Color me pretty. Stains suitable for pipes.

aggravatedfarmer · Nov 8, 2015

I would like to get some recommendations as to what dye's are suitable to use on restoring or making your own pipe. I know it's a lot of personal preference and availability of what's around. I know fieblings is popular, is it located at Home Depot? It's definetly not at my local HW. I was wondering about Mini-Wax Stains. I have quite a bit around the house (with names like English Chestnut and Red Mahogany it makes it sound a little more desirable). Links, critisism, and jokes appreciated.

Chasing Embers · Nov 8, 2015

I get Fieblings from Amazon, and usually use oxblood, mahogany and medium brown. Sometimes I go with USMC black to really make grain stand out.

zack24 · Nov 8, 2015

Stay with Fiebings- it's an alcohol base. Don't use minwax....

tarak · Nov 8, 2015

So after reading much on this- I would not use minwax on a pipe.
That said several years ago my wife bought me a beat up old Dr. Grabow that I didn't really care about. I sanded it down, stained with minwax, and buffed a little. And darn it, if that little pipe doesn't smoke really well...

exibar · Nov 13, 2015

the "stain" isn't really stain but an alcohol based dye. Fiebings is a leather dye, you can buy it locally at AC Moore or Michael's arts and craft stores.

the petroleum based stains that you'd use on "normal" wood projects could introduce tastes that you wouldn't want, and could be harmful to you if you get them in the bowl.
Although, if done in exactly the right way, you could hit home run such that Tarak did.... however, why not setup for success right out of the dugout

Plus you can "fire" the alcohol based dyes to set them right away. with Min-wax you'll have to wait for them to dry on their own :-(
Mike B

michaelmirza · Nov 13, 2015

Thanks for bringing this up. I was thinking of using some leftover stain on a cob. I would plug the bowl to keep the stain only on the outside. Sounds like alcohol-based is the way to go?

wallace · Nov 13, 2015

I've been having really good results with a water based leather dye for my leather projects. I've wanted to try finishing a pipe with the product and see how it works. It's called Eco-Flo from Tandy Leather Factory.

ejames · Nov 14, 2015

I prefer the alcohol based stains such as the Fiebings but I know a guy who uses RIT brand cloth dyes with great results.

mawnansmiff · Dec 26, 2015

I wonder, wouldn't a water based dye need some kind of sealing coat afterwards? I ask this as I recently bought a brand new Parker (allegedly a Dunhill second) that has repeatedly left a red stain on my hand everytime I have smoked it. I actually took a damp cloth to it and the red dye was coming away like billyo so then attempted to seal it with beeswax though with limited results. Perhaps more coats are required?
Regards,
Jay.

gloucesterman · Dec 26, 2015

By far alcohol based stains are the choice of the folks that do a lot of pipe restoring. Add a can of denatured alcohol to your set up and you can get a wide variety of shades from a few bottles of dye. The dyes can also be diluted and used as a wash to help even out color. Read the post that SS Jones put up on Petersons. The video shows dyes being applied at the Peterson factory. It's both interesting and informative.

mso489 · Dec 26, 2015

To some degree, the stain put on pipes is heated and fumes are inhaled. A little on the brim is burnt and inhaled. So though no one is going to certify the healthfulness of an of it, I'd be prone to stick with stains most usual in pipe manufacture and steer clear of those clearly designed for other purposes that could have all kinds of ingredients not intended for inhalation nor ingestion; what's inhaled is also swallowed to some degree. I wouldn't get quirky about this, but why up the risk unnecessarily? An unstained pipe, called unfinished or virgin in marketing, will develop a pleasant color and in a sense finish itself. So nothing, or stain that is commonly used, would be my preference.

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Color me pretty. Stains suitable for pipes.

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aggravatedfarmer

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