Recently when reading through the forums I came across a beautiful restoration job by forum member danielplainview of a Commodore 31. I love to see his restorations because he always does such a great job, but what caught my attention was a comment left by another member, stanlaurel, which read, “This is really an awesome skill to be able to do a restoration like this. If someone wanted to begin to develop this talent, where would they start?” For whatever reason that struck a chord with me so I thought I would share my thoughts.
First, let me say I know what works for me so everything contained here is just one man’s opinion. I do not pretend to know how to do everything and I learn something new every single day. Some of you may have different thoughts or ways of doing things, and that is OK.
Having said all of that I can safely say that Stan, you are in the right place. There are a lot of people here with a lot of knowledge and experience that are willing to share, myself included. By being a member of this group I can tell you that you are a member of one of the finest groups of pipe smokers, historians, collectors, carvers, repair, and restoration communities that exist and most everyone is willing to share and help.
If you really want to try your hand at restoring a pipe, first you need to get a pipe. Look around at flea markets, antique stores, and second hand shops. I find a gracious plenty that way. You can also find some on Ebay, but that is a whole topic of discussion to its self. Don’t spend a lot of money on that first pipe. You want something that is going clean up nice, but it is still your first attempt.
When I was learning to work on pipes, I had a cheap little pipe (that I still have) that I nicknamed “Test Bed”. I learned to do a lot with that little pipe. The proper way to clean a pipe, how to sand and refinish a pipe bowl, how to rusticate a pipe bowl, how to replace a tenon, how to sleeve a shank, and the list goes on and on. That little pipe looks nothing like it did when I originally acquired it, but every time I learned a new skill I always tried it on that pipe first. It sits above my workbench as a kind of “here is what your first attempt looked like” reminder.
The second piece of advice I would give is don’t go out and spend a lot of money on tools. Truth is you can do a lot of cleaning and restoration with a very small investment. Sure, some specialty tools, like a buffer, are nice to have, but you can get amazing results with just basic hand tools and a little work.
Check out some videos on Youtube. There are several video series out there dealing with pipe restoration. Smokingpipes.com even put some out there are couple of years ago that showed how they were cleaning up estate pipes to sell at the time. Some videos are better than others and you will quickly learn how to spot the better made ones, but you can pick up something from each of them.
I also suggest you check out rebournpipes.com that Steve Lang maintains. There are lot of articles on different pipe restorations and techniques there. I always managed to pick up something when I take time to look around the site. I am sure there are a few things there for you to look at.
Finally, just ask. Once you get your project pipe, take a couple of pics, post them here on the forum and ask, “What do I do next?” I am sure you will have several people willing to share their thoughts and suggestions with you. If you run into a stumbling block, just ask. I have used this forum and rebornpipes.com as a resource more than once when I run across something that I have never seen before. Chances are that if it is happening to you, it has happened to some else too and they may have some thoughts on how you can best handle the situation.
I hope this is someway helps people who are thinking about trying a restoration. If you work slowly, ask for help when you are not sure, and pay attention I have no doubt that almost anyone can successfully restore a pipe to fine smoking condition. I must warn you however, that it is addictive.
Wes
www.rebuiltbriars.com
First, let me say I know what works for me so everything contained here is just one man’s opinion. I do not pretend to know how to do everything and I learn something new every single day. Some of you may have different thoughts or ways of doing things, and that is OK.
Having said all of that I can safely say that Stan, you are in the right place. There are a lot of people here with a lot of knowledge and experience that are willing to share, myself included. By being a member of this group I can tell you that you are a member of one of the finest groups of pipe smokers, historians, collectors, carvers, repair, and restoration communities that exist and most everyone is willing to share and help.
If you really want to try your hand at restoring a pipe, first you need to get a pipe. Look around at flea markets, antique stores, and second hand shops. I find a gracious plenty that way. You can also find some on Ebay, but that is a whole topic of discussion to its self. Don’t spend a lot of money on that first pipe. You want something that is going clean up nice, but it is still your first attempt.
When I was learning to work on pipes, I had a cheap little pipe (that I still have) that I nicknamed “Test Bed”. I learned to do a lot with that little pipe. The proper way to clean a pipe, how to sand and refinish a pipe bowl, how to rusticate a pipe bowl, how to replace a tenon, how to sleeve a shank, and the list goes on and on. That little pipe looks nothing like it did when I originally acquired it, but every time I learned a new skill I always tried it on that pipe first. It sits above my workbench as a kind of “here is what your first attempt looked like” reminder.
The second piece of advice I would give is don’t go out and spend a lot of money on tools. Truth is you can do a lot of cleaning and restoration with a very small investment. Sure, some specialty tools, like a buffer, are nice to have, but you can get amazing results with just basic hand tools and a little work.
Check out some videos on Youtube. There are several video series out there dealing with pipe restoration. Smokingpipes.com even put some out there are couple of years ago that showed how they were cleaning up estate pipes to sell at the time. Some videos are better than others and you will quickly learn how to spot the better made ones, but you can pick up something from each of them.
I also suggest you check out rebournpipes.com that Steve Lang maintains. There are lot of articles on different pipe restorations and techniques there. I always managed to pick up something when I take time to look around the site. I am sure there are a few things there for you to look at.
Finally, just ask. Once you get your project pipe, take a couple of pics, post them here on the forum and ask, “What do I do next?” I am sure you will have several people willing to share their thoughts and suggestions with you. If you run into a stumbling block, just ask. I have used this forum and rebornpipes.com as a resource more than once when I run across something that I have never seen before. Chances are that if it is happening to you, it has happened to some else too and they may have some thoughts on how you can best handle the situation.
I hope this is someway helps people who are thinking about trying a restoration. If you work slowly, ask for help when you are not sure, and pay attention I have no doubt that almost anyone can successfully restore a pipe to fine smoking condition. I must warn you however, that it is addictive.
Wes
www.rebuiltbriars.com