Pipe Restoration - Do's and Don'ts.........

[Grrrrr609]

Damn nice work Dan!! Impressed by the progress. Y'all have inspired me to pull out a Lanza freehand I picked up on the 'bay for $15 a while back. Stem is in good shape with just a little chatter I can clean up easy enough. My questions are related to the bowl though. There are some Knicks where it looks like someone whittled away at the outside and inside of the bowl where there is an awkward lip towards the front of the bowl. I don't have a saw that I can use and would like to make the top of the bowl flat. Any suggestions? Also, there is a small crack that doesn't go clear through to the bowl that a repair attempt looks like was made and I am curious if there is anything else I can do there. I did run a few bowls through as is after cleaning and sanitizing, but there is ghosting so I will be purchasing a reamer and doing a salt treatment as well. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Nice looking pipe. If ur just wanting to square up and flatten the top I would recommend making a topping board. A flat piece of solid material with sandpaper glued to it. I personally use glass. Thick glass. I've had mine for ages. I use it to polish the backside of wood chisels. Just glue or use self adhesive sandpaper like I do and sand. I started a post in the beginning of this thread about topping boards but don't think I've gotten around to finishing it yet.

 

[Grrrrr609]

I'm loving this thread right now. Tons of great info, especially for a noob like me. How is it not stickied?

Thanx. I need to add alot more stuff still. It's a work in progress. Hell all my tactics are a work in progress anyway.

 

[rdomfoto]

Damn nice work Dan!! Impressed by the progress. Y'all have inspired me to pull out a Lanza freehand I picked up on the 'bay for $15 a while back. Stem is in good shape with just a little chatter I can clean up easy enough. My questions are related to the bowl though. There are some Knicks where it looks like someone whittled away at the outside and inside of the bowl where there is an awkward lip towards the front of the bowl. I don't have a saw that I can use and would like to make the top of the bowl flat. Any suggestions? Also, there is a small crack that doesn't go clear through to the bowl that a repair attempt looks like was made and I am curious if there is anything else I can do there. I did run a few bowls through as is after cleaning and sanitizing, but there is ghosting so I will be purchasing a reamer and doing a salt treatment as well. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Nice looking pipe. If ur just wanting to square up and flatten the top I would recommend making a topping board. A flat piece of solid material with sandpaper glued to it. I personally use glass. Thick glass. I've had mine for ages. I use it to polish the backside of wood chisels. Just glue or use self adhesive sandpaper like I do and sand. I started a post in the beginning of this thread about topping boards but don't think I've gotten around to finishing it yet.

Sometimes I get a bit clumsy or don't give myself enough room and bump things, so I am buying a piece of Plexiglass this weekend for my topping board. Plus, I finally got around to getting the set of micro mesh cloths to redo some of the stems from my vacation restorations.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Damn nice work Dan!! Impressed by the progress. Y'all have inspired me to pull out a Lanza freehand I picked up on the 'bay for $15 a while back. Stem is in good shape with just a little chatter I can clean up easy enough. My questions are related to the bowl though. There are some Knicks where it looks like someone whittled away at the outside and inside of the bowl where there is an awkward lip towards the front of the bowl. I don't have a saw that I can use and would like to make the top of the bowl flat. Any suggestions? Also, there is a small crack that doesn't go clear through to the bowl that a repair attempt looks like was made and I am curious if there is anything else I can do there. I did run a few bowls through as is after cleaning and sanitizing, but there is ghosting so I will be purchasing a reamer and doing a salt treatment as well. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Nice looking pipe. If ur just wanting to square up and flatten the top I would recommend making a topping board. A flat piece of solid material with sandpaper glued to it. I personally use glass. Thick glass. I've had mine for ages. I use it to polish the backside of wood chisels. Just glue or use self adhesive sandpaper like I do and sand. I started a post in the beginning of this thread about topping boards but don't think I've gotten around to finishing it yet.

I did see your post about the topping board and just wasn't sure how well that would work to remove that much material. I can't wait to get it all fixed up because the few bowls I put through it smoked really well except for the ghosting and dammit, I just love the stem. I have the grace of a bull in a china shop so plexiglass will probably be the route I go. I picture quite a bit of time with the topping board and a cigar to get this where I want it.

