Barontini Amaretto #601. I love this brand of pipe. This one shows no damage but it's rather dingy. The char around the rim will take some work.
I used my usual cleaning method: AWESOME cleaner, running water, toothbrush, and medium-grit sandpaper for the rim. Some pipes like this method just fine and hold their finish. This one sent rivers of red coloring down the drain and lost some of its wax coating. Dried off, it looked like this:
Seeing as how it had lost most of its wax, I took it back to the sink for some extra scrubbing.
I then wet sanded the stummel starting with 800 wet/dry sandpaper, moving to 1500 and then to 3000-grit. I then buffed it with my Dremel tool and TripoIi compound. I did not like its color. While I considered what to do, I started work on the stem. It had gotten the same wash as the stummel with sandpaper under running water so it was clean. I used my Dremel tool (same polishing wheel) and Tripoli compound. It took just a few seconds to bring the luster back to the stem. After the stem had been completely buffed with the Tripoli compound, I switched to Diamond Dust and a different yellow wheel for just a little extra.
Moment of truth: Color. Since I had seen red color washing down the drain, I thought I would add some red back. I mixed some red leather dye with 190-proof alcohol and gave the stummel a wash.
I'm not sure I like the resulting color, but I love the pipe.
I used my usual cleaning method: AWESOME cleaner, running water, toothbrush, and medium-grit sandpaper for the rim. Some pipes like this method just fine and hold their finish. This one sent rivers of red coloring down the drain and lost some of its wax coating. Dried off, it looked like this:
Seeing as how it had lost most of its wax, I took it back to the sink for some extra scrubbing.
I then wet sanded the stummel starting with 800 wet/dry sandpaper, moving to 1500 and then to 3000-grit. I then buffed it with my Dremel tool and TripoIi compound. I did not like its color. While I considered what to do, I started work on the stem. It had gotten the same wash as the stummel with sandpaper under running water so it was clean. I used my Dremel tool (same polishing wheel) and Tripoli compound. It took just a few seconds to bring the luster back to the stem. After the stem had been completely buffed with the Tripoli compound, I switched to Diamond Dust and a different yellow wheel for just a little extra.
Moment of truth: Color. Since I had seen red color washing down the drain, I thought I would add some red back. I mixed some red leather dye with 190-proof alcohol and gave the stummel a wash.
I'm not sure I like the resulting color, but I love the pipe.
