Sorry if this has been answered before but I couldn't find it,my friend has a church warden that he got from a friend of his and it had gotten left in a bad environment,some people tried to fix the problems that came from that situation and soaked pipe in boiling bleach water,it caused some stem discoloration and I was wondering if there is a way to retire the stem,the bowl also has some scuffs and such on it and I'd like to know if there is a way to deal with that as well
Discolored stem
- Thread starter heetoshura
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I'm not sure what you mean by "retire" the stem, but if you mean make a replacement, that's certainly possible to have done. Boiling the stem in bleach is a new one on me, but whoever did that hasn't got a clue. More than likely, your stem is made of Vulcanite, a form of hardened rubber.
Assuming that the stem is merely discolored and still fits into the mortise of the shank, you can restore the finish with the application of a little elbow grease. You can buy a set of micromesh pads at a local hobby shop, or online. You use the pads, starting with the coarsest grade to remove the discoloration, and follow by sanding with succeedingly finer grades to achieve a polished surface.
If you want to have the pipe restored, there are a number of repairmen who can make you a stem and minimize dings to the surface of the pipe. Georged, a member here, is a superb repairman.
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Assuming that the stem is merely discolored and still fits into the mortise of the shank, you can restore the finish with the application of a little elbow grease. You can buy a set of micromesh pads at a local hobby shop, or online. You use the pads, starting with the coarsest grade to remove the discoloration, and follow by sanding with succeedingly finer grades to achieve a polished surface.
If you want to have the pipe restored, there are a number of repairmen who can make you a stem and minimize dings to the surface of the pipe. Georged, a member here, is a superb repairman.
Instructions for uploading and posting pictures on the forum can be found here:
posting pictures
My phone must of auto corrected something that was mistyped,I was trying to ask about restoring it's color
I've never done this before so I'm a little worried about making things worse,it seems to smoke well and everything fits,the draw seems a little tight when I tested it before a smoke,not sure if it's something in the stem or just the way the pipe is.
I've had luck with the following process for removing oxidation from vulcanite stems:
First I soak the stem in a solution of water and Oxiclean, then after it soak s for about 45 minutes, I use a Mr. Clean magic eraser on the stem. This will remove a great deal of the oxidation, but will leave the stem looking very dull. To polish the stem I use automotive sand paper, the same sand paper that you would use to polish a new paint job, I can't recall the grit, but it's very fine. This will polish the stem to a nice finish.
First I soak the stem in a solution of water and Oxiclean, then after it soak s for about 45 minutes, I use a Mr. Clean magic eraser on the stem. This will remove a great deal of the oxidation, but will leave the stem looking very dull. To polish the stem I use automotive sand paper, the same sand paper that you would use to polish a new paint job, I can't recall the grit, but it's very fine. This will polish the stem to a nice finish.
The stem just needs to be sanded and polished.
For that, you can buy a variety pack of micromesh pads online. Just start with the roughest grade of micromesh (it's like sandpaper) and get all of the gray/green off the stem. Once it's close to black/dark gray, you can go progressively through the different grades of micromesh, from roughest to finest, at which point your stem should be black and shiny again.
http://www.amazon.com/Micro-Mesh-Assortment-Pack-18-Pieces/dp/B00HJC156U
Alternatively, you can send it to cosmic^ and he'll do it for free.
For that, you can buy a variety pack of micromesh pads online. Just start with the roughest grade of micromesh (it's like sandpaper) and get all of the gray/green off the stem. Once it's close to black/dark gray, you can go progressively through the different grades of micromesh, from roughest to finest, at which point your stem should be black and shiny again.
http://www.amazon.com/Micro-Mesh-Assortment-Pack-18-Pieces/dp/B00HJC156U
Alternatively, you can send it to cosmic^ and he'll do it for free.
Ha ha, and on those micromesh pads. Just use the two (or three) finest pads. There's no reason to take it all the way to a 600. It's a surface oxidation, unless it has been setting like that for years. Just take it through three stages and that won't waste your time or pads. And, if that doesn't work, send me a nasty message, and go up a few more pads. :
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heetoshura, just go up a few pads. I went ahead and sent the nasty message for you.And, if that doesn't work, send me a nasty message, and go up a few more pads. :
Thank you for the advice,I will look into the pads,hopefully I don't mess anything up more than it already is.
http://www.pipesandcigars.com/mobile/samplers/98580/decatur-spring-cleaning-sampler/ would this stuff work as well?
If your stem is very oxidized, as in brown or orange, the short answer is no. Oxidation has to be physically removed by sanding until you get to clean Vulcanite. Most of these products are OK for very lightly oxidized stems. Once your stem is clean, you can prevent it becoming oxidized by coating it with wax, like Paragon or Halcyon wax, and by keeping the stem out of light.
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