Good Day All!
I've been on a self-imposed hiatus from pipe restorations since last fall at least. The reasons are many, including unplanned family issues, my crazy job, building a guitar, and recording unprofitable music. This weekend, as MORE SNOW once again keeps me indoors, I decided to do...something.
I decided to experiment with some rustication for the first time. I've been researching different techniques online and as always, I'm trying to find a different way. I decided to experiment using a Dremel engraver. For good or ill, here are the results.
I chose to rusticate a pipe that came in an eBay lot. It's a small "Beppe" sitter from Italy. It's so nondescript I've had no desire to do anything with it once I cleaned it up. I haven't even smoked it yet.
I really wasn't sure if the engraver would work, but what the heck...It wasn't until I got to this point I thought something interesting might happen. Before I chat further about the engraver, let me just say it works very quickly.
Here's the rustication work more or less done. You can see that the engraver, obviously, isn't cutting deep into the pipe at all. It looks interesting, but so far I'm not a fan. What to do?
To heck with it, let's just dye the thing black...Fiebings to the rescue, I hope. It either looks burnt, or like a stale brownie. I can't decide.
So, after a few coats of Fiebings USMC Black plus polishing with white diamond and carnauba, my boring "Beppe" (not a Marx Brother) is now a less boring Beppe.
Verdict on the Dremel engraver as a rustication tool? Interesting effect, fast and easy to use, but I'll still give it a thumbs down for lack of depth in rustication. Now that the pipe is done though, I don't hate it. I'll chalk up the whole thing as a learning experience. Total work time- less than two hours...
I've been on a self-imposed hiatus from pipe restorations since last fall at least. The reasons are many, including unplanned family issues, my crazy job, building a guitar, and recording unprofitable music. This weekend, as MORE SNOW once again keeps me indoors, I decided to do...something.
I decided to experiment with some rustication for the first time. I've been researching different techniques online and as always, I'm trying to find a different way. I decided to experiment using a Dremel engraver. For good or ill, here are the results.
I chose to rusticate a pipe that came in an eBay lot. It's a small "Beppe" sitter from Italy. It's so nondescript I've had no desire to do anything with it once I cleaned it up. I haven't even smoked it yet.
I really wasn't sure if the engraver would work, but what the heck...It wasn't until I got to this point I thought something interesting might happen. Before I chat further about the engraver, let me just say it works very quickly.
Here's the rustication work more or less done. You can see that the engraver, obviously, isn't cutting deep into the pipe at all. It looks interesting, but so far I'm not a fan. What to do?
To heck with it, let's just dye the thing black...Fiebings to the rescue, I hope. It either looks burnt, or like a stale brownie. I can't decide.
So, after a few coats of Fiebings USMC Black plus polishing with white diamond and carnauba, my boring "Beppe" (not a Marx Brother) is now a less boring Beppe.
Verdict on the Dremel engraver as a rustication tool? Interesting effect, fast and easy to use, but I'll still give it a thumbs down for lack of depth in rustication. Now that the pipe is done though, I don't hate it. I'll chalk up the whole thing as a learning experience. Total work time- less than two hours...
