What's your stem resto tricks?

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Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
This is for the estate resto pros.

What is your tips and tricks to get that black glass shine on an estate stem?

Here is my process. It's a lil slow, but looks great.

1. Alcohol soak and scrub.

2. Oxyclean.

3. Wetsand 2000 grit.

4. Wax & buff.

5. Enjoy.

 

tppytel

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 23, 2014
156
0
I'm not a pro, but I've been cleaning up my stems recently after a long period of neglect. I find the following works well for me...
1) Bristle cleaner with alcohol to clean out the inside. Wipe off dirt, dust, or other crud on the outside with water or Goo Gone.

2) Oxyclean

3) Mr.Clean Magic Eraser

4) MicroMesh, 1500-1800-2400-2800-3200-3600-4000

5) Buff

6) Obsidian Stem Oil
My goal is to require as little work with the buffer as possible, because it's easy to accidentally round off edges or otherwise overdo it. In fact, I'm happy to skip the buffing step entirely on my own pipes, which are just going to get smoked and handled again immediately anyway. But for pipes I would gift or resell, I'd buff and probably go a couple steps further with the MicroMesh as well.

 

tobyducote

Lifer
Jun 10, 2012
1,204
3
New Orleans
1. Brush with soft bristle tooth brush and regular Colgate toothpaste.

2. Oxyclean

3. Mr Clean Magic Eraser

4. Brown Tripoli on buffer

5. White Diamond on buffer

6. Final hand polish with soft fluffy finishing cloth
I only sand and use MicrMesh pads if I need to remove teeth marks

 

owen

Part of the Furniture Now
May 28, 2014
560
2
Stems in with two steradent denture tablets soaked overnight.

Watch out as its suprising how much stem gets buffed away and out of shape where it joins the briar as well as wearing off the logos

 

apiperisdown

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 28, 2014
114
2
Very timely info. Gentlemen. Thank you all and thanks to danielplainview for bringing it up.

 

torque

Can't Leave
May 21, 2013
444
2
Mine;
1. Oxyclean soak - generally refresh the solution at least three times, i go overboard on this step to assure greatest efficacy. When I notice the "reaction" slowing down I refresh the solution until a brand new solution no longer produces the reaction.
2. Magic Eraser - I use the knock-off brands instead of the Mr. Clean brand. Much cheaper and made from the exact same material (melamine foam). This is an incredible tool for removing oxidation without removing stock from the stem, which is what happens when folks sand off the oxidation or use brown and/or white jewelers rouge. I usually will wear one of these out on a stem and most times get into another pad. I consider this to be, probably, the most vital step if I want to achieve that mirror, almost wet looking jet black finish at the end of the process. Any left over oxidation will contribute to a dull looking finish so I try to get all (if not most) of it off at this stage. This saves a lot of headaches on the next step.
3. Micro-Mesh - Usage of the 1500 to 3200 micro-mesh pads are very targeted, I don't use these grits on the entire stem. Typically there will be some roughness up around the button that needs to smoothed due to tooth chatter, heavier oxidation due to saliva which leaves small pits, etc. This doesn't usually exist on the the rest of the stem so I only use those grits to bring the button area to the same general finish as the rest of the stem material. The crevice between the button and the stem is hard to get at so I use the padded micro-mesh files in this area and the padded 2x2s on the rest of the stem. I typically, at this point, can skip the 3600 grit and go directly to the 4000 grade pad. The 4000 (4500 grit comparable) has very little cutting action and it's where you really get away from the sanding action and solidly into polishing and smoothing out the existing scratches. I then progress through the rest of the MM grits finishing with the 12000. If done properly the stem already looks really good at this stage.
4. Stem oil - I use 100% non-toasted sesame oil. It has a known UV radiation blockage rate of 30% and is the highest rate, that can be substantiated, that I have been able to find. There may be better oils with higher blockage rates but this is the best I've been able to find so I use it. Olive oil isn't a bad choice either as it has a known blockage rating of 20%. I apply in a very thin layer and then allow the stem to sit for a few minutes while the oil seeps into the micro-pores of the material. Then I wipe any excess off the stem. I'm pretty meticulous on this step as I don't want any tackiness from the oil getting trapped under the wax so I wipe the stem A LOT, pretty much to the point of hand buffing it to get the excess off.
5. Wax - I use Renaissance wax on my stems. I will usually apply 5 or 6 layers with curing time and hand buffing between each layer. I end up with jet black, mirror finish stems that are very smooth all the way to the button.
Well, that's how Mr. SUPER ANAL does his. I'm far from an estate resto pro but hope this was helpful.

 

sailorjeremy

Can't Leave
Feb 25, 2014
419
1
Virginia
Organic carrot seed and red raspberry oil are rated between 30- 50 SPF. As far as UV protection is concerned they have the highest UV blocking properties among natural oils. Sesame seed is actually around 4-10. Just something to consider. Especially if you're looking to protect your stems from the evil sun!

 

torque

Can't Leave
May 21, 2013
444
2
Not a problem NOLA, below is the substantiation for the claim.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3263051/
A SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and refers to the theoretical amount of time you can stay in the sun without getting sunburned. For example, an SPF of 15 would allow you to stay in the sun 15 times longer than you could without protection.
http://www.onemedical.com/blog/live-well/spring-has-sprung-the-best-spf-protection-plan-for-rain-or-shine/
No offense sailorjeremy, but SPF isn't the same as a percentage of blocking, they can't be used as a direct comparison as they are different measures. SPF is a theoretical measure and a little on the subjective side since it only rates the blockage potential of one type of UV radiation. Do you have the actual percentages of carrot seed and red raspberry oil? If there is something better out there than what I'm using, trust me, I'll be the first in line to switch. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to find out there are better blocking natural oils. Russ from P&C posted that there is an essential oil with a higher rating, he just didn't tell us what is was, lol.

 
Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
I forgot to mention if there is a logo/stamping on the stem, use a little dab of vasoline over it to protect it from the alcohol and oxyclean.

I also try not to spend to much time on the buffer wheel.

When wet sanding, start around the button first, then sand length ways in one direction.

 

tppytel

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 23, 2014
156
0
What kind of logos does Oxyclean affect? I had only heard about doing the vaseline dab when using bleach. I've only done a few stems so far, but I haven't seen any logos eaten by Oxyclean yet.

 

doctorthoss

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 6, 2011
618
9
My solution is simple:

1. Remove nasty oxidized stem.

2. Throw said stem in trash.

3. Sent pipe to reputable pipe worker who replaces it with an acrylic stem, which in my book looks ten times better anyway.

4. Never worry about oxidation again.
On the few pipes I haven't done this with, I use Magic Erasers to good effect.

 

jah76

Lifer
Jun 27, 2012
1,611
35
On old stems I use a bic lighter first. I do this instead of oxyclean or bleach most times. Then it's wet sanding/flat files, buffing compound, and chapstick.
Works for me. Honestly I try and avoid vulcanite in new pipes, but I'm a sucker for a cheap piece of Algerian briar. I think I rationalize it by saying "it's a yard/work pipe".

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,074
Maryland
postimg.cc
My regimen:

- Oxyclean soak (with grease on logos)

- Wet paper: 800>1000>1500>2000

- Micromesh: 8000>12000

- Buff: Red Rouge>White Diamond>Meguiars Plastic Polish

 

purplemotoman

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 7, 2014
195
0
Mine is almost the same as Al's, but I do 400, 600 and 800 grit wet paper, then micromesh pads. Also I do carnauba wax and sometimes I use the Black Box.

 
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