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

[Grrrrr609]

With all the interest as of late in pipe restoration, questions have been posted on tools, methods, and just basically how to...... A brother requested that a separate thread be made for quick reference. So I thought about it and decided to expand a little more on certain topics and post them here in this thread.

First I would like to say, I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL. This is a hobby for me. These are things that work or haven't worked for me. The main thing I have learned in my short journey into pipe restoration is there are more than one way to get the desired results. These are what works for me. AND I'M STILL LEARNING.

First, what is pipe restoration and what are estate pipes. These are the terms I use and their definitons.

restore – to bring back to a formal, original, or normal condition

refurbish – renovate, redecorate

reengineer – redesign

An estate pipe by definition is a pipe that has had one or more previous owners. Yes, a used pipe. Kind of nasty eh? Well yes they can be. As a gentleman on a forum once posted, “you dont take new silverware to a restaurant do you?” With proper care an estate pipe can be a wonderful smoker.

Where do I find estate pipes?
eBay, Antique stores, pipe shops, friends, family. Anywhere you can find used items, such as yard sales, auctions, thrift stores etc.

Out of all of my pipes, about 120 of them, less than 20 of them were purchased new. The rest are restored or waiting to be restored estate pipes.

Why estate pipes?
Look pipes are only a vessel in which to enjoy tobacco in. With that said, we all like the looks, the feel, the way a certain pipe hangs from our mouths or sits in our hands. We also know to rotate our pipes, to rest them, to smoke certain blends in certain pipes. Buying enough new pipes to meet all these circumstances will get expensive. Certain makes of pipes are expensive. But if we look to the estate pipe market we can expand our hobby and our collections rather inexpensively. But who wants to smoke a 30 year old pipe that has never even been cleaned? So we restore. Does that pipe look like crap? Hole in the stem? So we refurbish. Does that pipe not smoke right no matter what you have tried? Does it not sit right in your hand? So we reengineer.

 

[Grrrrr609]

Tools

Must haves

Pipe cleaners, ( all sizes, tapered, bristled, etc.)
a pipe cleaner ( everclear, a pipe cleaner/sweetener)
Oxyclean
Mr Clean Magic Eraser
Non Iodized Salt
91% Isopropyl Alcohol

Need

Shank Brush
Brebbia Stem cleaner
Obsidian oil
Paragon Wax (smooth bowls)
Halcyon II Wax (rusticated bowls)

Nice to have

pipe retort
cotton balls
q-tips
tweezers
shotgun cleaning patches
sandpaper (grites 220, 400 etc) (autozone paint section)
micro-mesh sanding pads (500, 1000, 1500 all the way up to 12000)
micro-mesh sanding sticks (look like emory boards)
reamer (i prefer the Castleford Reamer)
small eye dropper (helps to drip alcohol on the salt)
tool kit (pipes and cigars sells it)

Eventually

grinder (for buffing wheels)
buffing wheels (3, one sewn muslin, 2 unsewn muslins)
flannel buffing wheel (less important, I still dont have one)
brown tripoli bar
white diamond bar
carnauba wax
beeswax
CA glue (black and clear)
Acetone
Topping Board (I use a thick (1/2") piece of glass)Dental picks
Heat Gun
Needle Files


Im sure I will think of other things. THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION.

 

[Grrrrr609]

Methods

Here is what i do and how I do it. This list is ever changing, depending on the condition of the pipe.

INSPECT! (this in my opinion is the most important thing you can do)
Why? Looking for what? What parts to I look at?

Inspect the outside of the bowl.

Look for markings, stamps etc. Why? To identify your pipe. Look, if this is one of your first pipes do you really want to tackle a 70 year old Dunhill or a James Upshall? There are companies that specialize in Pipe Restoration. If you have found that rare Dunhill or come across a James Upshall, do you really want to chance screwing it up? This may be a pipe worth sending off to a professional to have it restored.

Look for cracks. I use a magnifying lamp to inspect my pipes. Can a cracked bowl be repaired? Sure. Is the pipe worth repairing if its cracked? If not toss it in a can or bin and use it to practice rustication. If it is, well we can get into that later.

Look for discoloration around the bowl. Why? Because a dark spot or line can mean a burn out. Can burned out pipes be repaired? Sometimes. Again we can get into that later.

(see the discolored line around the thin part of the bowl?)


(upon further inspection under magnification I found a crack)
(slight pressure with my finger and POP)

BURN OUT!

Inspect the shank. Look for cracks. They can be small and will affect how the stem tenon fits. Can these be repaired? Yes.


Inspect the Stem

Look for holes, bite thrus, look for cracks. Can these be repaired? Yes. Does the stem have a stinger, inner tube, etc? I usually remove these prior to the Oxyclean bath. They get pretty gunked up, so I just drop them in alcohol and let them soak then use a bronze brush to scrub them clean.

