First Restoration Attempt

[txpiper07]

I just finished up my first restoration attempt on one of the pipes mikethompson sent my way earlier this month.

I’m new to woodworking of any sorts, so I don’t have any tools. I did a really deep cleaning and reaming, and a light sanding of the chamber. Then I lightly sanded the briar. I tried to sand off the oxidation on the stem, but didn’t have as much luck with the few tooth marks on it - I traded them for some rough sanding marks. I applied a few coats of wax and hand buffed them. After seeing the remaining scratches from sanding I think I need to go back at it with some higher grit..
Overall I’m decently happy, and looking forward to breaking it in!
I welcome all comments and suggestions!!

 

[nevadablue]

Good for you! Be careful, this is addictive. Making the old pipes come back to life is just plain fun.

 

[stickframer]

Looks like it cleaned up nicely! I hope it gives you many good smokes.
I would go easy on the sandpaper though. A lot of the gunk on the briar can be removed with soapy water and a toothbrush, and magic erasers work pretty good on stems. Don't get me wrong though, it looks great.

 

[mikethompson]

Looking good Joe!
I gotta get started on one of mine. Nice job on the rim, that's always the part that scares me.

 

[txpiper07]

Thanks! It was a blast to do.
Any ideas on how to get the stem smoothed out without a buffing wheel? 2000 grit is the finest sandpaper I could find.
Stickframer - thanks for the advice! Will the magic erasers take off the oxidation? I gave the stem a long soak in rubbing alcohol and went after it with a few different brushes but didn’t seem to be making any progress..

 

[stickframer]

@txpiper- magic erasers will take off oxidization, but won't do much for any scratches. I've never used micromesh on stems but irc you could go up to 12000 grit.
I've found that magic erasers work fine for my purposes, and there's possibly less chance I'd mess up lol.ymmv
I think the stem looks good as it is now but have fun with it ::

 

[txpiper07]

I’ll definitlely try one on my next restore, thank you for the tip!
Just fired it up for the first time, took me a minute to get over the idea of actually smoking a used pipe hahaha but it’s burning nice and cool. However it does have a heavier draw than I expected. It’s the first time I’ve smoked a pipe with one of those metal diffusers (??) that fits in the end of the stem.

 

[danielplainview]

Cool little nose warmer.

 

[mikethompson]

Joe does this pipe have a stinger in it? That's the metal part attached to the stem. That is *supposedly* supposed to cool the smoke. I've never used one myself. It's good that the draw is still good with it in there.

 

[cwarmouth]

Nice job. You can always keep coming back to the stem and kind of restore it as you smoke it.