Complicated fix for an amateur

[fluffie666]

Hello there. So I've treated myself to a few estate pipes over the holidays. I grabbed up a Parker, a nice Stanwell with a silver band and a Bijou. They're all old and fairly nice by my standards. The Bijou is really neat. It's thick walled, chunky and has this gnarly rustication on it that I love. My issue is that they need work. I've never worked on a pipe before so I've been combing through the threads to get an idea of where I should start. Maybe you guys can offer me up some good direction. A big concern is stem oxidation. There are plenty of threads on that already so I have that under control. Here is where I need help... I may have done something crazy. In order to get rid of some aromatic ghosting I filled up the bowl of my Stanwell with charcoal and put it in the oven for a few hours. The ghost has moved. As far as I can tell it worked but the bowl shrunk so my nice silver band fell off. It's loose and the stem won't fit back in the shank. Now the stem is badly oxidised and needs work. I am going to use oxyclean and micro mesh on it to get rid of the crud. I have to get the stem to fit back in the shank after I get it pretty again. Then I want to get the silver band to fit snug again. Any one have any ideas? I was going to sand down tennon a bit so it fits and then micro mesh it to a shine. Is that a good idea? For the band I was just going to use some glue. I'd much rather not use glue though. That's just the first two issues. Next is I want to drill the draught hole wider and bore out the stem a little more. 5/8 or more is what I'm going for. I want a wide open draw on this thing. I'm fairly confident in my ability to get all this done. I just need some input from anyone who has experience in doing all properly. I'd upset if I screwed this up but not totally devistated. This pipe cost me about 40 bucks.

 

[newbroom]

5/8 aught to be wide enough all right. ? Did you mean 5/32?

 

[fluffie666]

5/32 is what I meant. That's what I'm going to start with. It was early when I started writing. Coffee hadn't kicked in yet lol

 

[fluffie666]

5/32 is what I meant. That's what I'm going to start with. It was early when I started writing. Coffee hadn't kicked in yet lol

 

[zack24]

the bowl shrunk so my nice silver band fell off. It's loose and the stem won't fit back in the shank

What you did is basically kiln dried the pipe which drove out all the moisture and shrank the wood. To get the band to fit, take some boiling water, put it on the end of a Q Tip and moisten the outside of the shank where the band fits- that will swell the wood and hopefully get it to where the band fits snugly. As far as the tenon- you might try sanding it down- if you screw it up, get one of the repair guys to make you a new one...
On boring the draft hole- you probably want to use a hand chuck and twist the drill in by hand- if you use a power drill,you'll probably destroy it. On boring the stem- you have to use a tapered bit- if you try to run a straight 5/32, you'll probably destroy it...

 

[stvalentine]

I wouldn´t sand the tenon or shank! When the normal humidity is back in the wood everything will be quite loose. I would try to expose the pipe (with the stem ON the pipe!) to a more humid enviroment and wait a few days. The wood should get it´s normal humidity back very soon.

 

[fluffie666]

The tenon won't fit back in the shank. The wood shrunk so now the tenon hast to be sanded. Qtip, boiling water and a tapered bit by hand is my best option here I think. Thank you gentleman. I'll let you know how this turns out.

 

[literaryworkshop]

If it were my pipe, I would probably gently sand the tenon, probably with 400-grit sandpaper. Trying to ream out the mortise can be difficult, though if you have only very little material to remove, you can select a proper sized drill bit, clamp it upright in a vise, place the pipe on the bit and gently rotate it to ream out the mortise. First, though, you want to make doubly sure the drill bit will make a nice, snug fit, so drill a hole with it in some scrap first, and see if the tenon will fit.
As to that silver band, one option is to get some of the thicker superglue (Loctite gel, for example) and put a small dab on the spot where the band should sit. Then quickly spread it over the surface of the wood and let it dry thoroughly. You can build up the surface this way until the band fits snugly again.

 

[pilgrim]

Hey fellas; what sort of band material is out there that would shrink in order to close the gaps on my mortise glue job? it's a meerschaum shank and i'd like to reuse the threads in there...thus the need for a tight band. thanks!

 

[fluffie666]

I've been gathering supplies for this new hobby I've taken up. Micro Mesh, a t-handle drill tap, bits, etc. I'm not using any power tools or buying anything from large corporations because I hate large corporations. For some strange reason I haven't found anything wrong with home depot yet but I probably just haven't researched them enough. Give me time and I'll probably boycott them too. Nonetheless, I'm still working on getting the silver band on my Stanwell to fit snug after I kiln dried the wood while cleaning the bowl. I'm going to have to use glue on it. I've been trying to rehydrate the wood with a bit of boiling water for weeks now to no avail. I have some 8" long tapered 5/32 bits on the way to my mailbox so I can drill out my bore holes and stems to 5/32. Not surprisingly, I destroyed a stem with a regular bit and a power drill. Good call Zack. Nice boat by the way. Oxy Clean, micro mesh and elbow grease really do a great job on the oxidized stems. I think I'll keep that as a general practice on all my estate pipes. I'll post some pics near finishing. For now I'll just smoke and slowly progress... One more question, does anyone have any pros or cons on a pipe retort?

 

[sablebrush52]

I've had very satisfactory results using a pipe retort as part of the final cleaning stage. Start with the usual measures for cleaning out the airway (though if you're redrilling them, it's kind of a moot point). Then use the retort to flush out stubborn oils and gunk. Boiling alcohol can really get rid of ghosts and that musty smell. You need to pay close attention or the boiling alcohol can easily bubble over the chamber rim and damage the finish.

 

[fluffie666]

Thanks for the info sablebrush. I'm going to see if I can get all the parts to make one today. One of my current little projects is an old Parker Bulldog. It seems to have some varnish spots on it. Looks like someone gave up on removing all of it for one reason or another. What do you suppose the best way is to get it all off without digging into the briar? Ultra fine sand paper? I planned on taking off the varnish, maybe staining it and then just giving it a coat of carnuba.

 

[gambit88]

I found alcohol or oxyclean will atrip a finish pretty well

 

[fluffie666]

Alcohol. I feel like I should have known that. The pipe retort worked wonders. I got all the parts to make a few, minus the alcohol, for under $35 bucks. Wifey says she's going to get me a lab coat after I took over the kitchen to build and use it yesterday lol

 

[delro]

I hate large corporations. For some strange reason I haven't found anything wrong with home depot yet but I probably just haven't researched them enough.

Ya fight the machines... :roll:

 

[stvalentine]

My last Parker had a coat of shellac. Alcohol worked, nail polish remover worked quicker.

 

[fluffie666]

I saw that in the Parker thread you put up. Awesome restoration my friend! I actually picked some nail polish remover up yesterday because mine had some really stubborn shellac spots left on it. It really worked great. Thanks for the tip.

 

[stvalentine]

Thank you fluffie666, you´re most welcome!