While the stem is soaking, I ream the bowl. I ream every pipe. Why? So I can inspect the inside of the bowl. I found a cracked bowl once after reaming. The crack was huge and hidden on the outside by the rustication.

More on reaming and salt treatments shortly.

Inspect the inside of the bowl. I look for cracks. I look for bad spots, voids and places that may be thin in the wall of the bowl that may need pipe mud. (Pipe mud- a mixture of spit and cigar ash used to fill voids inside the pipe bowl)

Reaming

I have a couple reamers. The Castleford reamer which has a t handle and 4 bladed heads. And the senoir reamer. I prefer the castleford reamer. But the senoir reamer is a must for conical shaped bowls. I ream all the cake out of an estate pipe. Go slow and careful not to gouge the bowl.


Salt Treament

The salt and alcohol treatment is simple and is used to a) remove ghosting (old flavors left from tobaccos) b) to soften cake. There are about as many opinioms on how to do this as there are pipers around. Here is what I do, then I will explain a couple of variations. I ream the bowl, then using a q-tip, I plug the draught hole from the shank. Prop up the bowl so that it doesnt tip over and the alcohol doesnt run into the shank. Fill the bowl just below flush with the top with non-iodized salt then using a medicine dropper I saturate the salt with 91% isopropyl alcohol and let sit over night. Depending on how dark the salt becomes, I may clean and repeat the process. Try to not spill alcohol onto the finish of the pipe.

Now some people dont like to use salt. Fear of cracking the bowl if the salt expands. Some use cottons balls instead. Some fill the shank with salt. I prefer not to. I had a pipe that after the salt treatment in the shank, the stem become too tight. I will fill the shank if the stem is extremely loose.

Since I generally ream the bowl prior the doing the salt treament, I use the treatment to remove ghosting. Some use the treatment to soften the cake. Here is my opinion on this, it is only my opinion and is subject to change. Pipe reamers, like my Castleford reamer, has blades to cut thru the cake. The cake turns to dust and is easily dumped from the pipe. Soften cake gunks up the reamer and has to be cleaned to continue reaming and on an heavily caked pipe, you may have to use the salt treatment a few times to soften all the cake. And I would srill want to use the salt treatment to remove the ghosts on a fully reamed pipe. This process would take me days to complete.

Stems

After the stem has had its oxyclean bath and scrubbed with Mr Clean Magic Eraser. (See post below). Inspect. I have found cracks in stem that were invisible oxidized. I have found stem stamps that were not not visible.

Tip;
To protect a colored stem stamp during the oxyclean bath smear a dab of vasoline on it.

Now comes what to do with the stem. On a rare occasion I can go straight to the buffer after the Oxyclean bath but it's very rare. It almost always requires some sanding. The stem will have a brownish tint to it after the oxidation has been removed. A buffer usually isn't enough to remove it. It just makes the stem shiny, a shiny brown.

Depending on how bad it is depends on what grit I start with. Taking care not to sand off the stamp, sand the stem. The coarsest grit I use is 280. But rarely start with it. I usually start with 320 or 400. I will dry sand 400 then wet sand 400 until the entire stem is black. Then begin sanding thru the grits. 500, 1000. I sometimes skip 1000 and move to the micro mesh pads.

I have two types of micro mesh, one a square pad and the other little foam boards that look like emory boards. I sand the length of the stem with either the pad or boards depending on the shape of the stem. Now to sand the button, I use only the boards. And I try to stay 2 grits ahead. Why? Well u sand thru the progression of grits to remove the scratches from the previous grits. I sand the length of the stem but to sand the button and the crease of the button I sand across the stem. Keeping 2 grits ahead helps to sand out the scratches from going "across the grain" so to speak.

When I get to the 4000 and 6000 grits I also wet sand those. A little tip I picked up from a blog I read. By the time you get thru the 12000 grit ur stem is going to be black and shiny. Takes very little buffing at this point.

(Stem sanded but not buffed)


Ok so now here is where I would usually use my pipe retort. (See below). I would assemble the pipe, and check the fit of the stem the the shank. Attach my report and run a couple of vials of alcohol thru it. Then let the pipe cool and give both the bowl and the stem a thorough cleaning. Q-tips, shank brush, bristled and non bristled pipe cleaners etc. I will assume if u are gonna restore a pipe u already know how to clean one. If not I posted a pictorial thread on how to clean one here somewhere.

Now I buff with brown tripoli. I know, I know, white diamond works much butter at this point. But i haven't had much luck with white diamond yet.

I would buff both the bowl and the stem. Assemble the pipe and apply a coat of carnauba wax with my buffer. Using a soft cloth wipe the whole outside of the pipe down. U can get some streaks from the wax. Then using alcohol q-tips and pipe cleaner clean out any dust and residue from buffing from inside the bowl and the mouthpiece.