 

[Grrrrr609]

Damn nice work Dan!! Impressed by the progress. Y'all have inspired me to pull out a Lanza freehand I picked up on the 'bay for $15 a while back. Stem is in good shape with just a little chatter I can clean up easy enough. My questions are related to the bowl though. There are some Knicks where it looks like someone whittled away at the outside and inside of the bowl where there is an awkward lip towards the front of the bowl. I don't have a saw that I can use and would like to make the top of the bowl flat. Any suggestions? Also, there is a small crack that doesn't go clear through to the bowl that a repair attempt looks like was made and I am curious if there is anything else I can do there. I did run a few bowls through as is after cleaning and sanitizing, but there is ghosting so I will be purchasing a reamer and doing a salt treatment as well. Any help is greatly appreciated.
View attachment 43670
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Nice looking pipe. If ur just wanting to square up and flatten the top I would recommend making a topping board. A flat piece of solid material with sandpaper glued to it. I personally use glass. Thick glass. I've had mine for ages. I use it to polish the backside of wood chisels. Just glue or use self adhesive sandpaper like I do and sand. I started a post in the beginning of this thread about topping boards but don't think I've gotten around to finishing it yet.

I did see your post about the topping board and just wasn't sure how well that would work to remove that much material. I can't wait to get it all fixed up because the few bowls I put through it smoked really well except for the ghosting and dammit, I just love the stem. I have the grace of a bull in a china shop so plexiglass will probably be the route I go. I picture quite a bit of time with the topping board and a cigar to get this where I want it.

U can use whatever u want if it's flat. I use glass because I read it's the truest flattest material there is and that goes back to my knife sharpening. My glass is 1/2 inch thick. U can spike it without breaking. It was an old picture frame that was broke I got for a dollar. It has a lip on the bottom to hook on the bench so the topping board doesn't slide around.

If u wanna send it to me to work on feel free.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Damn nice work Dan!! Impressed by the progress. Y'all have inspired me to pull out a Lanza freehand I picked up on the 'bay for $15 a while back. Stem is in good shape with just a little chatter I can clean up easy enough. My questions are related to the bowl though. There are some Knicks where it looks like someone whittled away at the outside and inside of the bowl where there is an awkward lip towards the front of the bowl. I don't have a saw that I can use and would like to make the top of the bowl flat. Any suggestions? Also, there is a small crack that doesn't go clear through to the bowl that a repair attempt looks like was made and I am curious if there is anything else I can do there. I did run a few bowls through as is after cleaning and sanitizing, but there is ghosting so I will be purchasing a reamer and doing a salt treatment as well. Any help is greatly appreciated.
View attachment 43670
View attachment 43671
View attachment 43672
View attachment 43673

Nice looking pipe. If ur just wanting to square up and flatten the top I would recommend making a topping board. A flat piece of solid material with sandpaper glued to it. I personally use glass. Thick glass. I've had mine for ages. I use it to polish the backside of wood chisels. Just glue or use self adhesive sandpaper like I do and sand. I started a post in the beginning of this thread about topping boards but don't think I've gotten around to finishing it yet.

I did see your post about the topping board and just wasn't sure how well that would work to remove that much material. I can't wait to get it all fixed up because the few bowls I put through it smoked really well except for the ghosting and dammit, I just love the stem. I have the grace of a bull in a china shop so plexiglass will probably be the route I go. I picture quite a bit of time with the topping board and a cigar to get this where I want it.

U can use whatever u want if it's flat. I use glass because I read it's the truest flattest material there is and that goes back to my knife sharpening. My glass is 1/2 inch thick. U can spike it without breaking. It was an old picture frame that was broke I got for a dollar. It has a lip on the bottom to hook on the bench so the topping board doesn't slide around.

If u wanna send it to me to work on feel free.

Actually may take you up on that. I am not responsible for any extra baggage that may find it's way to your doorstep though...

 

[Grrrrr609]

Lol. Well I go on vacation saturday. I've got one that will be waiting on me when I get back. If u want me to do it ship it next friday and that way it will be at my house when I get back from my trip. And I should get it back in the mail in just a few days.

