This is a very long post, so only read it if you are bored or have lots of time
I've always been a fan of bringing old and forgotten things back to life. I restored a couple of houses and countless pieces of furniture from bygone days and it seems like the worst they are than more I enjoy the challenge. So, when I started smoking a pipe several years ago, I threw myself into restoring them. There is a plethora of information on the Internet(Ive read all of the articles on reborn pipes and they are great) but a lot of the information from other sites is contradictory. So,
after working on more than 300 pipes, I've come on some techniques that work for me. Keep in mind the following, I am not a professional pipe restorer and I am not interested in bringing back old pipes to show room quality. I've rarely worked on high-end pipes, but concentrate my efforts on the old factory pipes from the last 70 years or so. My goal is to end up with a good smoking pipe that looks as beautiful as possible, but still retains the patina of age. . I really enjoy the patina of old pipes and am never deterred by fills, cracks, excessive cake, broken stems or charring. The worse the better. These old pipes have provided pleasure to generations of people and so if they have some scratches and dings, I'm OK with that. It is very rare that I find a pipe that I am not able to work on and bring back to smoking condition and they always look and function better than when I found them. I have sold several of them, but I'm always very forthcoming about the flaws that I have confronted in these old pipes. When people find out that I am a pipe smoker and enjoy fixing up old pipes it's not uncommon that they will give me old pipes that have been in their family for years, but that are no longer used. Of course, I also buy old pipes, but it's rare that I pay more than $20 for a pipe that needs restoration. In fact, a few months ago, I came home to a box of more than 40 pipes on my front porch. I still don't know who those pipes came from. Those pipes have kept me busy for a long time.
I am going to share some things that I have learned through trial and error. I know some of these techniques and materials will be controversial but I've smoked the hell out of many of these pipes that I have used these techniques and materials on and they still end up giving me great smokes. As they say, your mileage may vary. I'm always looking for new suggestions so don't hesitate to share if you have some.
Bowl/Shank/Stummel
Stems-I always do everything possible to save the original stem if I can. I have replaced some stems, but in general, I am able to save them.
I've always been a fan of bringing old and forgotten things back to life. I restored a couple of houses and countless pieces of furniture from bygone days and it seems like the worst they are than more I enjoy the challenge. So, when I started smoking a pipe several years ago, I threw myself into restoring them. There is a plethora of information on the Internet(Ive read all of the articles on reborn pipes and they are great) but a lot of the information from other sites is contradictory. So,
after working on more than 300 pipes, I've come on some techniques that work for me. Keep in mind the following, I am not a professional pipe restorer and I am not interested in bringing back old pipes to show room quality. I've rarely worked on high-end pipes, but concentrate my efforts on the old factory pipes from the last 70 years or so. My goal is to end up with a good smoking pipe that looks as beautiful as possible, but still retains the patina of age. . I really enjoy the patina of old pipes and am never deterred by fills, cracks, excessive cake, broken stems or charring. The worse the better. These old pipes have provided pleasure to generations of people and so if they have some scratches and dings, I'm OK with that. It is very rare that I find a pipe that I am not able to work on and bring back to smoking condition and they always look and function better than when I found them. I have sold several of them, but I'm always very forthcoming about the flaws that I have confronted in these old pipes. When people find out that I am a pipe smoker and enjoy fixing up old pipes it's not uncommon that they will give me old pipes that have been in their family for years, but that are no longer used. Of course, I also buy old pipes, but it's rare that I pay more than $20 for a pipe that needs restoration. In fact, a few months ago, I came home to a box of more than 40 pipes on my front porch. I still don't know who those pipes came from. Those pipes have kept me busy for a long time.
I am going to share some things that I have learned through trial and error. I know some of these techniques and materials will be controversial but I've smoked the hell out of many of these pipes that I have used these techniques and materials on and they still end up giving me great smokes. As they say, your mileage may vary. I'm always looking for new suggestions so don't hesitate to share if you have some.
Bowl/Shank/Stummel
- Briar is as tough as nails and can take a manhandling to work with the flaws. Don't be afraid of ruining it.
- I always ream out almost all of the old cake followed by a sanding of the bowl with a dowel ros wrapped in sand paper I then follow this with an overnight salt bath followed by a rinse of warm water. To clean the Shank I start with a small drill bit to get out the big chunks and then use lots of alcohol and bristle pipe cleaners and work it until the pipe cleaners are clean.
- For the outside of the bowl, I begin by scrubbing it with undiluted Murphy's oil soap applied with those round cotton make up applicators.
