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Couple restores I did tonight.

rdomfoto

rdomfoto

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Good to know. I spend quite a bit of time on the stems.

First thing I found out was that I was not soaking in Oxyclean long enough. My last couple if stems spent about 7 or 8 hours in the bath. I took them out a couple of times to scrub with the magic eraser and then back in.

I've been polishing a couple of the really badly oxidized stems with 2000 grit wet paper to get it clean.

Looks like I will get that buffer from Harbor Freight
 
Grrrrr609

Grrrrr609

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Buffer isn't needed. If sanded right buffer is barely used. Micro mesh thru 12000 grit makes them shiny. Check the restoration thread. I did a walk thru of the grits.
 
rdomfoto

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I read that, yeah. Can't find the micro mesh at Walmart here so will order it when I get home.

I was hoping I could use the stem deoxidizer and polish from Walker Briar Works instead. Will use that and the micro mesh
 
Grrrrr609

Grrrrr609

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U sand with the coarser paper to get the stem in the condition u want. I use 320, 400, 500, 1000. Dry and sometimes wet. Not always all those grits either depending on the condition of the stem. The micro mesh I use to sand out the scratches from the previous grit. All the way to 12000. That's how they get shiny. If u just buff a rough stem ur just buffing the top of the scratches. If u don't get all the discoloration off ur just buffing up the discoloration. Usually just get a shiny brown color. I don't soak mine too long in oxyclean. I had a stem pit that way. Created much more sanding than needed. But to each his own. There is more than one way to get the desired results. I recommend sanding thru the grits and barely buffing. If u choose to just buff be careful. Buffing causes heat. Heat melts vulcanite. Yes I did that mistake. Melted a groove right into the stem.
 
rdomfoto

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Grrrrr609 said:
U sand with the coarser paper to get the stem in the condition u want. I use 320, 400, 500, 1000. Dry and sometimes wet. Not always all those grits either depending on the condition of the stem. The micro mesh I use to sand out the scratches from the previous grit. All the way to 12000. That's how they get shiny. If u just buff a rough stem ur just buffing the top of the scratches. If u don't get all the discoloration off ur just buffing up the discoloration. Usually just get a shiny brown color. I don't soak mine too long in oxyclean. I had a stem pit that way. Created much more sanding than needed. But to each his own. There is more than one way to get the desired results. I recommend sanding thru the grits and barely buffing. If u choose to just buff be careful. Buffing causes heat. Heat melts vulcanite. Yes I did that mistake. Melted a groove right into the stem.
Click to expand...
Sure enough, I looked at the stem on the Oom Paul and I managed to get it into a beautiful shiny brown <grin>

It was one of the first I did with a black stem and since it looked clean, it looked black. Until I followed the advice of you and JJ for the next few and saw what a black stem *should* look like (albeit still fairly matte).

Went back and worked on it some more and now it's actually black.
 
Grrrrr609

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Everyone knows what this is







BUT........

Remember in one of my other restoration threads how I talked about how important it is to inspect an estate pipe?





The crack doesn't go all the way thru luckily. But it does look pretty deep. I'm gonna mix up some pipe mud and patch it and see how it does.
 
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