Hey Folks. For those of you who thought I was restoring a car, I apologize for the passive deception, but how many people would really click on it if I added Dr. Grabow to the title?
When I first started this project I didn't know if it was going to be a cleanup or a full-on restoration, meaning removing the paint and refinishing it. Lucky for me, it cleaned up pretty well. Once the stem finally submitted (to 400 grit with a heavy hand, 600 grit, 800 grit, 2500 grit, worn out 2500 grit, magic eraser, and obsidian oil) the rest of the project was pretty straight forward. The inside required the typical pile of pipe cleaners and Q-tips but it wasn't as bad as I feared. After it was cleaned and sanitized inside (white pipe cleaners come out white everywhere - even inside of the bowl), I scrubbed down the outside of the bowl with cotton balls and 99% alcohol, followed by a
very light touch with a magic eraser. The first pictures don't show it, but it was pretty yellow before cleanup. Quite a bit of grime came off the bowl, and while it'll never be white again, it polished up to a quite beautiful creamy color. The charring of the rim cleaned up better than I expected, leaving behind a discoloration that pays homage to a lifetime of good, honest use. I find it to be a quite attractive pipe. What kind of tobacco should I use for the first smoke?