 

[smokingIsh]

So I was at a flea market today and saw this lil antique pipe stand I liked. It had two pipes on it and the rack. I asked the guy how much for just the stand and he said I'll make u a package deal. I took the bait and he sold it all to me for 20 bucks. Anyway here are the pipes. One is a kaywoodie and the other is stamped freehand on the side and Israel where the stem meets the neck. The kaywoodie is most likely machine made crap but if someone wants to try their hand at the restoring the freehand, shoot me a pm. SmokingIsh's Adopt-A-Pipe

 

[javelin377]

for "machine made crap" I like that kaywoodie

 

[plumber1965]

for "machine made crap" I like that kaywoodie

I was thinking the same thing

 

[Whtwtrman79]

I say great deal, and kaywoodies aren't too bad, I destingered mine so I could pass a cleaner

 

[smokingIsh]

for "machine made crap" I like that kaywoodie

I was thinking the same thing

I was disappointed when I realized it was a screw in, maybe it's just my newbie pipe status.

 

[smokingIsh]

I say great deal, and kaywoodies aren't too bad, I destingered mine so I could pass a cleaner

How do u go about that?

 

[rdomfoto]

I say great deal, and kaywoodies aren't too bad, I destingered mine so I could pass a cleaner

How do u go about that?

The stinger should just pull out. A couple of the ones I restored recently had stingers in them. I just pulled them out (gently, of course) and tossed them.

 

[smokingIsh]

Ok thanks for the advice. I'll keep the kaywoodie. Freehand can go to whoever wants to spend time on it.

 

[javajunkie]

I say great deal, and kaywoodies aren't too bad, I destingered mine so I could pass a cleaner

How do u go about that?

The stinger should just pull out. A couple of the ones I restored recently had stingers in them. I just pulled them out (gently, of course) and tossed them.

i haven't yet encountered a kaywoodie that had a removable stinger. a lot of companies do, but KW had theirs as an integral part of their screw-on tennons. KW may have made lines with pull out stingers, but i don't think so. you're going to have to cut it. i would use a keyhole saw, very fine teeth. a rotary tool like a dremel is too hard to keep stable, and the margin for error is thin. or, try it out first and see if you could roll with it as is.

and that is a REALLY pretty KW, i would hate to see it f#@ked up. o)

 

[smokingIsh]

I say great deal, and kaywoodies aren't too bad, I destingered mine so I could pass a cleaner

How do u go about that?

The stinger should just pull out. A couple of the ones I restored recently had stingers in them. I just pulled them out (gently, of course) and tossed them.

i haven't yet encountered a kaywoodie that had a removable stinger. a lot of companies do, but KW had theirs as an integral part of their screw-on tennons. KW may have made lines with pull out stingers, but i don't think so. you're going to have to cut it. i would use a keyhole saw, very fine teeth. a rotary tool like a dremel is too hard to keep stable, and the margin for error is thin. or, try it out first and see if you could roll with it as is.

and that is a REALLY pretty KW, i would hate to see it f#@ked up. o)

Well I took your advice and ordered a lil hobby saw. 6 bucks was worth the peace if mind and it was straight and off in less than a minute. Thanks Java!

 

[rdomfoto]

The freehand arrived yesterday and I'm really looking forward to starting work on it. Thanks brother!

My micro mesh sheets arrived Thursday so I also have several stems to redo.

Your end flies today!

 

[smokingIsh]

The freehand arrived yesterday and I'm really looking forward to starting work on it. Thanks brother!

My micro mesh sheets arrived Thursday so I also have several stems to redo.

Your end flies today!

Show us some pics when ur done. Love to see how the old gal looks after a facelift.

 

[rdomfoto]

The freehand arrived yesterday and I'm really looking forward to starting work on it. Thanks brother!

My micro mesh sheets arrived Thursday so I also have several stems to redo.

Your end flies today!

Show us some pics when ur done. Love to see how the old gal looks after a facelift.

Ask and ye shall receive! Just came upstairs after a few hours. She came out beautifully.

Interestingly, the stem is slightly off center. I will give it a few days rest and see how she smokes.