Pipe restoration finishing.

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jamespworth

Might Stick Around
Mar 13, 2012
99
0
Hello Chaps
Wondering what everyone uses to finish their pipes after restoring eg varnish wax etc I have tried a few with varying results do they need sealing at all?

 

huntertrw

Lifer
Jul 23, 2014
5,219
5,338
The Lower Forty of Hill Country
jamesepworth:
Personally I never use varnish, shellac, or anything similar. I'll be interested to read what any pipe-makers here on the Forums have to say concerning this.
If the wood is colored and needs touch-up, then I will use Fiebing's leather dye cut with grain alcohol (190-proof Everclear). Do this carefully, as Everclear is highly flammable. I apply the dye/alcohol mix and then, while it is still wet, seal it in by igniting it briefly with a butane lighter. This is a trick which I learned from an article by Robert Cooper, and it works well for me.
I typically polish the unfinished wood using my bench-top buffer (taking care to avoid any stamped nomenclature), and dress the wheel with tripoli for the initial passes. Final passes are performed using a wheel dressed with red rouge. For waxing I use Carnauba, and buff at slow speed using an undressed wheel.
I hope that you find this information to be useful.

 

jamespworth

Might Stick Around
Mar 13, 2012
99
0
Thank you for the advice I have looked up the buffing compounds you have mentioned there and if that works for you i will probably also go down that route. It is similar to what I have been doing already just more thorough.
Do you find the finish lasts?

 
My favorite, best smoking pipes that have kept their surface in tact do not have any wax at all. My Skip Elliot pipes, my Beckers, and a few other artisan made pipes. They just take the surface down to a very fine polish, and leave it. The waxes tend to absorb and look amateurish after a smoking the pipe for a while. And, if the finish looks fantastic without wax, why use it? I think most pipemakers that use it, use it in an attempt to forgo taking the finish down with fine polishing. Or, they think that wax has to be used for some reason.

 

mcitinner1

Lifer
Apr 5, 2014
4,043
24
Missouri
Hello James, I treat estate pipes the same way Hunter does. A source for material/equipment is at pipemakers.org

I converted an old bench grinder into a buffer, but I need to find a Variac to make the speed adjustable.
tinner/Stan 8)

 
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