I don't like working on stems, but it's part of the process. Here we have an old OLD BRUYERE from Hardcastle. Impossible to date, but it bears one of the original family names so...
As you can see, it's missing something...
I wonder: Did the owner keep on smoking this pipe after the stem was damaged? This pipe was smoked a lot!
The stummel looks undamaged. It's really caked-up, though.
The stem required lots and lots of cleaning. It was really a mess. Once cleaned, I began work on the repair. This type of work is tricky. The black Superglue, although of medium viscosity, can infiltrate any gap and result in a clogged stem. A sliver of wood (popsickle stick sanded flat) was lightly coated with Vaseline and inserted. This creates a barrier, but care must be taken not to get Vaseline on the glue surfaces.
Multiple coats of glue are applied to build up the surface area, followed by accelerator. The wood sliver is moved around during the process to prevent it from getting glued in place.
Pardon the bad photography of this picture. What I have done here is paint the stem with Vaseline while I build up the lip of the button with glue.
Once everything is dry, it's time to file, sand, sand and sand. An additional coat of glue was applied. More sanding.
Getting there:
Done
Pretty pipe
As you can see, it's missing something...
I wonder: Did the owner keep on smoking this pipe after the stem was damaged? This pipe was smoked a lot!
The stummel looks undamaged. It's really caked-up, though.
The stem required lots and lots of cleaning. It was really a mess. Once cleaned, I began work on the repair. This type of work is tricky. The black Superglue, although of medium viscosity, can infiltrate any gap and result in a clogged stem. A sliver of wood (popsickle stick sanded flat) was lightly coated with Vaseline and inserted. This creates a barrier, but care must be taken not to get Vaseline on the glue surfaces.
Multiple coats of glue are applied to build up the surface area, followed by accelerator. The wood sliver is moved around during the process to prevent it from getting glued in place.
Pardon the bad photography of this picture. What I have done here is paint the stem with Vaseline while I build up the lip of the button with glue.
Once everything is dry, it's time to file, sand, sand and sand. An additional coat of glue was applied. More sanding.
Getting there:
Done
Pretty pipe