Oxicleaning Stem Question

[mcitinner1]

This is my first restoration needing a Oxiclean soak. After soaking a well oxidized stem for over an hour, then letting it dry over night, I am left with a heavy whitish coating on the stems. I removed almost all of it using 600 grit sandpaper. Should I progress through all the stages of micro mesh, or use the Tripoli and white diamond wheels? When I went from the 600 grit right to Tripoli and white diamond the stem still isn't as deep black as it should be. There is still a little oxidation that's hard to see in the photo.

 

[xrundog]

Use Magic Eraser and soft scrub to take off the oxidation without taking away stem material. Check your work in direct sunlight. When it's all gone, polish. Oxy Clean can sometimes do more harm than good.

 

[mcitinner1]

I think I answered my own question. I probably sounded a little lazy in the first post. I went thru the progression of micro mesh up to 12,000 grit, then white diamond and carnuba. In the photo the stem looks good, but I think it could be a little better. Can a person be too anal or picky on this? Next I need to find an article on fixing a tooth depression on a stem.

 

[mcitinner1]

@Xrundog, are you saying use magic eraser instead of Oxiclean?

 

[torque]

The highest quality "White Diamond" I've been able to find is only 1500 grit. You take a very large step backward when you use it after the 12,000 micro-mesh.

 

[xrundog]

Yeah. I find the Oxy Clean to be hit or miss. You'd do as well to just wet sand the oxidation off. The Magic Eraser and Soft Scrub takes more elbow grease, but you end up with a clean stem without taking material away. You may have to wet sand around the button a little to get every last bit. Sunlight will reveal oxidation you would otherwise miss. A stem can look black until the sunlight hits it. I'm not saying other methods don't work. But through much experimentation this is what I've found gives the best results for me.

 

[ejames]

I generally wet sand to 800,sometimes 1000 and then buff with either white diamond or red rouge and they will shine like a new penny. No tripoli,which is totally unneeded for anything related to shining up a pipe--IMO.

 

[rcstan]

Oxyclean isn't magic, it does soften the nasty stuff and chemically removes some/most of it. There's still the grunt work of scrubbing and buffing off that has to be done afterwards. At work, it cuts down the time of sitting at the buffer eating compound from 30 to about 10 minutes.

You also have to keep in mind that if the Vulcanite used wasn't top notch, or if the maker had burned away at it whilst polishing, it will NEVER come out glossy black.

 

[smoothsailing]

I've found not letting it dry and hitting while its soft with 220 or 400 grit straight out of the OxiClean gets better results and I raise tooth indentations with a Bic lighter or a heat gun.

Finished this one up today and the indentations are all but gone.

 

[monty55]

I've use a heat gun applied 1-2 seconds at a time to make tooth chatter and dents disappear like magic.

 

[danielplainview]

I tossed the oxyclean out of the process after ejames told me about bleaching. I soak the stem in alcohol to loosen the crud, then drop it in 50/50 bleach. **bleach will eat any metal or painted stampings on or in the stem** so make sure to completely cover them with vaseline. I use a needle file to remove tooth chatter, but be prepared to do some major wetsanding after using a file. Light touch, don't stay in one spot too long, and feather the filing out to prevent a warped looking stem. Use caution when sanding near the part of the stem that meets the shank. You don't want to round that sharp edge where the two meet.

 

[buroak]

smoothsailing and monty55, When you refer to a heat gun, are you talking about the type used for soldering?

 

[mcitinner1]

A heat gun is like a pistol grip hair dryer on steroids.

 

[sablebrush52]

There's no getting around the elbow grease. After talking to several pro pipe repairers I've avoided bleach because it pits the vulcanite and not just on the outside, but it pits the airway as well, anywhere that vulcanite has oxidized. Walker pipe repair put it simply, "bleach destroys vulcanite". I'll use the occasional file, but I mostly use micromesh pads. Properly used, they will give a glass-like gloss finish. Once I'm done I coat the stem with either Halcyon or Paragon polish to protest it against further oxidation. And, I NEVER display my pipes in an open rack, only a few at a time for a brief rotation. Long term display just DOOMS the vulcanite stems.

 

[buroak]

mcitinner1, Thanks for the clarification.
sablebrush52, I always suspected that bleach, being an oxidizing agent, would eat vulcanite. I am glad I was able to get verification of that without a hard-way lesson. Do you have a windowless pipe cabinet, or you do you put your pipes in drawers/boxes? I ask because I have always lived by the old advice to store pipes bowl down at a steep angle. At the same time, though, I worry about oxidation resulting from long term storage in exposed racks. So far I have compromised by keeping my pipes in a room that lets in only a little ambient light through blinds.

 

[danielplainview]

I only use bleach on heavily oxidized stems, not all resto's. I use McGuires gold car wax on my stems for the final step. UV protection. No more oxidation. There are many paths to the watering hole. As long as you get that black glass shine that's all that matters.

 

[buroak]

danielplainview, I figure that dire conditions sometimes call for drastic measures. So far my most radical step has been to start with 600 grit paper rather than 800 grit, but I may find a stem that requires the magic of chemistry.

 

[fluffie666]

I thought I was the only one trying to get my stems perfect but I've realized that a lot of the time there is a sacrafice that has to be made if ALL the oxidation is to be taken off. What drives me mad these days is having a perfectly shiny stem but losing the logo. I haven't tried bleach yet but I'm sure I'll meet a terrible stem and my day will soon come where I will have to resort to that method. I do really like sablebrushe's method of no bleach or oxiclean. I wish I read this post 20 minutes ago because I probably wouldn't be soaking a stem in it as I type... Danielplainview, you just gave me an epiphany with that UV protection car wax. That's just f'n brilliant. I'm going to use that as my last step on this current project.
As for getting a tooth indention out, like I said, I'm using a warm oxiclean solution for the oxidation. I'm going to try and take the stem out early and hope it's soft enough for me to stick the point of a paring knife into the hole and just push the tooth indention out. Then I'll just go through the oxiclean, magic eraser, micro mesh method.
Thanx for this thread. It got my wheels turning this morning.

 

[buroak]

I work around stamped stem logos. A patch of remaining oxidation is, to me, a fair trade for keeping a logo. My stem restorations typically require more that just Micro Mesh. I typically start wet sanding with 800 grit papers, but will sometimes use 600 or 400 grit papers if the oxidation is extreme or there is tooth chatter I want to remove.

 

[buroak]

smoothsailing and monty55, Is it the heat alone that raises the tooth indentations?