Possibility of Cracking Old Briar

[lithicus]

Hon

Honey and charcoal is not a substitute for a silicate coating. Just keep the bowl as cool as possible. Burleys might be a better choice than Virginias under the circumstances. Go very slow. A century old briar is not the same animal as a new pipe.

I appreciate your expertise and sharing that honey and activated charcoal is no substitute for silicate. I honestly wasn't sure. In regards to tobacco, I'll definitely start with burleys and go very very slowly. I've never done the whole 1/4 bowls, eventually 1/2 bowls, eventually full bowls. But, this might be the pipe to do it as I would hate for anything to happen to it as a result of my own action.

This was a particularly well-loved pipe by its previous owner(s).
And took a lot of cleaning.
The chamber responded well to reaming and alcohol + cotton ball treatment
The shank and mortise needed a lot of alcohol + pipe cleaners

I'd wondered in hindsight if I'd been too hasty in not allowing enough time for the alcohol in the shank to dissipate completely before loading and firing it up.

These days I allow at least 1 week dry time before firing up a deep-cleansed estate

Thankfully it has not happened again

I've never really waited more than a day or so to smoke a deep cleaned estate. Again, these were all young-ish briar and I do tend to set them in a pipe stand in front of a very small desk fan to help them dry. But, your hindsight alone is enough for me to have decided I'll wait a week on this one. I'm in no rush!

 

[Briar Lee]

Why I use a dab of honey to break in a new pipe:

1. Harry Hosterman did it, and I watched him sixty years ago.

2. Honey is about one and a half times sweeter than sugar, and my wife always has a jar in the cupboard.

3. It may not really protect the briar or avoid cracking, but I’ve done my part, you know?.

 

[lithicus]

I just wanted to report that with all of your advice, I was able to smoke my first full bowl out of this old pipe today! No cracks and I'm really enjoying this pipe. I think it cleaned up quite nicely!

Just for completeness, some of the steps I followed below:

The chamber had very little cake in it. But, The cake had cracks and fractures in it. To remove these cracks/fractures, I "finger" sanded the chamber practically back to raw briar (was worried about this but it seems to have worked out). I then thoroughly applied mineral oil to the outside of the pipe in prep for the upcoming light alcohol cleaning. I let that sit overnight and wiped everything off in the morning. A few days later, I very conservatively used alcohol to clean the chamber, drain-trap, and the smoke channel. I did this in stages over the course a probably a week or more. I didn't notice any damage in the chamber before or after this work, which I was obviously happy about.

The stem was also heavily oxidized so I did a few 24hr oxiclean soaks and used a bic lighter to try to burn away the oxidation. I was smart in thinking ahead, however, and I recorded the shape of the stem by tracing it onto a blank piece of paper. After about 3-4 attempts at burning the oxidation away (which improved the color but not as much as I desired), I checked the stem against my recording and it straightened out some! Thankfully it was not much. But, I was NOT comfortable with this at all. Nevertheless, I took the bic to it to warm it up and VERY slowly and successfully bent it back into shape. Put it back in oxiclean bath to get the shape to hold. I put a pipe cleaner through it and it seemed I didn't collapse the smoke channel. PHEW! From this point forward I sanded with 1000/2000grit and mineral oil and then tried my best to polish with white rouge on my knife strop. The stem color is drastically improved, but I wouldn't mind getting it more true black. (I got polishing wheels, more white rouge, and carnuba wax for christmas. So, I'm excited to try these out!)

All in all, I think everything came out great. The rim has some damage to it that I think gives it character showing the journey of a pipe over 80 years old. I'm not sure there is much to do with the rim or much I'd want to do. But, I'll try to post some pictures so everyone can see what I've done and provide any recommendations.

 

[Chasing Embers]

used a bic lighter to try to burn away the oxidation.

For future attempts if you wish to, using a lighter is to use the tip of the flame to singe the outermost surface. If the stem becomes pliable or you smell hot vulcanite, the flame has been applied for too long. The blackened surface can then be wiped away with a paper towel.

Chemicals such as Oxi-clean and bleach are unnecessary for stem cleaning and can often pit the material.

 

[OzPiper]

I’m pleased to hear it all went well
Now, for some photos

Happy smokes

 

[lithicus]

For future attempts if you wish to, using a lighter is to use the tip of the flame to singe the outermost surface. If the stem becomes pliable or you smell hot vulcanite, the flame has been applied for too long. The blackened surface can then be wiped away with a paper towel.

Chemicals such as Oxi-clean and bleach are unnecessary for stem cleaning and can often pit the material.

That is very helpful! I actually have seen a few of yours posts that were "lighter only" repairs and was impressed with your results. I found a rebornpipes article (??) that stated the flame should be a 1/2 inch from the stem. But, you just confirmed for me my own experience; which is that using the flame itself to actually singe the outermost surface gave me the best results.

 

[lithicus]

So, my grandfather was born in 1941. His mother was born in Ireland. So, I thought it would be cool to get a Peterson pipe. But, I'd read that recent pipes can be a mixed bag. I hoped to find an older Peterson estate at a reasonable price. And, given my grandfather's year of birth, a Made in Eire pipe piqued my interest. I felt it was a cool part of Ireland's history and a unique COM stamp to boot. I settled on this 314. My first ever bent pipe, first rusticated pipe, first army mount, and first system pipe.

I must say, I'm loving it. The chamber size and shape is perfect as I like billiards. And, the pipe fits perfectly in hand regardless of grip. The bent shape and plip make clenching truly effortless. And, the system provides such a cool smoke. I've been able to retrohale OJK, which I've not been able to do to this point as it's been a little too bold (??) for my nose. I also feel that this briar has a sweeter taste than my other pipes. I have heard that some older pipes have a sweeter taste to them. So, I might be playing mind games. I don't believe that this is ghosting, but if it is it doesn't bother me.