(to be continued)

 

[Grrrrr609]

Pipe Retort

RESERVED

 

[Grrrrr609]

Topping Board



RESERVED

Before


During


After

 

[Grrrrr609]

Stem Oxidation

To explain "Stem Oxidation" I will first explain stems.

Stems are made from different materials. Vulcanite/Ebonite, Bakelite, Acrylic/Lucite, Wood etc.

(From the Internet)
vul·can·ite
noun
a hard, readily cut and polished rubber, obtained by vulcanizing rubber with a large amount of sulfur, used in the manufacture of combs, buttons, and for electric insulation. (and as we know, pipe stems)

Ebonite - another name for Vulcanite

Vulcanite stems will oxidized. What is "oxidation"? Its basically a deposit that forms on your stem. Can it be prevented? Yes. The use of Obsidian Oil slows down the oxidation process. By the way, sunlight can speed up the process. What do I do if I dont have Obsidian oil? Buy some. Next "baccy" order let a small bottle fall into your shopping cart. Can I use anything else? Sure, in a pinch use chapstick. Chapstick has UV blockers. "I heard I should use olive oil." Olive Oil can become rancid.

What does Oxidation look like? I have had pipes that looked white, brown, yellow, black.

Sometimes you find surprises under the oxidation.




Ok now how do we treat an estate pipe that has an oxidized stem? Easy. Oxyclean.

I take a mason jar. Add some oxyclean. (Dont ask me how much. I guess.) And then add water. I drop my badly oxidized stem into the bath and let them soak. (Dont ask me how long. I guess) Then I take a Mr Clean Magic Eraser and scrub the now soften oxidation off off the stems.

TIP:
Depending on how dirty the pipe is, I sometimes clean the stem with pipe cleaner/sweetner or alcohol with pipe cleaners prior to the Oxiclean bath. It just helps to keep my Oxiclean bath from getting all dirty and nasty.

After a good soak, dampen a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and give it a good scrub. You can use the Magic Eraser dry but the tend to fall apart easier. I have also used terrycloth towels to scrub off oxidation.

DO NOT leave soak overnight. Yes, I did that and for reasons I can't explain the stem pitted.

(to be continued)

 

[Ducttapegonewild]

Subscribed

RESERVED

 

[skullnbones]

Awesome thread!

 

[cgraunke]

Thanks for this, Dave!
I'll be watching like a hawk...

 

[Whtwtrman79]

Subscribed and thanks as usual........

 

[jsnake]

Thank you very much for taking the time to post all of this great information. I initially intended to send my pipes off to have someone do them for me but I realize now that I can easily do this myself.

 

[javajunkie]

dave, great thread so far! if i could recommend for gear: soft cloths (hand buffing or rough cleaning), light source (for inspection), and possibly a magnifier?

 

[Whtwtrman79]

So when can we began to plan the pipe restoration educational instructional herf

 

[rdomfoto]

dave, great thread so far! if i could recommend for gear: soft cloths (hand buffing or rough cleaning), light source (for inspection), and possibly a magnifier?

I'm madly putting together my restore kit before leaving for vacation on Saturday. I have a couple of polishing cloths already (cleaning cloths for reading glasses) but the light source is an excellent idea!

 

[rdomfoto]

So when can we began to plan the pipe restoration educational instructional herf

I know, right?

 

[c.ortiz108]

Man, thanks so much for this. It'll really help when I start on my dad's old pipe collection - though also makes me realize it's a more involved procedure than I imagined. Might be a god winter project when I have more time.

 

[Grrrrr609]

Thanx guys. I know I'm all over the map with my edits. Taking the thoughts and converting them into words is not my strong point. I'm not the best communicator. Trying to word it so that any of the brothers that has never done it can understand and be able to do this. I was never able to find anything like this when I started. All my info was pieced together from reading thousands of forum and blog posts and watching YouTube vids. I just figured it would be a few lists and pictures until I started typing. Things kinda go in order and they kinda dont. It all depends on the pipe and what u have to do and how in depth the repairs are. It's why I use the three terms, restore, refurb, reengineer. For me, this has been alot of work so far so the compliments are greatly appreciated.

 

[Grrrrr609]

Oh and also, i will be posting specifics on certain pipes. Such are EA Carey Magic Inch, Gourd Calabash, Meers etc.

 

[javajunkie]

dave, not only is the info good, but the layout and presentation is solid, and easy to follow. i have already picked up a couple few tricks i hadn't seen yet, and i am sure you are going to get new guys interested in it with this thread. or at least shove them farther down the next slope. o)

 

[Ducttapegonewild]

^^^ that X2