Staining

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degglesfield

Lurker
Nov 10, 2012
16
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Hi guys, im interested in re staining an estate pipe i have and the process involved , what is best type of stain/dye to use and what is best to avoid?

cheers

 

ghost

Lifer
May 17, 2012
2,001
4
I'll be staining for the first time next week myself, check this thread out...
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/nasty-comoys-sandblast-from-the-50s-before-and-after

 

mikemacrdlnds

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 21, 2011
537
0
Use a alcohol based shoe leather dye. Either liquid or dry powder form. The liquid form is available at any good shoe repair store. Dry can be ordered from several on line sources.

 

degglesfield

Lurker
Nov 10, 2012
16
0
Excellent post very informative.

One question, this pipe is (I forget the term) mottled/rough, whereas the pipe I have is a smooth finish, how do you think I should tackle this?

 

taerin

Lifer
May 22, 2012
1,851
1
I have an estate that is in a really big need of a light sanding and a new stain, it has an extensive silver plated windcap nailed into the top of it which covers the side of the rims, any ideas on how to do this?

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,067
Maryland
postimg.cc
Check out the Reborn Pipes blog for many pipes that have been stained, along with photos and narrative. I have a few on there myself:

http://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/about/

 

ghost

Lifer
May 17, 2012
2,001
4
I think I've read every post on that blog over the last week or so. Very valuable resource.

 

hfearly

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 11, 2012
822
2
Canada
Degglesfield,
Staining is a whole world of itself if you want to get serious with it :) If you just want to restain your estate to a timeless classic look, it's quite straightforward. Pretty much along the lines of clean, stain, burn, wipe, stain, burn, wipe, dry, buff. That's fine for the beginner and already quite scary when you do it the first time ("WTF I set my pipe on fire!!! :crazy: aaaah").
Eventually, you will probably want to go beyond 'boring' stains and get artistic and that's where the fun begins. You'll start to want to highlight the beautiful grain, or create strong contrasts. You'll want to achieve Winslow-esque finishes a la Molten Lava, or Nording's signature black/yellow grain stain. Unfortunately, pipe makers keep their staining processes under extremely tight secrecy - it's pretty much their competitive business advantage. Some of the well-frequented pipe makers' forums have a good wealth of knowledge on many of these 'special effects' and how to achieve them, some are quite labour intensive.
For example, Tom Eltang is a Grand Master of the contrast stain:

screenshot20121117at521.png

And one of the crafty guys noted on this kind of stain:
This is "laboratory stain," used in impregnating slate table tops with black stain for science labs. It's a 2 part process consisting of 2 clear (actually translucent blueish) chemicals that give a deep opaque black. It's then sanded off (which is the real skill) and then stained over with virgin French stain. These are no longer produced and you have to have a special chemical license even to purchase them in Denmark. There are a few bottles of French stain floating around out there, and you can get ahold of the laboratory stain if you know the right people. My advice would be to try the Feibings leather dies.
The recipe for the "laboratory stain" is recorded in the Industrial Magazine #5, page 280.
For reference, a French stain is considered:

The term "BOILED" does not mean that YOU have to boil the oil. It is already done for you.
1St. Coat-------50% Boiled Linsead oil and 50% Turpentine.

Add a splash of Penatrol.
2nd. Coat-------2/3 Boiled Linsead oil and 1/3 Turpentine.

Add a splash of Penatrol.
3rd. Coat-------100% Boiled Linsead oil.

Add a splash of Penatrol.
Similar effect achieved with Tannic acid + vinegar:

experimentcontraststain.jpg


experimentcontraststain.jpg


experimentcontraststain.jpg

p9106608ha9.jpg

Tannic acid, vinegar + colored top stain:

contrast1-20080909.jpg


contrast220080909.jpg


contrast320080909.jpg

As mentioned above, many of the great effects involve a) raising the wood grain with chemicals and or heat, b) application of the right mix of stain colours, c) skilled sanding techniques with various grits of sandpaper to take off parts of the stain in the raised wood fibres, d) skilled multiple applications of different stains. It's almost rocket science!
Todd Johnson shared a wonderful method online on how to get a deep contrast:
1. Sand to 220 on the wheel.

2. Wet the pipe. If there are still scratches, return to step 1 and repeat. If there are no scratches move on to step 3.

3. Sand with 400 on the wheel. This wheel should be soft and leave few to no facets.

4. After sanding on the wheel with 400, sand by hand with a worn out piece of 400 (or you could use 500).

5. Apply the dark stain until it's basically opaque.

5. Buff the dark stain off evenly using brown tripoli. If there are any remaining scratches, buff them out now.

6. Sand again using the same piece of worn out 400. You should be wearing a cotton glove on your non sanding hand or the sweat from your hand will reanimate the stain dust and put color back on the pipe. This is the most important step to achieve high contrast, so sand carefully and evenly.

7. Stain over the dark stain with a lighter stain (I usually use Yellow) and try to do it in one single pass. Do not overlap your strokes if you can avoid it or you'll lift the dark stain and create one uniform mottled color. You don't want that.

8. Take the same pipecleaner, dip it in a little shellac that's been cut with alcohol and apply a single coat of shellac to the pipe. You can let it set up and dry, or you can wipe it off. If you wipe it off, though, you'll lighten the color significantly.

9. With a different tripoli wheel that's very lightly charged with compound, buff the pipe lightly. You should not remove any color, here. It should just give the pipe a nice even shine.

10. Buff with white diamond.

11. Buff with wax at around 650 RPM's. If you buff at a higher speed with wax, you'll need to buff with a clean wheel afterwards to even the finish.
*Steps 8-11 must be done while wearing gloves or you'll never get a deep glossy finish.
Kurt Huhn also shared his even simpler method online:
My method for contrast staining is very simple, and I think I learned it from someone else. Trever probably.
After rough shaping, apply stain.
Sand with 180 grit until all stain is gone, then apply stain.
Sand with 360, you will have some contrast, apply stain.
Sand with 500 until your contrast is where you want it, then stop.
A great tip concerning the use of Shellac comes from Trever Talbert himself:
You should think of Shellac much more as a stain set than as a finish, FWIW. It just won't hold a gloss for a long time, because it's heat sensitive. The main thing it's good for is to help hold aniline stain on the pipe and keep it from bleeding off onto your hands so badly during early smokes - after all, aniline stain has no actual binder in it. It's just color. There's nothing to make it "stick" to the wood apart from absorption. Shellac wipes work because they share the same solvent with alcohol-soluble aniline and can blend and mix with it to provide the "stick" that the stain doesn't have on its own.
Kurt the master himself describes applying shellac as:
Normally, when using shellac on a smooth pipe, I apply the shellac to the entire stummel, give it a 7-count, and wipe it completely off. Remember, all you're doing here is setting the stain, boosting contrast, and providing the basis for a longer lasting shine.
You don't want to apply the shellac like you might apply it to a wood turning or a table top. That will end up with a thick coat of the stuff, and you'll have a finish that will bubble when the pipe gets hot from being smoked.
The process that I was taught:

- Sand, stain, and (if needed) sand again to provide your desired coloration.

- Using a pipe cleaner bent in half, apply the shellac quickly over the entire stummel.

- Wipe off almost immediately, you don't want it to set up at all.

- For wiping off, I usually start counting when I get halfway through applying the shellac, and wipe everything off when I hit 7 regardless of whether I finished before that. If I'm not finished applying, I wipe off anyway.

- Let it sit for a couple hours in a dry area to allow what's left on the pipe to cure. At this point, it won't be even a little bit shiny. In fact, it will look rather dull.

- Buff lightly and apply wax as normal.
It's important to remember that you're buffing *very* lightly, especially if using brown tripoli. Buffing too hard is counterproductive at this point.
That should get you started :) Be creative and experiment, there are mind-blowing effects just waiting to be created!

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,067
Maryland
postimg.cc
That is fascinating info Nic. Simple staining taken to a whole other level. I've done the two step, to highlight grain, but those techniques are worlds past that.
I do remember vividly setting my first stain job to flame, scary stuff! It was a Charatan After Hours, with an acrylic stem extension. I worried about damaging that extension with the flame, so I taped it off with masking tape. After lighting the tape promptly started to burn..........fortunately no damage done

 
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