Finally! A Near Undetectable Chipped Stem Repair!

[Dshift]

Before I tell you about this repair I just want to mention that I am mostly learning how to restore pipes on my own through trial and error. This is probably something basic for you guys, but it is a giant victory for me personally.
Ok here are the photos first - unfortunately this was an emergency repair that I had to finish in less than two hours so I forgot to take a proper BEFORE photo…

On the last photo I doodled out the piece that was missing. Also this was not the final stage but the rest is just some small finishing stuff.
Ok for months now I have been experimenting with all kinds of glues and concoctions, that would not only repair a damaged stem, but will also be almost undetectable. Durable too and should feel very similar to vulcanite. I think I finally got it - this repair was made with a gel CA glue , no activator and I mixed vulcanite powder with it. I just used vulcanite powder from a donor stem and the amount was about 30% of the glue’s volume. The tricky part is that the vulcanite powder will react with the glue in about 2 minutes, completely curing it. This also the best part since I can start filing after just a couple of minutes.
Here are also photos of the vulcanite, glue and of course the gorgeous restored Willmer Extra Grain A.

 

[DotAndBang’sPipes]

Very nicely done. Thanks for sharing.

 

[sablebrush52]

Before I tell you about this repair I just want to mention that I am mostly learning how to restore pipes on my own through trial and error. This is probably something basic for you guys, but it is a giant victory for me personally.
Ok here are the photos first - unfortunately this was an emergency repair that I had to finish in less than two hours so I forgot to take a proper BEFORE photo…
View attachment 392715View attachment 392716View attachment 392717
On the last photo I doodled out the piece that was missing. Also this was not the final stage but the rest is just some small finishing stuff.
Ok for months now I have been experimenting with all kinds of glues and concoctions, that would not only repair a damaged stem, but will also be almost undetectable. Durable too and should feel very similar to vulcanite. I think I finally got it - this repair was made with a gel CA glue , no activator and I mixed vulcanite powder with it. I just used vulcanite powder from a donor stem and the amount was about 30% of the glue’s volume. The tricky part is that the vulcanite powder will react with the glue in about 2 minutes, completely curing it. This also the best part since I can start filing after just a couple of minutes.
Here are also photos of the vulcanite, glue and of course the gorgeous restored Willmer Extra Grain A.View attachment 392720View attachment 392721View attachment 392723

You did a very nice job with this. Unfortunately, CA doesn't adhere very well to Vulcanite and the fix has a good chance of failing down the road. You can minimize the risk of this happening by putting a rubber bit sleeve over the fix.

There is a much better material for making this sort of repair, but I don't remember the name of it. If you send a PM to George Dibos, georged on the forum, he will tell you what material to use. George is a world class professional restorer with an international clientele. He's the only guy I will let work on my pipes.

 

[Dshift]

Thank you for the helpful info, I will definitely PM George Dibos!

About the quality of the repair - when I first started the whole pipe restoration journey, I did a very intense crash course testing different techniques and materials on a 20 pipe lot, in a very bad condition. This is when I first stumbled on the CA problem you mentioned- the repair looked ok but it would fail sometimes even when a pipe cleaner was put through the stem. I got trough that by trying over 15 different glues, different materials mixed with the glue to get the right color and texture and different preparation steps.

Now every significant repair that I do is very aggressively and thoroughly tested - clenching the pipe, biting down on the repair hard, running thick pipe cleaners through the stem, heat up the stem, put in the freezer, leaving the stem in an oxy bath, then alcohol bath and finally using on the repair with something metal from the inside. Basically any abuse a future owner could possible think of. I did this whole process while figuring out the best solution for me and now I mostly do the alcohol bath, bite and inside push test, unless I feel extra insecure or it is a very expensive pipe.

Most of the issues I had, after I found the right glue, were due to the extra ingredient that was mixed in or because I hadn't mixed it good enough.

This is the newest challenge:

 

[Dshift]

You did a very nice job with this. Unfortunately, CA doesn't adhere very well to Vulcanite and the fix has a good chance of failing down the road. You can minimize the risk of this happening by putting a rubber bit sleeve over the fix.

There is a much better material for making this sort of repair, but I don't remember the name of it. If you send a PM to George Dibos, georged on the forum, he will tell you what material to use. George is a world class professional restorer with an international clientele. He's the only guy I will let work on my pipes.

Did you mean the GFLEX epoxy?

 

[orlandofurioso]

Nice job !
Yes, the GFLEX epoxy with the appropiate pigment.
StewMac sells a fine black two part epoxy ; better mix with activated charcoal powder.
It will hold better and not oxidize.

 

[Dshift]

Although I haven't tried Flex I found something very similar on the German market and there are a couple of issues. Because of it flexibility being different than vulcanite, it failed my bite and inside push test. It just popped out completely. The second issue was not oxidizing part - it works great for acrylic stems, but for vulcanite I am looking for something that will actually oxidize a bit with the vulcanite so you aren't left with a glass looking spot after a couple of weeks of smoking. The results on this with my method are still pending and will take another couple of weeks.

 

[sablebrush52]

Yep, GFLEX sounds correct. Check with George about prep and application. CA will fall off, unless anchored, and doesn’t hold up for large repairs. I’m speaking from personal experience with it.

 

[orlandofurioso]