Deoxidize a Stem?

It all depends on how deep the oxidization runs. If it is minor (close to the surface), I'll simply hit the stem with micro-mesh pads (available through woodworking or automotive body-shop supply stores), working from coarse to fine. To deal with any niggly bits around the button, I use a dental pick. A quick buff with carnuba (if you have a buffer) followed by Obsidian Stem Oil and you're golden. If you don't have a buffer, the Obsidian will still work wonders.
If the oxidization runs fairly deep, I will cover any metal parts and/or makers stamps with a dab of petrolium jelly; then submerse the works in a bleach/water solution. I know some people like to use a strong solution for this, but I find that a 10-15% solution works fine - and if something comes up and you forget about your bathing stem, it isn't so strong as to cause irrepairable damage.

When the stem comes out of the bleach solution, it will be quite rough to the touch. I reach for sand-paper here, then into the micro-mesh, and finally follow up with a hit of carnuba and Obsidian Stem Oil as above.
I also like to dip a pipe-cleaner in the Obsidian Stem Oil, and run it down the inside of the ste a few times (until the pipe-cleaner comes out the same colour it went in); this helps both clean-up, and prevent any oxidization from rearing its ugly head inside.
There are lots of other methods, this is just what I do.

Cortez posted this yesterday:

this post by chuckw in this thread.

It is probably the best post ever made that addresses the very question you are asking.
::

I found a set of videos on youtube on restoring pipes. I followed this method when I got my pipes from the Vegas Pipe Show with the exception that I used cotton balls instead of kosher salt for the bowls. It worked out pretty good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4fq0siIh5I&feature=related

I just spray paint mine black when they get colored.

Some people look down on Krylon, but it tastes better to me than Rust-O-Leum. Pipe stem ain't gonna rust anyway. :rofl:

I have found that plain toothpaste can be used to clean up a stem that is lightly oxidized. Then just polish it up and you're good to go.

I restore pipes and use barkeepers friend, it is a powder type cleaner that wont scratch the stem. Then I polish with a buffing wheel. I actually bought a pipe the other dy on ebay, actually thought the stem was white when i bought it, turns out it was oxidized so bad it was a bright greenish white, barkeepers friend, water, a rag, and some elbow grrease and it turned out a nice shiny black.

I've used plain water and some 1000 grit sandpaper, too. The barkeeper's friend is a great idea. Somone once explained that the oxidation was just the sulphur in the compound used to make the stem separating and anything chlorine based would work to remove it. Barkeeper's Friend is reall not abrasive s it should work well. I use it on my glasstop range.

use barkeepers friend

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Seen this one mentioned more than a few times shaintiques.

In my never ending quest for the simplest and most effective things in life I'll have to pick some up and give it a go.

Hi guys, a question if I may - I went to an antique store today and purchased an old Stanwell Pipe.
I have the badly oxidized stem currently soaking in bleach. However, how on earth do I get the "collar thingie" that has the little crown & S insignia on it, it's apparently attached to the pipe, made from the same material as the stem, and the stem simply pokes into it nice and tightly.
I'm worried that I'll damage the lovely bowl finish no matter how I tackle it if it doesn't come off - I presume it's not just seized onto the shank of the pipe due to age? Was going to put it in the freezer to test it but unthinkingly filled it with salt & alcohol first. In any event, I can't see that it actually comes off, but hope to stand corrected. Cheers Di

Sounds like a permanently attached extension to the shank. If it's vulcanite and is oxidized you will have to hand sand and or buff it. You can mask off the shank with a good (blue) masking tape. Got a photo?

@aussielass

Your description sounds similar to a Savinelli "Lectura Genoa" I have. It's a 3/4 bent apple with a military mount/stick bit.

The shank extension that receives the stem is a dome shaped bit of vulcanite with a threaded metal nipple that screws into the shank.
I was in the same quandary as you when I first received it. Nasty stain and damage to the shank so I really wanted to get that extension off for refurb.

I felt sure it was glued into the shank and I pulled and wiggled and heated it and pulled and wiggled and twisted some more. No joy.
Feeble me took about 2 days before it occurred to me that every time I gave it a twist I was twisting clockwise. Hmm

Imagine my embarrassment when I gave it a gentle twist counter-clock wise and it spun off just as it was supposed to!
Perhaps yours is a similar construction?

Thanks EJ & OTD, will check it out & come back. Now, to turn it upside down & twist, you know, what we girls do to every road map b4 we can read them lmao! The stem doesn't screw in at all, just pokes in. Will grab pics later.

@aussielass

I've done a lot of repair, and a fair bit of pipe-making. I've seen only two pipes that had the tenon affixed to the stem. One was intentional (a '62 Dunhill ODA Billiard), one was not (a *very* early pipe of mine where I used an epoxy on the Delrin tenon that didn't hold properly).

As far as restoring your Sav, my advice is to leave the tenon attached to the stem. Just wrap the end of the shank with electrical tape then use a buffing wheel & polishing compounds to clean the oxidation off the affixed bit of tenon.

That's also my advice to the OP. . .lots of people have home-spun ways of restoring pipes. But, really, if you have an electric drill around the house, you can buy a cloth polishing wheel and compounds for >$20 at any hardware store. Chuck it into your drill, clamp the drill in place, and you're good to go.

Oxidation is only on the outside of the stem material. A good, gentle polishing compound will take this off pretty easily, and then you don't have to worry about nasty chemicals breaking down the integrity of your stems.

And for those who insist on soaking a heavily oxidized stem: Use OxiClean. Not bleach. It's much gentler on the vulcanite/ebonite. And it works just as well.

Thanks DMCC. Must say, it's a real shock to hear the darn thing isn't permanently fixed and that tenons, in the main, never are. I naivly thought they'd somehow just come off with a little less than gentle pursuasion, and when they don't, I figured they were a permanent fixture.

OK.... I'll bite!
Edit: Moved to..... wait for it........
:worship: Pipe Repair and Maintenance!!!!!
:clap:

WTG Lawrence! :worship:

I read somewhere that one way to help prevent oxidization is to rub a new (or newly restored) stem with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The idea behind it was that the oil fills the microscopic pores in the shank, vastly reducing the surface area available for oxidization to take place. Just rub on a thin layer of oil and rub off with a soft clean cloth. Does anyone know if this technique is worth using?

Does anyone know if this technique is worth using?

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On a lark one time, I I tried the Olive Oil wipe on an old Irish Seconds I have. I did this about 4 months ago, and it still looks as black and shiny as it did the day I applied it. I have read that Olive Oil will go rancid and start to smell bad if you apply it pipe stems, but I just smoked mine the other day and couldn't taste any ill effect from the olive oil. I say give it a shot.