- If the finish is still dirty and muddy, I will sand the exterior of the bowl starting with 1500 grit sandpaper and proceeding with micro mesh pads. This usually removes all of the old finish.
- If there are any cracks in the exterior of the bowl, shank or stummel I will repair them with superglue and a little briar dust. This is a controversial technique, but it has worked very well for me. I'm not trying to necessarily cover up the crack, but to mitigate its affects on the pipe.
- Another controversial technique. I will then put a light coat of Minwax stain on the pipe letting it sit for about five minutes and then wiping off the excess. I literally do this to every pipe I work on regardless of the finish. It can wake up tired grain, make scratches less obvious and even out the color a bit. I have used standard "pipe stains" before, but I find that the minwax does a good job. I've smoked some of these pipes for years and I've never noticed a bad affect from the MinWax stain.
- After the stain dries I will coat the exterior of the pipe with food grade mineral oil. I let it set for a few minutes and then wipe off excess. This seems to really help dry wood.
- If I am pleased with the pipe, I will stop here, but normally I will follow up the next day with an application of Renaissance wax.
- Incidentally if the pipe has a cracked or damaged Meerschaum lining to the bowl or if there are losses in the bowl, I will fix those with plaster of Paris. In all the years of smoking these pipes I have never had one of those repairs fail.
Stems-I always do everything possible to save the original stem if I can. I have replaced some stems, but in general, I am able to save them.
- I take a very different approach with acrylic stems then I do with the stem made from Vulcanite. With acrylic stems, I soak them in very hot water and then clean the heck out of the inside of them with bristle bright pipe cleaners. Occasionally, if they are particularly stubborn, I will add some OxiClean and that will often breakthrough the stubborn stuff. If needed I will remove scratches on the exterior of the stem with micro mesh pads, and follow that up with a couple of drops of mineral oil.
- Vulcanite stems are a bit different. I always start by assessing the stem. Does the tenon fit well into the mortise? If it is tight, I remove some of the material on the tenon by sanding it. If it is loose, I use either beeswax or if that won't do the trick I will use clear fingernail polish. I will also heat up the tenon and apply slight downward pressure to make it swell. I try to avoid this if I can, but I have done it many times.
- True confession here. I hate stingers and always remove them. If I have a pipe where the stinger is attached to the screw on tenon(Kaywoodies) I cut them off with a Dremel. I know there will be purist in the group that would never do this but I restore pipe so that it smokes well. Stingers are annoying, create problems and make it hard to clean a pipe. So for me… They are gone!
- The decision regarding tooth chatter depends on what I plan to do with the pipe. If I am going to keep it, I generally don't worry too much about it because I use softy bits on all of my pipes. If I am going to give it away or sell it, I use a bit of heat to try to minimize the tooth chatter. I must admit that I need to improve my technique to remove tooth chatter.
- I have restored many pipes where the stem has been bitten through. In that case, I cut off the part that is destroyed and form a new button by using small files and sandpaper. To be honest, most people would not know that I took any material off the stem at all.
- I always clean out the inside of the stem by running many bristle pipe cleaners soaked in alcohol back-and-forth. I do this until the pipe cleaners no longer have any residue on them.
- I have cleaned and restored hundreds of pipe stems that have been so heavily oxidized that I couldn't imagine them ever looking nice but somehow with a little bit of knowledge and elbow grease I end up getting a black mirror shine finish. I always begin by scraping off the heaviest crud with with a slightly heavier grit sandpaper. After this step, they look scratched and nasty. I will then scrub them pretty aggressively with a magic eraser and then soak them in OxiClean for a couple hours. After the OxiClean soak, I will rinse them in warm water and scrub them again with the magic eraser. At this point, I'm usually starting to see a black finish emerge. I then start sanding with micro mesh pads starting at 1500 grit and working my to 12,000 grit(at least I think it's 12,000). I rinse with clear water between every sanding pad and about every two or three sanding pads I will apply a couple drops of obsidian oil or mineral oil. To be honest. I don't notice any difference. After the last sanding I apply a final coat of oil, let it set for five minutes and then wipe it off. I could use a buffing wheel, but I don't currently have one. Doing it by hand is certainly labor-intensive.
) after haggling about broken bite on stem and heavy cake in bowl. I’m keeping it as a reward lol. Love the hunt and like you the reward of seeing life brought back to these pipes. It’s my new hobby (owe this one to my Grandad Mac) as I grew up helping pack his pipe bowl and then cleaning it after he finished. Fond memories when we visited. Here’s one of my recent restorations. I’ve done 2 Hardcastle’s which again will stay in my collection.
