Brigham Stem Oxidation Aluminum Shank

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zirbengeist

Lurker
Aug 22, 2012
24
0
Hello All
I need some advice from my fellow members. I entered pipe smoking more than a year ago when I expressed interest to my Uncle. He gave me an unsmoked brigham 4dot billiard. it was at a B&M in a farming community that went out of business. The steam appeared brown and at he time I didn't know about stem oxidation.
So I have been regretfully smoking it for the past 1.5 years. I read in another post to try oxi clean and then a magic eraser. I also bought obsidian stem oil for when the job is done.
Since I do not restore pipes and this one has sentimental value to me I wanted to see if there was anything else I should think of before starting?
Any and all advice is appreciated.

 

ghost

Lifer
May 17, 2012
2,001
4
Make sure to put a little dab of vaseline over the dots to protect them when you do the oxi bath. Also, assuming you're referring to the great stem cleaning blog posted here, try to pick up some micro mesh pads for the final bit of polishing. Good luck!

 

rigmedic1

Lifer
May 29, 2011
3,896
75
If this pipe has a lot of sentimental value to it, you might want to get an old beater pipe to practice on first, or send it to a repair shop to have it done. I use Walker Briar Works stem repair kit, which has a deoxodizing compound that does a great job.

 

zirbengeist

Lurker
Aug 22, 2012
24
0
That's a great article. The Vaseline on the ldots is that prior to the oxyclean? They are a bit dirty as well

 

nsfisher

Lifer
Nov 26, 2011
3,566
20
Nova Scotia, Canada
I never soak mine in Bleach. I scrub with 1000 grit wet paper(keeping stem and paper wet), until brown is almost gone, then 3000 grit wet paper, then micro mesh until shiny and black. Takes about 2 hours.

 

lumberjakpipester

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 21, 2012
293
0
I've restored many brighams, and I found that putting Vaseline on the dots is not necessary, I would advise to put some on the aluminum tenon, or the bleach/oxyclean will form a strange crystallization on it.

 

schmitzbitz

Lifer
Jan 13, 2011
1,165
2
Port Coquitlam, B.C.
Lumberjakpipester is correct, you don't have to worry about those brass pins eroding away but the aluminum will oxidize like mad in bleach.
I personally perscribe to the method outlined by NSFisher, avoiding bleach if possible on my restores. Simple sandpaper and micromesh for this guy, followed with Obsidian and get good results.
Before:




After:





 

zirbengeist

Lurker
Aug 22, 2012
24
0
Thanks everyone. That's a lot to think about. Not really sure what I want to do now lol but I am armed with many options. I have a lee valley near me so I could buy micro mesh

 

cgrd

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 7, 2012
186
8
Winnipeg, MB
I have used oxyclean, magic eraser and micromesh with great results. The micromesh pads go from 1500 to 12000, used in progressing you'll go from rough to glass smooth. I kept them wet to help reduce heat and clean off the rubber...it is messy, so have a rag nearby to wipe down the pipe and your hands; expect your hands to smell like rubber for a while too :)
While you're at Lee Vally, check out their beeswax salad bowl finish. I used that instead of carnuba or other commercial steam treatments. Why? Well...I don't have a buffer, so this could be applied and finished by hand. It's also food safe and won't go rancid, both concerns to me for something that's going to be going into my mouth.

 
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