I had bought an estate lot from the family of an older gentleman (may he rest in peace) who immigrated to North America during the early years of WW2. I believe this gentleman was still from the era when pipes were meant to be used and abused, rather than treated as art objects. In any case, the whole lot was dirty and banged up as can be. I've finished the first two pieces from the collection - both older Comoy's from the 1950s. One is a Grand Slam, the other, which I want to present here as a before and after is a Sandblast.
In the before state, the rim was severely charred and uneven, there was a cake inside the bowl so thick that I couldn't get my little finger in. The grooves and crevices of the blast were gunked up, on the underside there was some white residue (paint? mold?) baked in that wouldn't even come off when rubbing with alcohol. The stem was oxidized green all around, the Comoy C barely visible.
I have cleaned the outside of the bowl with Murphy's Oil Soap undiluted, using a medium hardness toothbrush. After the grime was gone, I could see that the outside of the bowl was covered with spots of a plasticy substance, reminded me of lacquer or superglue. I spent a good 3 hours rubbing it down with full strength acetone. I then reamed the inside of the bowl in increasing reamer sizes back to bare wood. This initial cleanup was followed by an overnight bath in 99% isopropyl alcohol. The next day, I worked on the stem. I covered the "C" inlay with petroelum jelly and put it into an undiluted bleach bath for 50 minutes.
At the same time, I took the bowl out of the alcohol bath and let it dry. The bowl was now stripped of finish and most of the stain.
I took the stem out of the bleach bath, scrubbed it under running warm water with a Magic Kitchen Eraser. I then sanded the stem wet first with 400, 600 and 00 grit wetdry sandpaper and dried it off for inspection. The oxidization was gone but the surface of the vulcanite was very rough now. I continued sanding the stem with increasing grits of micro mesh pads of 1500,1800,2400,3200,3600,4000,6000,8000 and finally 12000. I polished the stem off with a helping of Silvo silver polish and then applied a protective coat of Obsidian pipe stem oil and let it sit for a while.
Off I went to work on the bowl. I carefully sanded off the top of the charred rim with 220 grit sandpaper and restored the inner bevel on the rim by hand sanding. To finish the bowl, I first applied an understain of black Aniline, set it on fire to burn it in and buffed it off. I then sanded back the outside lightly with a 400 grit sandpaper, warmed the bowl over a heat gun and applied a topstain of light brown Aniline stain, which I also set on fire to burn in and buffed off with a soft cotton cloth. I then let the bowl sit for about half an hour. Meanwhile I buffed out the obsidian oil from the stem and cleaned the stem inside with 99% Isopropyl and bristle cleaners (it took 4 until they came out flawless white - the bleach did a fantastic job inside!).
For the final touch, I took both pieces to my buffing wheels. The bowl was treated with Tripoli brown, polished with White Diamond and then covered in about 5 coats of carnauba wax. The Stem received a quick lick of the white diamond and 3 coats of carnauba.
I'm really happy with the results, especially the way the spiderweb blast came out really visibly after cleaning, stripping and restraining. I'm still debating whether I want to keep this pipe to myself or sell it off
In the before state, the rim was severely charred and uneven, there was a cake inside the bowl so thick that I couldn't get my little finger in. The grooves and crevices of the blast were gunked up, on the underside there was some white residue (paint? mold?) baked in that wouldn't even come off when rubbing with alcohol. The stem was oxidized green all around, the Comoy C barely visible.
I have cleaned the outside of the bowl with Murphy's Oil Soap undiluted, using a medium hardness toothbrush. After the grime was gone, I could see that the outside of the bowl was covered with spots of a plasticy substance, reminded me of lacquer or superglue. I spent a good 3 hours rubbing it down with full strength acetone. I then reamed the inside of the bowl in increasing reamer sizes back to bare wood. This initial cleanup was followed by an overnight bath in 99% isopropyl alcohol. The next day, I worked on the stem. I covered the "C" inlay with petroelum jelly and put it into an undiluted bleach bath for 50 minutes.
At the same time, I took the bowl out of the alcohol bath and let it dry. The bowl was now stripped of finish and most of the stain.
I took the stem out of the bleach bath, scrubbed it under running warm water with a Magic Kitchen Eraser. I then sanded the stem wet first with 400, 600 and 00 grit wetdry sandpaper and dried it off for inspection. The oxidization was gone but the surface of the vulcanite was very rough now. I continued sanding the stem with increasing grits of micro mesh pads of 1500,1800,2400,3200,3600,4000,6000,8000 and finally 12000. I polished the stem off with a helping of Silvo silver polish and then applied a protective coat of Obsidian pipe stem oil and let it sit for a while.
Off I went to work on the bowl. I carefully sanded off the top of the charred rim with 220 grit sandpaper and restored the inner bevel on the rim by hand sanding. To finish the bowl, I first applied an understain of black Aniline, set it on fire to burn it in and buffed it off. I then sanded back the outside lightly with a 400 grit sandpaper, warmed the bowl over a heat gun and applied a topstain of light brown Aniline stain, which I also set on fire to burn in and buffed off with a soft cotton cloth. I then let the bowl sit for about half an hour. Meanwhile I buffed out the obsidian oil from the stem and cleaned the stem inside with 99% Isopropyl and bristle cleaners (it took 4 until they came out flawless white - the bleach did a fantastic job inside!).
For the final touch, I took both pieces to my buffing wheels. The bowl was treated with Tripoli brown, polished with White Diamond and then covered in about 5 coats of carnauba wax. The Stem received a quick lick of the white diamond and 3 coats of carnauba.
I'm really happy with the results, especially the way the spiderweb blast came out really visibly after cleaning, stripping and restraining. I'm still debating whether I want to keep this pipe to myself or sell it off
