Polishing Rusticated/Sandblasted Pipes
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What are you using? Rusticated and sandblasted pipes can be hard to shine up. Easiest thing I've found to use is Halcyon II pipe wax. I apply it with a tiny brush-a little goes a long way- work it into all the nooks and crannies. Let it dry for a while and then buff with a soft brush. A clean shoe brush or even a soft toothbrush will work. Finish up with a soft cotton cloth.
This is what I have been doing for years and it has never let me down, and always ended up with great showroom results.
Forget all that rub on stuff like Halcyon..Use regular old carnauba wax and a buffing wheel. Buff just like you would a smooth pipe, you can even be alittle more sloppy with the amount of wax. Now when you are done buffing, you will notice white residue in the nooks and crannies of the pipe. Heat these areas up with a lighter (torch lighter works great) do it small areas and just enough to watch the wax melt, and not burn any wood. Take a soft lint free cloth and hand polish the small area for a few seconds. The wood and wax will be slightly warm NOT HOT. And it will come to a nice shine. repeat this all over the pipe, again in small areas untill the whole pipe is done.
Oh make sure you remove stem before hand.
Forget all that rub on stuff like Halcyon..Use regular old carnauba wax and a buffing wheel. Buff just like you would a smooth pipe, you can even be alittle more sloppy with the amount of wax. Now when you are done buffing, you will notice white residue in the nooks and crannies of the pipe. Heat these areas up with a lighter (torch lighter works great) do it small areas and just enough to watch the wax melt, and not burn any wood. Take a soft lint free cloth and hand polish the small area for a few seconds. The wood and wax will be slightly warm NOT HOT. And it will come to a nice shine. repeat this all over the pipe, again in small areas untill the whole pipe is done.
Oh make sure you remove stem before hand.
Back to the pipe polishing question, an alternative for those of us without a buffing wheel, I think a lot can
be done by hand without any polish or wax. Granted, I'm not after a new pipe look on some of my "old
friends," but I have brought vulcanite stems and smooth and rusticated bowls to a shine with a slightly
stiff new all-cotton cloth, with a little sizing still in it from the factory, like an inexpensive bandana, for
example. This gives just the slightest abrasive quality without "sanding" the pipe in the least. For us
non-pros, some of the waxes and polishes do have the problematical residue. It sounds a little
Puritanical, but sometimes elbow grease will suffice. Get the best results when you polish your pipe
soon after smoking while it's still warm. Do the standard cleaning (scoop bowl, blow out bowl, wipe
bowl, use pipe cleaner) then polish up the whole pipe with the cloth, as mentioned. As my folks old
interior painter used to say, it's not a miracle but it's a transformation.
be done by hand without any polish or wax. Granted, I'm not after a new pipe look on some of my "old
friends," but I have brought vulcanite stems and smooth and rusticated bowls to a shine with a slightly
stiff new all-cotton cloth, with a little sizing still in it from the factory, like an inexpensive bandana, for
example. This gives just the slightest abrasive quality without "sanding" the pipe in the least. For us
non-pros, some of the waxes and polishes do have the problematical residue. It sounds a little
Puritanical, but sometimes elbow grease will suffice. Get the best results when you polish your pipe
soon after smoking while it's still warm. Do the standard cleaning (scoop bowl, blow out bowl, wipe
bowl, use pipe cleaner) then polish up the whole pipe with the cloth, as mentioned. As my folks old
interior painter used to say, it's not a miracle but it's a transformation.
Hey there folks.
I used a modified version of drwatson's application of heat by using a heat gun set at the low temp setting (250F) and held about four inches away from the pipe. Once the residual wax was melted I took the pipe back to the buffing wheel and buffed it with an uncharged linen buffing wheel before finishing with a light hand polish with cotton cloth.
I think it worked out okay. What do you guys think?
I used a modified version of drwatson's application of heat by using a heat gun set at the low temp setting (250F) and held about four inches away from the pipe. Once the residual wax was melted I took the pipe back to the buffing wheel and buffed it with an uncharged linen buffing wheel before finishing with a light hand polish with cotton cloth.
I think it worked out okay. What do you guys think?
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