First Estate Pipe restoration, many questions!

[designatedmedia]

First, the pipe: http://imgur.com/a/R4CeH
So this is my first estate pipe I want to restore. It's a cheap Medico a friend gifted me. It has a stem that's marked "ED" which I can't seem to find on google. I'd like to get some assesment and advice from the community before I get started. Here's my issues and questions.
1) The stem is very lose. I've never had a pipe that had a metal tip like this so I'm not quite sure what the process is for fixing this. It's pretty obvious the briar has wallowed out over time possibly by a bigger stem fitting or something initially. It looks like they had installed some sort of tape on the metal at one time, there was a yellow clear band on it I cleaned off with adhesive under. I guess I need to know if this all can be fixed or if I need to search for a larger stem?
2) Whats the condition of the bowl overall? The edge looks pretty funky but inside just looks to need a good reaming and sanding.
3) The bowl has these weird little red marks randomly placed on it. Has anyone seen this before?
4) the silver band is 'pitted' pretty bad in spots. Whats the best way to restore it back to new?
Overall I'd really like to make this thing shine. I know it's a cheap pipe but my wife and I are really into mid century modern stuff and the starbursts on this pipe are really a good fit and I'd love to keep this pipe around for a long time.
Any help, history, or pointers would be appreciated. I'm still in the process of buying all the restoration materials needed. I'd really love to get into restoring estate pipes on the side, seems like a fun hobby!

 

[aldecaker]

Newer-model Grabow pipes have a similar aluminum tenon. The fit can be tightened by slightly spreading the two halves apart.
I believe the red spots are simply cosmetic fills in the briar.
It looks like the rim just needs a good cleaning to get the cake off of it.
Cosmic is the guy who could probably help you out with questions about the metal bits.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Here's the image that shows the bowl the best.

 

[jazz]

I agree with aldecaker. The red marks look like putty fills to me. Pretty common.

 

[ssjones]

That is probably a pot metal type band. If pitted, you can't do much about that. A little silver cleaner would brighten it up. Some 2000 grade wet sandpaper or so (auto supply houses carry this high a grade) might reduce the pitting (ie sand them smooth) and then the polish would brighten it up again.

 

[jpmcwjr]

You are starting with a difficult problem! A genius with years' experience might make that O.K. looking, but the fills and general condition of the briar and collar make for a big job. Perhaps it'll smoke just fine and that's the main thing. I'd try to find a more promising starter resto. But good luck, too!

 

[designatedmedia]

An updated album with my progress: http://imgur.com/a/WqCzQ Learning quite a lot! Need to get a buffing system to finish the whole thing. Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Very cool!

 

[tuold]

Congrats on your mid century modern Medico! You did an artful job on the restoration.
The "E/D" on the stem probably stands for Ever-Dri, which was one of their lines discontinued around 1975.
If you Google, "Medico Ever Dri" and click on the Images tab you should some other examples. For more MCM vibes look up "Medico Jet Stream" too.

 

[mso489]

You turned that pipe around.

 

[jpmcwjr]

What nice work! How did you handle the fills?

 

[jpmcwjr]

Have you a photo of the other side of the bowl after the fine resto work?

 

[agnosticpipe]

Great restoration on a interesting pipe! Looks like it came straight off the set of Mad Men.

 

[designatedmedia]

Thanks for your feedback guys! I've been having a lot of fun getting into the restoration process. It's not without it's pitfalls however. More on that in a bit, first I'll answer some questions.
The fill marks were quite noticeable but after sanding with 400 I was able to shrink them a bit in size. I decided I needed a very dark base stain to try and hide them right off the bat. I used brown shoe polish in a tin first. This left the pipe with a really ugly stained maple look and I thought I would have to start over. I applied a few coats of this and then decided to try a couple coats of olive oil on top. For some reason that really made the grain come alive. I don't know the science behind all this yet so it was pure luck that this one turned out so nice. I know most guys are using alcohol based stains but I didn't have the money to get all that just yet. I still need to invest in a buffer and compounds (any recommendations for a buffer on a budget?)
Here's where all this goes south. After spending about 7 hours on this restore job, I went to try and use my newly restored Medico. I used matches obviously too close to the rim and within seconds the rim started cooking..... It never occurred to me that there was hardly anything on there protecting the wood any longer and the oil was probably acting as an accelerant haha.
I'll try and get some pics of the aftermath today, it's very bad. Hopefully I can flat sand the rim back down, but how do I avoid this happening again? Does buffing a pipe give the rim the protection needed? If I don't have a buffer, how would I finish the bowl correctly?
Thanks!

 

[pipesmokingtom]

A couple coats of mineral oil allowed to soak in has seemed to work for me. You can pick it up for $1 at Wal Mart if you get the stuff labeled "digestive lubricant" from the pharmacy section. It's 100% pure.
Shoe polish melts and bubbles as well, so I'm not sure I would have gone that route.

 

[aldecaker]

Mmmmm. Digestive lubricant.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Hey, man... They can call it whatever they want. When it's medicine, it's cheap. When it's labeled for anything else, it's multiples more expensive. :wink:

 

[aldecaker]

Since it's Thanksgiving, it was just making me think a pre-emptive dose might be in order. Once I start in on the social lubricant, I'll probably forget!

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Start? I'm three mimosas in, brother.

 

[aldecaker]

I rather wish I was, but experience tells me getting pre-plastered for large family gatherings is not my best bet. :wink: