Well guys, I worked all night on this damn infernal mess of a pipe! It was pure HELL to clean!
The previous owner evidently had no idea that pipe cleaners even exist! The stem was in BAD shape, and almost impossible to get an alcohol soaked bristled PC through it. Same with the shank, I had to dig a ton of crap out of it before I could even get a shank brush or a PC in it. I also reamed the bowl, and scraped the carbon off the rim.
Keep in mind, I don't have any buffing equipment, so all of this stuff has to be done with elbow grease!
For the outside of the bowl I used alcohol and a stiff bristled toothbrush (which I scrubbed with for 2 hours).
Then I used another toothbrush and water. Then I let the bowl air dry while I worked on the stem. After it dried, I used my usual Extra-virgin olive oil and hand buffing treatment.
Later on, when I get some equipment, I might end up stripping and refinishing it, but for now, this is all im doing.
For the stem, I did my usual as well, it just took longer, lol!
I Mr. Clean Magic Erasered the Hell out of it for about an hour and a half, then I polished over and over with toothpaste. I then hand buffed it with a cloth, then coated with olive oil. After it sat for a while, I buffed it again.
Surprisingly, the weight didn't change much. It was 34-35gr. before, and is 33gr. now.
Anyway, the letters I thought were "ING", turned out to be "INC"!
After all that Scrubbing, it was still tough to make out, but I used my wife's CCTV to look at it under 100x magnification.
What I found was the makings of the words "BLACK PRINCE" and "LONDON MADE", as well as a shape number of "90".
I did some digging, and Black Prince was indeed a Barling sub-brand!
I still don't have a clue as to the time period this pipe is from, but I'm sure it's pretty old!
It seems very well made though, and I can't wait to smoke it once I do the salt/cotton ball treatment on it!
So here's the pics;
Before;
And after; (This thing was a bitch)
The previous owner evidently had no idea that pipe cleaners even exist! The stem was in BAD shape, and almost impossible to get an alcohol soaked bristled PC through it. Same with the shank, I had to dig a ton of crap out of it before I could even get a shank brush or a PC in it. I also reamed the bowl, and scraped the carbon off the rim.
Keep in mind, I don't have any buffing equipment, so all of this stuff has to be done with elbow grease!
For the outside of the bowl I used alcohol and a stiff bristled toothbrush (which I scrubbed with for 2 hours).
Then I used another toothbrush and water. Then I let the bowl air dry while I worked on the stem. After it dried, I used my usual Extra-virgin olive oil and hand buffing treatment.
Later on, when I get some equipment, I might end up stripping and refinishing it, but for now, this is all im doing.
For the stem, I did my usual as well, it just took longer, lol!
I Mr. Clean Magic Erasered the Hell out of it for about an hour and a half, then I polished over and over with toothpaste. I then hand buffed it with a cloth, then coated with olive oil. After it sat for a while, I buffed it again.
Surprisingly, the weight didn't change much. It was 34-35gr. before, and is 33gr. now.
Anyway, the letters I thought were "ING", turned out to be "INC"!
After all that Scrubbing, it was still tough to make out, but I used my wife's CCTV to look at it under 100x magnification.
What I found was the makings of the words "BLACK PRINCE" and "LONDON MADE", as well as a shape number of "90".
I did some digging, and Black Prince was indeed a Barling sub-brand!
I still don't have a clue as to the time period this pipe is from, but I'm sure it's pretty old!
It seems very well made though, and I can't wait to smoke it once I do the salt/cotton ball treatment on it!
So here's the pics;
Before;
And after; (This thing was a bitch)