Since I didn't do much to the bowl itself other than try to clean/deghost/smoke it without causing any cracks, the only relevant "before" picture is of the stem. You can see the hard oxidation line from black to green. My attempt at removing this oxidation was far from perfect, but greatly improved in my opinion. No salt/alcohol treatment or hot water rinse. Just super basic, simple, easy, and persistent cleaning.

Note: I apologize for the quality of some of these pictures. I think the nickel silver band was causing some odd reflections and the lighting setup in general isn't great.

Here's the rim damage I was talking about. It worried me since I seemingly got the pipe at such a good price. But, again, I didn't notice any damage otherwise in the chamber and don't mind a pipe with some character. I worry if I tried to clean it up at all it would "dip" even more severely.

 

[lithicus]

It's funny how taking these closeup pictures makes you realize how much more cleaning needs to be done

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

No salt…use cotton balls & alcohol…usually works very well. ️

 

[jpmcwjr]

Not to worry, you've done well! Many happy smokes to you.

 

[lithicus]

No salt…use cotton balls & alcohol…usually works very well. ️

In this case, no salt or cotton balls. Not even spent coffee grounds Just 400 grit sandpaper with my finger in the chamber, some mineral oil on the outside, and a very minimal amount of alcohol wiping spread out over a week or so. But, I have considered trying cotton balls and alcohol the next time I'm cleaning up an estate that isn't quite as old!

Not to worry, you've done well! Many happy smokes to you.

Thanks! I think the chamber turned out well although I just realized it was not pictured. In all, the pipe didn't need that much work. Especially given I don't mind a bit of character. But, I wanted to give it a thorough cleaning of it's insides and remove that oxidation on the stem. I think I was able to accomplish that quite safely with the advice of our kind members

Appreciate the comment and I hope to enjoy many happy smokes out of it indeed!

 

[Briar Lee]

Guaranteed to make that stem black and shiny as new.

OBSIDIAN PIPE OIL FOR PIPE STEMS | eBay

Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil isn’t a wax or a cleaner. Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil is specifically designed to help keep your vulcanite, ebonite or cumberland stems from oxidizing, and help keep them looking newer for longer.

www.ebay.com

 

[jpmcwjr]

Not if there's sufficient oxidation it won't.
It's good stuff, but doesn't replace elbow grease.

 

[lithicus]

Guaranteed to make that stem black and shiny as new.

OBSIDIAN PIPE OIL FOR PIPE STEMS | eBay

Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil isn’t a wax or a cleaner. Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil is specifically designed to help keep your vulcanite, ebonite or cumberland stems from oxidizing, and help keep them looking newer for longer.

www.ebay.com

It's funny you mention this! Just the other day I was thinking about vulcanite oxidizing and how it seems to be caused by UV rays. This got me thinking about a similar issue with my Royalex canoe. The outer most layer is vinyl, intended to protect the ABS and foam core underneath. I use 303 to protect it from UV damage and the outer layer becoming brittle. I wondered if something similar existed for pipes. It seems like this might be just that!!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Yes, it helps a lot but isn't magic. Mineral oil is almost as good.

 

[drrock]

I've purchased & restored many, many old estate pipes for personal use over a 20+ year period using the salt/alcohol method combined with thorough cleaning of the shank & stem. I've reamed the estate pipes down to almost bare wood & rinsed the bowls with Everclear after the salt/alcohol treatment, letting the bowl dry thoroughly before use.

My personal break-in for any new pipe is to fill the bowl full & very slowly smoke the bowlful until the tobacco no longer tastes good to me.

While personal anecdotes don't translate to universal success, I've never had any bowl or any part of the pipe crack. While others have definitely experienced that happening, I file that in the "Sh*t Happens" category.

Enjoy that beautiful old Pete - I'll bet you get many years of enjoyment from it!

 

[lithicus]

I've purchased & restored many, many old estate pipes for personal use over a 20+ year period using the salt/alcohol method combined with thorough cleaning of the shank & stem. I've reamed the estate pipes down to almost bare wood & rinsed the bowls with Everclear after the salt/alcohol treatment, letting the bowl dry thoroughly before use.

My personal break-in for any new pipe is to fill the bowl full & very slowly smoke the bowlful until the tobacco no longer tastes good to me.

While personal anecdotes don't translate to universal success, I've never had any bowl or any part of the pipe crack. While others have definitely experienced that happening, I file that in the "Sh*t Happens" category.

Enjoy that beautiful old Pete - I'll bet you get many years of enjoyment from it!

Yea, I'm not sure if any of those old pipes (or any pipe for that matter) which falls into the "Sh*t Happens" category can be saved with some subjectively "better" procedure. Seems like it very well could be that if it's meant to happen it's going to happen.

It's always good to hear people's experiences though! I'm glad we're both batting 1.000 Granted I'm only one of one

And, thanks!! I do think this Peterson is quite beautiful in it's own way. It's crazy to think about the journey it has been on as it was clearly well used, at least at one point in time. It's mine now and I intend to enjoy and take good care of it. I imagine it will last my lifetime! It's already opened my eyes to non-straight pipes as well as system pipes! And plips! No complaints here.

 

[orlandofurioso]

Never salt/alcohol ; always cottonwool/balls and alcohol.
When in doubt I give the chamber a coating.
When you're opposed to silicate ( and feel more like an organic coating ) a mixture of distilled water, activated charcoal powder and some icing sugar will dry rock hard. Sip your pipe and do not overheat it !
You'll be grand.