Lots of pipe work... Following number six's idea

[twangthang]

Reading numbersix's post about refinishing a Barclay Rex. I realized I have a few pipes laying around that needed some attention.

They were basically sotting unused due to some small issue.

I had bought a BR on Ebay that had some nice grain, but smoked very wet and the finish was just a little redder than I liked. When I was restoring it I got a drop of alcohol on the briar and so much red finish came off I thought I had cut myself.

I went to a new Ace Hardware that opened by me. While I was looking for some stain I remembered that Old Cajun had said I could find fire place morter there so I picked up a tube of that. I would be able to use that to build up the bowl of a four dot Sasieni that was drilled to deep. While I was at the hardware store I decided to pick up a new index of drill bits that I could use to open the tenon of a Royal Soverign that was giving me some gurgling problems.

Three projects in one trip not bad...

When I sanded down the Barclay I noticed that it must have had a coat of brown stain under it's red finish. It looked good and showed the grain nicely. I liked the satin finish and the way it felt in my hand so I just gave it a wipe down with mineral oil.

I'll attempt to post a pic but this is being written on my smart phone and I am just not that smart...

I also got a layer of mortar in the bottom of my Sasieni and am just waiting for it to dry enough to smoke a bowl and really get a heat cure.

Drilled the Barclay and the Royal Soverign and I am happy to say the draw is much easier.

Three more pipes back into the rotation.

 

[uberam3rica]

I can't fix the pictures. You can't upload pictures from the forums. You have to upload the to an image hosting site such as photobucket, and then use the links from there.

 

[numbersix]

Congrats twangthang. That's great. My Barclay-Rex was a great smoker, but the exterior burn bugged me enough that I didn't use it much - a lot like your pipes. Now it's one of my favs.

 

[cortezattic]

When I sanded down the Barclay I noticed that it must have had a coat of brown stain under it's red finish.

It looked good and showed the grain nicely.

I also had a couple of pipes that looked wonderful when the finish was removed. Makes one wonder why some

companies bother with the extra layering. Maybe it's just a fashion thing. Today, less is more, I guess.
Anyway, thanks for the post. :clap: Let us know how that fireplace mortar works for you.

 

[twangthang]

Okay finally got home and here are (hopefully) the before and after pics/

I got one smoke in her and have to say it really smokes well with the better draw.

Cheers

Jim

 

[cynyr]

A vast improvement, to my eye.

 

[numbersix]

Looks great - I like the twisty grain. Glad to hear she smokes better too.

 

[kf4bsb]

Wow,I thiink that was a great improvement! I love it when you sand down a pipe bowl and find something amazing underneath.

 

[dragonslayer]

Great job looks much better. Briar does darken with age and taking off the outside finish left you with a nice grain. I would advise against using a mineral oil polish on the outside as it will soak into the briar, and you don't want to be smoking that. A good buffing, even by hand with some carnauba wax will give you a nice finish. If you want to coat the pipe with something you can take shellac and mix it down about 50% (or more) with isopropyl alcohol and just use a pipe cleaner and apply it softly.