WOW!!! I like that! I have a few that I still smoke cheroots in on a regular basis...puf1) I've got a little cheroot that I posted in another thread that has a broken stem.
That's why I'll never use that tool and only use heat slowly to restore a tenon's size.This one was a heart-breaker. Nearly mint, pre-Cadogan era Comoy's sandblast. Under that rubber bit, not a mark. Tenon was a touch loose, I used my new Pimo tenon tool. "Crack". Now a cracked shank. Anyone have a band kit?
George hasn't done a video series on mortise sleeves that I'm aware of, but it would be a good one just to illustrate why it's a trickier repair than most people might think. Getting a proper alignment between the stem and shank without altering either is practically impossible unless you're capable of machining the components yourself. Then, you'll need to offset the effects of abrasion between the steel tubing and tenon material. It's not a trivial operation. Lots of little "gotchas" and some of them don't show up until later down the road.Wince x12 on the cracked shank on the Comoys. An alternative to the exterior band repair might be an internal stainless steel tube reinforcement and consequent alteration to tenon diameter of the stock stem - this keeps the pipe looking stock. I believe George D (Youtube channel), Steve Laug (Reborn Pipes) and Charles Lemon (Dads Pipes) have all detailed the steps to accomplish should you wish to tackle it. Of course, I believe there are pipe repair shops who will do the classic external banding repair.
For future restorations, try using heat to pull out stem indentation. A lighter is good for this but a heat gun is easier. For the oxidation, material loss can be minimized by using magic erasers instead of sanding or by using a lighter and a wet paper towel. Your results are stunning, nonetheless, and you really resurrected that little guy!?
For future restorations, try using heat to pull out stem indentation. A lighter is good for this but a heat gun is easier. For the oxidation, material loss can be minimized by using magic erasers instead of sanding or by using a lighter and a wet paper towel. Your results are stunning, nonetheless, and you really resurrected that little guy!?
I was going to say this too. I had a pipe that was hard to get a pipe cleaner in, because I didn't raise the dents first. I also had a pipe that became too thin in the mouthpiece because I filed and sanded too much, without trying to fill the dents first.
So much to learn.
Looks great though, nice job!