Calabrest pipes from the estate sale I found. Needless to say, it was in pretty bad shape, much like the previous two. The stem, though it really looks neat, was a BEAR to clean up from the oxidation and sanding was difficult due to its shape. Didn't bother to take B4 pics, but here it is now...
Comments
I am going to see how much I can pull out with steam first. If I top the bowl at all, it will have to be stained and it is tough to match the stain, we will see. After all, it's a 70+ year old pipe.
Yes, I usually use tape, but this band stands proud of the mortise, so the edge of the stem is covered slightly. I would not be able to get right to the edge of the stem without taking off the band, and adding a spacer/washer between the stem and shank won't work well either because the band hangs over the edge a bit.
I may try to add a filler piece or something to bring the top back into round, it's pretty gnarly looking.
As usual, you've done some really nice work!
I did say topped not chopped😬
By the way, I hung that Gränfors-Bruk handle on that Norlund Hudson Bay head myself. It’s almost sharp enough to shave. 🙂
First, as it was in the box...
After I've worked on it and did a coffee treatment.
from the top
side view
These are all basically sitters so I took some old, smaller stems and put the fingers from a thin pair of vinyl gloves over the tenon and inserted into the stummel. It makes a good way to plug the airway and prevent the alcohol from leaking out.
Which Products and Why – Adhesives & Abrasives for Pipe Restoration
https://dadspipes.com/2019/10/25/which-products-and-why/Filed, sanded and buffed out the teeth marks = stem deep cleaned and ok.
Reamed/sanded the bowl, decharred the rim, used 1000/1200 grit to carefully remove all the shallow pits and dents (he was a pipe knocker) = 2/3 removed, some were just too deep.
Waxed and polished. May have to rewax again later...
Sidenote: That black in the stem near the button is actually the insert showing through the stem.
The charring on the rim was bad as well.
Here's before:
I'm drawn to that smoky looking stem for some reason.
I’m with you on that particular stem.....and stain combo. Very nice @KA9FFJ, as always.
And tnx for the compliment @RockyMountainBriar Much appreciated...
The stem, though it really looks neat, was a BEAR to clean up from the oxidation and sanding was difficult due to its shape.
Didn't bother to take B4 pics, but here it is now...