My buddy gifted me a pitiful Ascorti that he bought on eBay. He collects Caminettos, and brands related to Caminetto. He had no idea how bad of shape this pipe was in when he bought it….. He usually has me do any cleaning or restoring that needs to be done to his pipes, which I do for free. He said he didn’t want me to have to deal with this one, but that if I wanted it I could have it. I told him I’d give it a go and see what was hiding under the mess….. As you can see, it was a mess indeed.
the only upside was that the stem was free of damage.
The bowl didn’t look too have much cake in it, so what appeared to be a crack running the entire depth was a major concern. The bottom of the bowl was clearly gouged and was also a good 1/8” below the draft hole. The rim of the bowl was badly worn and misshapen which required flattening the entire rim. I decided to leave the rim flat to offer some contrast.
I then soaked a rag in alcohol and wrapped the pipe in it for an hour or so to let the gunk soften on the outside. I then took a stiff bristle brush and more alcohol and scrubbed it. The stain was not in the greatest shape, so I decided to lightly sandblast it. That revealed some darkened areas of briar. This worried me….
I then rearmed the bowl And found the beginning of a burnout, though it was fairly shallow. What I thought was a crack was just in the cake, luckily.
I had to do a little shaping on the stem where it meets the stummel as it was not quite flush with the briar. I’m guessing this was mostly due to shrinkage.
I then polished the stem as best as possible with the limited equipment I have.
I then moved on to the staining. As you can see, I went with black leather dye as I figured it would be the best option for covering the darkened areas. It only took two coats to get a good result. I thinned some dye with a good amount of alcohol for use on the rim and applied several coats. I then buffed it with white diamond, then wax, and finished with my traditional thin coat of olive oil, rubbed in an buffed with a rag.
I gave the shank and draft hole a good scrubbing and initial wiping with alcohol.
That’s as far as I have gone so far. Next up will be a salt/alcohol treatment. Then I will build up the bottom of the bowl and address the burnout.
I will post the results of that once I’m finished.
the only upside was that the stem was free of damage.
The bowl didn’t look too have much cake in it, so what appeared to be a crack running the entire depth was a major concern. The bottom of the bowl was clearly gouged and was also a good 1/8” below the draft hole. The rim of the bowl was badly worn and misshapen which required flattening the entire rim. I decided to leave the rim flat to offer some contrast.
I then soaked a rag in alcohol and wrapped the pipe in it for an hour or so to let the gunk soften on the outside. I then took a stiff bristle brush and more alcohol and scrubbed it. The stain was not in the greatest shape, so I decided to lightly sandblast it. That revealed some darkened areas of briar. This worried me….
I then rearmed the bowl And found the beginning of a burnout, though it was fairly shallow. What I thought was a crack was just in the cake, luckily.
I had to do a little shaping on the stem where it meets the stummel as it was not quite flush with the briar. I’m guessing this was mostly due to shrinkage.
I then polished the stem as best as possible with the limited equipment I have.
I then moved on to the staining. As you can see, I went with black leather dye as I figured it would be the best option for covering the darkened areas. It only took two coats to get a good result. I thinned some dye with a good amount of alcohol for use on the rim and applied several coats. I then buffed it with white diamond, then wax, and finished with my traditional thin coat of olive oil, rubbed in an buffed with a rag.
I gave the shank and draft hole a good scrubbing and initial wiping with alcohol.
That’s as far as I have gone so far. Next up will be a salt/alcohol treatment. Then I will build up the bottom of the bowl and address the burnout.
I will post the results of that once I’m finished.
