I’ve been building a collection of Pipe by Lee pipes for a while, and came across this Gold Coast—a PbL second maker—on eBay. I’ve never seen one at a show or store, so I snagged it.
Other than a dirty stinger and a bit of surface grime the only real question was the rim.
I managed to get it clean with Murphy’s only to find the entire rim surface pitted and nicked. I semi-topped it with 240-600 grit sandpaper, stopping when the stain started to look thinner, so there’s a little pitting left.
There was only a light oxidation, but I was doing another pipe so both stems went in an OxyClean bath, which got the stinger clean. The stem chatter didn’t seem like much, but a heat treatment didn’t get it all, so I did go ahead and sand/micro mesh it to get rid of most of the tooth marks.
A touch of wax and it looks nice again. This being the first Gold Coast I’ve seen, I can see why it’s a second. The build looks good, but the grain is unremarkable…boring, even. Much like a Rossi vs Savinelli. Now to see how it smokes.
Other than a dirty stinger and a bit of surface grime the only real question was the rim.
I managed to get it clean with Murphy’s only to find the entire rim surface pitted and nicked. I semi-topped it with 240-600 grit sandpaper, stopping when the stain started to look thinner, so there’s a little pitting left.
There was only a light oxidation, but I was doing another pipe so both stems went in an OxyClean bath, which got the stinger clean. The stem chatter didn’t seem like much, but a heat treatment didn’t get it all, so I did go ahead and sand/micro mesh it to get rid of most of the tooth marks.
A touch of wax and it looks nice again. This being the first Gold Coast I’ve seen, I can see why it’s a second. The build looks good, but the grain is unremarkable…boring, even. Much like a Rossi vs Savinelli. Now to see how it smokes.