Royal Guard restoration

[BigSkySmoke]

Snagged this a couple weeks ago and slowly gathering supplies for the fun. After reading @Grrrrr609 resto write up and some great advise and motivation from @jsnake I decided to tackle one of the estate pipes I had laying around.


The stem had lots of oxidation and some light teeth chatter. Hour soak in a oxyclean bath and wet sanding thru the grits, started to make a dent in it. I did a second 30 minute bath about half way through to help clean it up.

Had a cotton ball soaked it everclear in the bowl while I sanded away. A light ream and a bunch of qtips and pipe cleaners later.
Cleaned up the outside with some diluted Oregon's Finest. Still needs a good wax and buff. Don't have any good wax that would work. Ment to order some, but must have for got on the last order.


Hands down the most relaxing couple of hours I've had in a while. Can totally see how this can become a hobsession. Thanks guys for all the info.

 

[JG358]

Nice work

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[Rod707]

Awesome job brother!

 

[Josh Smith]

Very nice work.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Excellent job buddy

 

[BigSkySmoke]

Thanks fellas...anyone have a good recommendation for stains? I've seen leather dyes being used, but wondering if some Watco Danish oil would work?

 

[CVAC085]

Looks awesome!!! Nice job!! Now go throw some baccy in and light ‘er up!!!


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[BigSkySmoke]

Looks awesome!!! Nice job!! Now go throw some baccy in and light ‘er up!!!


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Ran a bowl of EMP thru it this morning and smoked great. Just need to clean up the smooth grain.

 

[CVAC085]

Ran a bowl of EMP thru it this morning and smoked great. Just need to clean up the smooth grain.

Excellent!!!


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[jsnake]

Looks great and what a great pipe. Royal Guard made by Stanwell. I've had a few but not in that shape. Personally I use Feibings Leather Dye. I don't have any experience with anything else. Sometimes I sand and just go natural. On Danish Free Hand style pipes like that if it is too difficult to remove the charing completely I make sure to clean it well then I dye the rim black. Maybe I buff it so the rusticated tips show through the black. Sometimes the microfiber cloth just can't get into all those little crevasses to get it removed completely. I always opt to try to retain the original finishes of a pipe but sometimes it just doesn't work out.

 

[BigSkySmoke]

Looks great and what a great pipe. Royal Guard made by Stanwell. I've had a few but not in that shape. Personally I use Feibings Leather Dye. I don't have any experience with anything else. Sometimes I sand and just go natural. On Danish Free Hand style pipes like that if it is too difficult to remove the charing completely I make sure to clean it well then I dye the rim black. Maybe I buff it so the rusticated tips show through the black. Sometimes the microfiber cloth just can't get into all those little crevasses to get it removed completely. I always opt to try to retain the original finishes of a pipe but sometimes it just doesn't work out.

Thanks Jacob...i didn't want to get to crazy on the rim, but will give it another shot cleaning it and see how it goes. I was trying to make sure i didn't damage the original finish to a point where I had to dye/stain...but I never thought of dying the rim to darker to match.

 

[jsnake]

I'm all about trying to keep it original. The first time you sand it makes your nervous. You could always practice on something cheap. You can get cheap pipe lots and use those for experimenting. Sometimes I have to top off a rim and I end up just dying the rim to match. That can take some skill with mixing dyes to get the right color. That is in cases where it is chipped and has to be done. Get some junk pipes you experiment with colors on. If you get Fiebings guys cut it with isopropyl alcohol so it absorbs into the wood grain better. Some guys even burn it off so it really sets in.

 

[BigSkySmoke]

Thanks...gonna look into those dyes and try to see if that rim cleans up a little better. I do have a couple cheap estate that I have laying around, but just grabbed this one for some reason...