Having amassed a handful of estate pipes I did not desire to be a part of my collection, I bought some carnauba wax and tripoli to try my hand at finishing an estate restoration.
I didn't take pictures of the less than impressive results of a few, but I will say I figured out which pipes had cheap stems and which did not. I regretfully have a Medico Apollo and a Doc Grabow that are going to require a bit of hand sanding and polishing to fix.
I went against conventional wisdom and used a Dremel.
I know! That is not the recommended method of restoring due to the RPMs, even in a low setting. For the record, I have a steady hand that can't be totally blamed for some cheap estates becoming victims of my experiment. As for the others that needed some work, well, they are good to go now.
Savinelli Oscar BEFORE - This pipe was heavily oxidized despite being totally unsmoked even before this picture. Magic Eraser got the stem almost back to matte black. Bowl was unwaxed.
Savinelli Oscar AFTER - Bowl waxed with carnauba, stem cleaned and polished with tripoli and carnauba.
Yello-Bole Chesterfield and a Peterson Rocky Donegal - An after picture, the Chesterfield I have shown on other threads (my favorite pipe). The Chester was waxed and the band was treated with a tripoli buffing which brightened it. The Pete was pretty dirty when I got it and the silver band was tarnished. It was waxed and tripoli'd after getting scrubbed with Barkeeper's Friend (my personal favorite for deoxidizing a stem) and plenty of Everclear soaked bristled pipe cleaners.
Savinelli Roma - Another after pic. This Roma wasn't in too bad of shape when I bought it. Required a bit of light cleaning and the stem oxidization came out easily with Barkeeper's Friend. Wax and triploi followed by a polish and buff.
None have a mirror shine, but I wasn't going for that effect in the first place. I was happiest with the Savinelli Oscar. I really like that one and it really stands out compared to before when it was clean, yet noticeably older looking. It looks like a new pipe again.
The dremel is for sure difficult and prone to accidental damaging. The collet did a number on the stems that I messed up as well as the wheel being too hot for the stem material. Others held up just fine and I was more careful with my better pipes than with the estates I have in a drawer.
Anybody have similar experiences? What lessons did YOU learn?
I didn't take pictures of the less than impressive results of a few, but I will say I figured out which pipes had cheap stems and which did not. I regretfully have a Medico Apollo and a Doc Grabow that are going to require a bit of hand sanding and polishing to fix.
I went against conventional wisdom and used a Dremel.
I know! That is not the recommended method of restoring due to the RPMs, even in a low setting. For the record, I have a steady hand that can't be totally blamed for some cheap estates becoming victims of my experiment. As for the others that needed some work, well, they are good to go now.
Savinelli Oscar BEFORE - This pipe was heavily oxidized despite being totally unsmoked even before this picture. Magic Eraser got the stem almost back to matte black. Bowl was unwaxed.
Savinelli Oscar AFTER - Bowl waxed with carnauba, stem cleaned and polished with tripoli and carnauba.
Yello-Bole Chesterfield and a Peterson Rocky Donegal - An after picture, the Chesterfield I have shown on other threads (my favorite pipe). The Chester was waxed and the band was treated with a tripoli buffing which brightened it. The Pete was pretty dirty when I got it and the silver band was tarnished. It was waxed and tripoli'd after getting scrubbed with Barkeeper's Friend (my personal favorite for deoxidizing a stem) and plenty of Everclear soaked bristled pipe cleaners.
Savinelli Roma - Another after pic. This Roma wasn't in too bad of shape when I bought it. Required a bit of light cleaning and the stem oxidization came out easily with Barkeeper's Friend. Wax and triploi followed by a polish and buff.
None have a mirror shine, but I wasn't going for that effect in the first place. I was happiest with the Savinelli Oscar. I really like that one and it really stands out compared to before when it was clean, yet noticeably older looking. It looks like a new pipe again.
The dremel is for sure difficult and prone to accidental damaging. The collet did a number on the stems that I messed up as well as the wheel being too hot for the stem material. Others held up just fine and I was more careful with my better pipes than with the estates I have in a drawer.
Anybody have similar experiences? What lessons did YOU learn?
