I Hope You Hate Deoxidizing Vulcanite Stems As Much As I Do

[Mike N]

This sounds very wrong to me and I am not sure if we have different products with same name in Europe... Isn't red rouge a finishing paste and white diamond either a pre polish or polish paste? Waxing stems sounds very bitter tasting Am I being wrong here?

Generally, red is for finer precious metal polishing but it leaves a red film on my ebonite when using a polishing wheel from a hard block (not paste) that is tough to wipe off, so I usually follow it with white diamond and then a carnauba wax polish to get the shine I want, followed by a soft polishing cloth.

 

[Waning Embers]

So the toothpaste paste is supposed to deal with this?

No. Toothpaste is used to polish to a mirror shine after the oxidation is singed with a flame and wiped away with a damp paper towel. Toothpaste will not remove oxidation.

 

[Dshift]

No. Toothpaste is used to polish after the oxidation is singed with a flame and wiped away with a damp paper towel. Toothpaste will not remove oxidation.

Yeah but burning and wiping just takes care of the surface oxidation, what about the actual oxidation layer underneath?

 

[Waning Embers]

Yeah but burning and wiping just takes care of the surface oxidation, what about the actual oxidation layer underneath?

I've not had one reoxidize after the process.

 

[Mike N]

When I used to rehab greatly oxidized vulcanite stems I soaked them overnight in a solution of OxyClean (keep container open to let gases out) then rinsed and pulled a pipe cleaner through the stem several times. For bad tooth marks, I scraped the surface level with an exacto knife. There are many other methods but that worked for me.

 

[MattCC]

I've not had one reoxidize after the process.

When you say flame, do you mean something like an alcohol burner? How long do you hold it to the flame?

 

[Waning Embers]

When you say flame, do you mean something like an alcohol burner? How long do you hold it to the flame?

Lighter only. Pass the tip of the flame back and forth like a fine paint brush to blacken the surface. Work in small sections and if you smell warm ebonite you've held the flame in place for to long. Use the damp paper towel to wipe away the blackened area. I learned of the technique some years ago here.

A BIC lighter and Oxidation

Blog by Rob Hardy and Steve Laug Thanks to a serendipitous discovery by a friend of mine, Rob Hardy (incoinnu on Smokers Forums), who also does refurbishing as a hobby we have worked out a very dif…

rebornpipes.com

 

[dd57chevy]

Lighter only. Pass the tip of the flame back and forth like a fine paint brush to blacken the surface. Work in small sections and if you smell warm ebonite you've held the flame in place for to long. Use the damp paper towel to wipe away the blackened area. I learned of the technique some years ago here.

A BIC lighter and Oxidation

Blog by Rob Hardy and Steve Laug Thanks to a serendipitous discovery by a friend of mine, Rob Hardy (incoinnu on Smokers Forums), who also does refurbishing as a hobby we have worked out a very dif…

rebornpipes.com

Wow , thanks CE ! I'd never heard of that technique .
Will give it a try .

 

[Mike N]

Wow , thanks CE ! I'd never heard of that technique .
Will give it a try .

Yep. There’s a lot that Chasing Embers can teach us.

 

[grandalfpipes]

Lighter only. Pass the tip of the flame back and forth like a fine paint brush to blacken the surface. Work in small sections and if you smell warm ebonite you've held the flame in place for to long. Use the damp paper towel to wipe away the blackened area. I learned of the technique some years ago here.

A BIC lighter and Oxidation

Blog by Rob Hardy and Steve Laug Thanks to a serendipitous discovery by a friend of mine, Rob Hardy (incoinnu on Smokers Forums), who also does refurbishing as a hobby we have worked out a very dif…

rebornpipes.com

I’m trying this tomorrow