Can a Pipe be Made Lighter in Color?

[AroEnglish]

Edited to add word "color"

I’ve got an unstained pipe and it’s decently light but nothing like the a Radice Pure finish. Is there something that’s done to get a pipe that light?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

You could just throw away the stem and smoke the stummel. Or, hack away the extra wood from the stummel. Make the bowl and the draft way larger. All of these are silly, but all I got.

 

[yanoJL]

Rustication, or perhaps sandblasting?

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

The only way to remove weight is to remove material. So it ultimately depends on how much material there is to be removed and where its located.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

I think he's referring to color rather than weight... Hence the Radice Pure finish reference?

If you're wondering if they 'bleach' a pipe: no, raw dry briar is just a really light shade of beige.

 

[burleybreath]

I think he's referring to color rather than weight... Hence the Radice Pure finish reference?

If you're wondering if they 'bleach' a pipe: no, raw dry briar is just a really light shade of beige.

Dang your hide, I was going to suggest tying a helium-filled balloon to the shank while smoking.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I think he's referring to color rather than weight... Hence the Radice Pure finish reference?

If you're wondering if they 'bleach' a pipe: no, raw dry briar is just a really light shade of beige.

Ohhhhhh... then.... maybe try spray paint.

 

[crashthegrey]

Briar varies in color, and the older it is the darker it gets. You probably have an older hunk of briar, or Grecian or Algerian vs. Italian. You could sand it back and take some oxidation off. Or you could love it as it is.

 

[AroEnglish]

Yeah I was referring to the color; I definitely should have mentioned that in the first post.

I haven't handle much raw briar but the photos of the Radice Pure seems uncommonly white/light so I thought that maybe they bleached or boiled it somehow.

 

[mso489]

I've bought several unfinished pipes over the years, and they have all colored over time. Some have gone from the color or raw lumber, very light, to looking richly stained, uniform in color, and the oldest look actually stained and highly polished, all this with no wax or other product. If you expect to smoke a pipe, you have to expect it to darken, and sometimes this comes with beautiful results.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Ok, tracking now. No there is nothing you can do lighten the color of natural briar. It ranges from from light to VERY dark in its natural state. As you smoke it it's going to color like a meer as well. So a well smoked unstained briar will eventually turn the color of a stained briar.

 

[AroEnglish]

Thanks for the input, guys! I guess there's a reason Radice (and other brands) don't pump out tons "Pure" or natural pipes since they’re really limited by what the natural material gives them.

Would you guys suspect that these natural pipes, the Pure in particular, don't even get waxed/coated in some way? I’d imagine even a little bit of buffing would darken the briar.

 

[jhowell]

Oxalic acid.

 

[crashthegrey]

Thanks for the input, guys! I guess there's a reason Radice (and other brands) don't pump out tons "Pure" or natural pipes since they’re really limited by what the natural material gives them.

Would you guys suspect that these natural pipes, the Pure in particular, don't even get waxed/coated in some way? I’d imagine even a little bit of buffing would darken the briar.

Lots of brands do this. Virgin, pure, unfinished, Natural, are all labels applied to such pipes. Yes, it is limited to stummels which are light enough in color and free of pits and defects. So there are never a ton of them.

 

[crashthegrey]

Oxalic acid.

Not on natural pipes. Using oxalic acid results in a lighter color, but it also opens the grain structure to make a driftwood finish.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Thanks for the input, guys! I guess there's a reason Radice (and other brands) don't pump out tons "Pure" or natural pipes since they’re really limited by what the natural material gives them.

Would you guys suspect that these natural pipes, the Pure in particular, don't even get waxed/coated in some way? I’d imagine even a little bit of buffing would darken the briar.

They tend not to be waxed or buffed in any way. Yes buffing with any buffing compound will generally darken a pipe.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Light and age have their effects on color.
I'd think a heavy finish would help keep the pipe from darkening.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

They tend not to be waxed or buffed in any way. Yes buffing with any buffing compound will generally darken a pipe.

I'm pretty sure that smoking it also darkens the pipe. Arguments can be made that the oils seep through from the inside, or that the darkness comes from smoke coating the outside. Of course the smoke coloring from outside folks are just wrong.

But, I have a Radice bulldog that was almost white briar, and then the stem is white acrylic. Now, the stummel is very dark in color and the grain has a lot of contrast from the absorbed oils.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Hands! Even if recently washed well, human hands contain oil. Bit by bit it adds up. And time and light all do their thing as noted above.

 

[mso489]

I don't doubt the oil from my hands has a cumulative effect, but the bowl of the pipe gets handled much more than the shank, for example, and yet the coloring on my unfinished pipes over time is surprisingly even, which suggests that something else is at work. It's not like a carpet that gets worn where you walk. The coloration on briar is mostly quite even and uniform. So I would guess it is from buffing with a cloth (I don't use a buffer) and from aging over time. Neither the heat nor the handling is uniform enough to spread the color so evenly. Or if it is oil from my hands, it gets evened by the policing with a cloth.