I dropped my pipe , and the rim hit the sidewalk . theres some little dings on the rim bugging the heck out of me ! I want to send it to someone who can fix it , for a FAIR price , and in a TIMELY manner . I dont want to send it to any shop that is overloaded . I also want to have a cumberland stem made for a couple of my pipes that have vulcanite ones . I would appreciate some good HONEST advice . Thanks in advance .
Where should I send my Sav. for a Makeover ?
- Thread starter cajundad
- Start date
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
- Status
Well, Walker Briar is probrably the best, and his backlog is down about 3 weeks, which is about the best you can do for quality work.
There are some members here who make and repair pipes. Just keep watching this thread and I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for in no time.
Walker Briar Works! Dave Wolff is a great guy. You can track your pipes throughout the process and his work is superb. He also won't charge you for a full restoration if all you need is a cleaning once he sees your pipes!
Cajundad, if it's only little dings (hard to tell without pictures), i.e., the wood was pushed towards the inside, you can quite easily remove those yourself using a wet kitchen towel, and a hot metal, e.g., a kitchen knife heated over a candle. Using steam to raise dings out of wood has been a well-known woodworking 'trick' for probably 2,000 years and many people restoring antiques (and pipes) use it with great success. It's also very safe to do. You put the wet kitchen towel (cloth, i.e., cotton, by the way - not the Kleenex ones!) over the ding and then press the tip of the hot knife against it. It will hiss and steam will start to form at that location. 3-4 Repetition should get rid of most dings. If they are way deep, steam might not fully get rid of them and the pipe might need to be re-topped in addition to the steam treatment. Again, hard to tell without a pic ;-)
Only pipe repair shop I have ever used and comes HIGHLY recommended. Had a pipe that had a cracked shank and sent it to him to fix. He slapped a nice nickel band on my pipe, and from the time I dropped it in the mail to the time I had it back in my hands all fixed up was only 7 days. His wife also calls you when your repairs are done and is about the sweetest old lady I have ever talked to. She gave me a run down on how my pipe was fixed and that pipe is still going strong almost 6 months later.
+1 for Norwood ... he did a great job replacing a stem on my LJ Peretti, better than the original.
Cajundad's Savinelli Alligator was delivered yesterday and I dove into it when I got home from NY this afternoon. I was a little worried that it would be a tricky repair as there were not really dents, but chatter from hitting the ground. Small peck marks. The rest of the pipe was so nice, I was worried a restain of the top would be required to remove them and I was afraid it wouldn't exactly match the rest of the pipe.
I decided to try and steam them out and was delighted to see 99% of the marks came out. There are still two little pinpricks, which I don't think will show up in a photo. I then buffed the top with tripoli, white diamond and a few coats of carnuba wax. I also shined up the stem, which has a cool alligator logo, appropriate for a Cajun guy!
Cajunguy (Josh) and I have had a few good conversations lately and I wish we lived closer. He was kind enough to send me one of his retorts, which I just used on an estate GBD and some nice tobacco samples. Thanks Josh!
Here's the pipe:
I decided to try and steam them out and was delighted to see 99% of the marks came out. There are still two little pinpricks, which I don't think will show up in a photo. I then buffed the top with tripoli, white diamond and a few coats of carnuba wax. I also shined up the stem, which has a cool alligator logo, appropriate for a Cajun guy!
Cajunguy (Josh) and I have had a few good conversations lately and I wish we lived closer. He was kind enough to send me one of his retorts, which I just used on an estate GBD and some nice tobacco samples. Thanks Josh!
Here's the pipe:
Thanks a ton Al . I myself just dont trust working on my own things . You my friend are a fine example of what a good friend should be . I wish we lived closer as well . When I go back to the East coast you better believe I'll be ringing your phone off the hook for a sit and smoke ! I hope you get much good use out of that retort . If ever you need somthing I won't blink to lend you a hand . What a fabulous fellow ! Happy Hollidays to you and your family , as well as all of the fine members of this great forum !
- Status