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sparrowhawk

Lifer
Jul 24, 2013
2,941
219
I have a recently acquired Hardcastle Royal Crown billiard that smokes wonderfully and has become my favorite (for now) pipe. But it shows its 60 years of age (I got it from ShinyPipes at eBay). Even with a furious rubbing of Dunhill Pipe Wipe, it refuses to take any kind of shine. I've heard wax mentioned. What kind of wax would help restore just a little of this pipe's former magnificence? Where would I get such wax?

 

tarak

Lifer
Jun 23, 2013
1,528
15
South Dakota
If its a smooth pipe, many use Carnuba wax, or Paragon wax. For rusticated, some use those aforementioned, some use Halcyon II which is simply brushed on. You can find them at several online pipe dealers, including here:
http://www.4noggins.com/cleaning-maintanance-supplies.aspx
Carnuba I just got online at amazon or ebay. You may want to google around about using it, Carnuba is extremely hard so the buffing process requires a wheel fast enough to heat the wax and apply, yet not so fast that it doesn't buff well.

 

sparrowhawk

Lifer
Jul 24, 2013
2,941
219
I should have mentioned this pipe is sandblasted. The Halcyon sounds like the ticket, my not owning any mechanized polishing equipment. Thanks for the tip!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
You may well get this pipe burnished up quite a bit, but if it only looks a little brighter, I'd say,

a well-worn pipe is a thing of beauty in itself.

 

sparrowhawk

Lifer
Jul 24, 2013
2,941
219
mso, you are absolutely right; I don't want to take away from the august age of this pipe. But it currently looks likes it's been buried for a dozen years. I just want to restore a little of its former grandeur. The Dunhill Wipe is great for this, but it can't perform miracles.

Roth, I just ordered a can of CH for mixing my MD/CH blend, henceforth to be known as Roth #1; I'm sending you the bill. :lol:

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
If you have a local guy who can put it on his buffing wheel, I would do that. No amount of hand waxing is going to make that much of a difference if it is in pretty tough shape.

 

snagstangl

Lifer
Jul 1, 2013
1,606
768
Iowa, United States
I'm sure lots of people will disagree with this but as just another option. I have heard, while I havent done it myself, a light coat of shellac on the exterior of sandblasted/rusticated pipes can bring back the shine. Others say that it will make it so the pipe will not breath, How ever I think that since it takes a number of coats of shellac to seal other things a single coat would not be harmful. It would think it will wear off in time like wax or any finish you put on your pipes. Duck and Cover!

 

bobpnm

Lifer
Jul 24, 2012
1,543
10,400
Panama City, Florida
Sparrow, if the pipe is dirty, no amount of waxing it will make it look great. If you haven't already, you might want to clean the exterior of the stummel before you put anything else on it. I have had great luck with a toothbrush, warm water and dish washing soap. On one pipe I also used a very small amount of Everclear and a toothbrush to remove old wax and lighten the finish. Afterwards, I put a coat of wax on it and it looked great!

 

sparrowhawk

Lifer
Jul 24, 2013
2,941
219
Good advice, gentlemen; I doubt this pipe has seen a genuine cleaning in decades. I do happen to have some Murphy's Oil Soap and will give that a shot. But I would never do anything radical to artificially shine this pipe up; it just needs some TLC to bring it back a bit.

 

pitchfork

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
I'm sure lots of people will disagree with this but as just another option. I have heard, while I havent done it myself, a light coat of shellac on the exterior of sandblasted/rusticated pipes can bring back the shine.
By the by, lots of pipe makers use shellac. There's an interesting discussion of shellac here:
http://www.pipemakersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6251

 

sparrowhawk

Lifer
Jul 24, 2013
2,941
219
Gentlemen, I went and cleaned the pipe using some unorthodox methods; I applied an abrasive kitchen scrub to it with an electric toothbrush, rinsed it, then repeated the process with Murphy's Oil Soap. The result was that what little finish there was to the pipe had been removed, wax and all; it's now a dull brown color, probably not far from it's original wood color. I think it is time to send it to a professional refinisher for a new stain, lacquer, wax buffing. I couldn't find any individuals who do this kind of work on the net: does anyone know of any pipe refinishers?

 

irwinmetro

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 31, 2013
205
0
I know many members speak quite highly of Walker Pipe Repair, I have no personal experience and I'm not sure if he will do any staining. But you could always send an e-mail.

 
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