Flaming a Pipe???

[steveva]

Having been an avid pipe smoker for longer than I'll admit in public I have recently gotten into restoring old pipes. I have a half dozen of my Dad's old pipes from his US Air Force days (he hasn't smoked them for years...decades?) and several of mine that ended up getting squirreled away in a box when we bought our house. I thought I'd lost the box in the move and they were recently discovered. It was Christmas come early to have these old friends back.
Now I,ve restored several using various sanding, filing methods, tung oil and waxes. I have also used Fiebing's alcohol based stains with great success to bring back old finishes. However, I came across reference to a method of pipe staining to bring out grain detail called "flaming". I can't seem to find instructions on how to do it properly, and I don't want to try it without some guidance because I can already imagine this involving the fire department.
Any help or links would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cortezattic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67sIhxMA8SU

 

[pruss]

'Flaming' is a technique used to set stain into briar. Essentially it both burns off the alcohol which is used to carrry pigment, and sets the dye on the surface and in the grain of the pipe. I have used this technique, particularly when I'm tinting a pipe (using a little dye and a lot of alcohol to blend new dye with old stain). I have done no cross-comparison with naked briar to determine whether flaming does truly help set stain in grain versus staining a pipe and allowing it to stand, and the alcohol to evaporate off naturally.
To 'flame' a pipe:
1) Ensure you safely stow/store any accelerants (alcohol, dye, paper, cotton balls, briar dust, glasses of bourbon).

2) Clear your workbench, put on a fire retardant apron, safety glasses and common sense.

3) Have a fire extinguisher nearby.

4) Insert a wooden dowel in the mortise area of the stummel's shank, ensuring a loose fit to limit the risk of splitting the shank.

5) Holding the dowel with one hand, apply stain to the stummel with the applicator or brush with your other hand.

6) While the stain is still wet, holding the dowel and stummel away from your face, light the wet stain with a soft flame lighter.

7) The alcohol will burn quickly with a blue flame, and should self extinguish when the alcohol burns off.
Briar doesn't ignite quickly and the flames should go out on their own. If not, blow them out like you would a candle. If you start to see yellow flame starting, or smoke coming from your pipe, then the pipe has caught and you have wood buring.
As always when dealing with fire, be smart, plan ahead, be safe. You might consider having a bucket with sand on the floor of the area where you'll be doing this work, that way if you have to drop a burning stummel you can do it in a place where you won't burn yourself, your house, or your pets.
Good luck!
-- Pat

 

[zack24]

Flaming burns the alcohol off if you need to work on a pipe quickly, but most guys I know set the pipe aside for a couple of days before finishing. There is a huge difference in working with a freshly stained pipe versus one that has had a couple of days on the bench….

 

[mso489]

Sounds like a beginner might do this outdoors first, away from brush or other flammable material, to get the hang of it, before moving indoors, but observing all the safety steps. Just a thought.

 

[tarak]

Never flamed a pipe, but I did rather hurriedly fill and light a zippo the other day- and flamed my hands!

 

[tuold]

One thing I wouldn't do is smoke with a bunch of flammable liquids around. Very bad idea. Better have a fire extinguisher nearby for this too.

 

[daimyo]

In knife making we use a technique on tiger and quilted maple. You would sand down to 600, burnish with 4/0 steel wool and then burnish with denim or canvas. Then you paint the wood with maturitic acid after heating it with a heat gun and then dry it with the heat gun. You then neutralize it with baking soda and water. After that you would burnish it with the 4/0 steel wool and again the cloth till your hands were going to fall off. After that you finish it with oil or whatever you regularly finish with. I have often wondered is that would do anything for the grain on briar.

 

[ssjones]

Pat explains it very well. I like doing a contrast stain on pipes where I've fixed fills with superglue/briar chips, it helps blend them into the grain. I usually flame on a black stain (Fieblings) and then buff it off with Tripoli, then put on an almost transparent, greatly diluted Medium brown stain.