Mr Brog Old Army - A Pipe Makeover

A few months back I got a Mr Brog Old Army. It had a few issues but mostly they were minor. It was suggested I return it but I didn't, though now I kind of wish I had. The biggest offense to me was the really the hideous color: it was plum purple. This photo has the background desaturated but the pipe color is true, not enhanced in any way:

I tried, really hard, to just get used to it. But I couldn't. So, I removed the finish, hoping to tone it down some, only to find I now had a dull purple pipe. Into an alcohol bath it went, for 24-hours she soaked. When I opened the container and peered in I was greeted by a still very purple pipe! It was like that color was teasing me. I let it dry out for a couple of days and rubbed it down with acetate, hoping to get some color off: nothing. The. I tried Formby's, again to no avail. So I lightly sanded it with 220 and back into the alcohol for another 24 plus-hours it went. And, you guessed it: The thing was still as purple as ever.
Tonight I sanded that sucker and good: starting with 150 grit. Even at that course of a grit I could not get all the purple off; I believe I would have had a small nub left if I'd sanded away all the purple! I gave up after getting it to the point in the first photo and began smoothing it out, going 220/320/400 grits, the second photo.

Fearing that the purple left behind would show through anything else, I gave her a good coating of USMC Black Fiebings leather dye and flamed it in. The. I began the polishing and waxing process. I never really wanted a black pipe before. But I gotta say: Classic black beats plum purple every day of the week and twice on Christmas!

Thanks, Fischer. I reckon that "hideous" is in the eye of the smoker! LOL

Yes, I was able to get a bit of grain to show through. It didn't have a lot but I wanted what was there to come out some. I buffed off some of the dye with a rag before flaming it in and that worked pretty well. The pear wood sucked the dye in much faster than briar, by the way.
It did smoke well before; I just hated the purple. And like ghost said, this was more fun! 8)
Thank you Fnord. I'm really enjoying learning more and trying different things as I go. My next project is an old Falcon. I'm pretty excited to try it as I've yet to give one of those a go. I picked it up at an antique store Christmas Eve with another no-name for a pittance.