Can It Be Mended?

[dispatch]

Went out the other night for a nightly walk in 25 degree weather with my favorite Ser Jacopo.

Not realizing the stem was a bit loose after I well packed it and lit up and was puffing away when the bowl dropped from the stem then bounced off the pavement leaving two indentions in the bowl.

I had a local smoke shop repair guy look at it but was told I should just leave it but I wonder if it could still be mended without too much fuss...

 

[OzPiper]

I’m not sure if that’s a wax, shellac or lacquer finish

You could try steaming out those dents
Apply a wet towel, then a hot iron for brief periods
Don’t want to end up with scorch marks, on top of the dents.

 

[anotherbob]

Looks like what happens to a working pipe eventually.

 

[Sigmund]

Ser Jacs are wax only but thats a nasty scar. You can try to steam some of it out but they look to have rough edges. Ive stemed out soft dents with success.

Now, if it were mine Id strip the wax, steam what I could, sand and restain the pipe. That said, if you have not finished a pipe before a Ser Jac is not the place to start. It looks a lot like Fiebings Chocolate color with maybe a hit of burgundy or dark red thrown in.

Its a lot of area. A really good guy MIGHT be able to match the stain but more than likely its a full refinish For me it would be. Im not that lucky with matching.

But no...its not a quick and dirty repair. Maybe find a pipe guy. In the future perhaps take out beater pipes.

Here is a pipe I rescued and stripped down to wood. The previous owner had dropped it, sanded it and rewaxed. The damage side did not match the color of the rest of the pipe.
Its one of my favorites and looks better than what ser jac had done. I did a contrast stain. It was just a lafuma so it had their strong redish stain which hid some of the birdseye.

 

[dispatch]

I would never attempt it myself.

The local guy said he was afraid the inner wall was too thin to risk light sanding and buffing.

 

[ssjones]

You might be able to steam some of that out, but pipes need rebuffed/waxed after that process (blanches the color out somewhat).
I would hit it with Tripoli rouge on an aggressive wheel. That will remove some of the damage. The trick is to blend it across the pipe face - so a flat spot is not created. The buff with White Diamond and carnuba to bring back the finish.
I'd be happy to do this for you, if you want to send it my way (steam and then buff out).

 

[Sigmund]

I would never attempt it myself.

The local guy said he was afraid the inner wall was too thin to risk light sanding and buffing.View attachment 360493

I dont know the pipe but its not like you need to take a belt sander to it! Ive never seen a SJ lacking in material. That said, Im not suggesting you do it yourself. Its all gonna depend on how important it is to you. If its important enough to do and you havent practiced on a number of pipes sending it to a pro is the way.

 

[PaulRVA]

Good excuse to buy another pipe
and rotate that pipe into a hard use smoking machine and let it be your workhorse. Maybe down the road work on it but honestly it’s not that
bad appearance wise although it probably is disappointing.

 

[burleybreath]

I've done that several times, and pretty much just ignored it after the initial pain wore off. Adds character, as they say. But for someone not appreciative of character, I'd suggest taking ssjones's offer above.

 

[georged]

Dents caused by compression---and the wood fibers have not been cut---will usually "re inflate" when steamed.

How much refinishing will be necessary after steaming is a separate question, and depends on all manner of things that vary from specimen to specimen.

 

[dispatch]

I also remember the shop guy saying upon examination, in his opinion, the culprit was Jacopo put too much wax in the pipes mortise, that would be something I would have to remedy.

 

[dispatch]

Is there someone here who does pipe repairs and can fix it in the least aggressive way?

 

[ThermionicScott]

Congrats, it’s no longer “mint.” Just smoke the thing!

 

[cynyr]

@ssjones is your man. A solid GBD conniseuer.

 

[Philosophical Smoke]

Just make it your outdoor pipe and enjoy it.

As long as it's not cracked into the bowl, it'll still smoke until your days are done and then some!

I personally wouldn't sweat it. Plus, now it has a working battle scar.

 

[Sir Yak]

Ser Jacs are wax only but thats a nasty scar. You can try to steam some of it out but they look to have rough edges. Ive stemed out soft dents with success.

Now, if it were mine Id strip the wax, steam what I could, sand and restain the pipe. That said, if you have not finished a pipe before a Ser Jac is not the place to start. It looks a lot like Fiebings Chocolate color with maybe a hit of burgundy or dark red thrown in.

Its a lot of area. A really good guy MIGHT be able to match the stain but more than likely its a full refinish For me it would be. Im not that lucky with matching.

But no...its not a quick and dirty repair. Maybe find a pipe guy. In the future perhaps take out beater pipes.

Here is a pipe I rescued and stripped down to wood. The previous owner had dropped it, sanded it and rewaxed. The damage side did not match the color of the rest of the pipe.
Its one of my favorites and looks better than what ser jac had done. I did a contrast stain. It was just a lafuma so it had their strong redish stain which hid some of the birdseye.

View attachment 360465

Oh man—-that is SWEET

 

[Christos D. Tsatsaronis]

I'd leave as it is and smoke it. Character and battle scar as others said above...