"Natural" Pipes?

[monty55]

Hey Guys,
I won a Brian Ruthenburg unsmoked unstained natural sandblast pipe off our friend Pipestuds auction this weekend. I wanted a larger pipe that has some quality aspects without costing a fortune.
Anyway, this is my first "natural" finished pipe, and I am wondering if this needs to be stained to my preference, or left alone. What do you do with your natural finished pipe? I thought I would just leave it as is, but I don't want it turning a nasty grey from skin oils over time. A brown is ok, but other things I've seen worn over time by human hands tend to have a dirty grey look, not so much a rich patina as I would want if I left it natural. Just looking to see what others do with theirs.

 

[framitz]

I have a savinelliupshal Capri that turned medium chocolate over 38 years and a charatan blast I got from pipestud that is just beginning to turn brown. English and va tobbaco. Shel

 

[monty55]

Thanks Shel. So it will indeed turn brown over time and not dirty grey? Cool!

 

[weezell]

Do not stain it! It will color wonderfully over time...

 

[jah76]

I love natural pipes. I have a Sav I bought for 40 bucks that's taken on a nice brownish red.
I like stripping down and sanding ebay buys too.

 

[mso489]

A thousand times no, don't touch it with stain, wax, or anything! You are about to enter into one of the prime pipe smoking experiences as you create the finish by smoking the pipe. Most start out looking a little raw and like a block from the lumber yard, but very soon they begin to have nice color, and as the color deepens, with regular polishing with a rag or polishing cloth, these pipes develop a transcendent inner glow, sometimes a walnut tone, sometimes more cherry or mahogany, but nearly always beautiful. To throw stain on there would be like painting the cathedral chartreuse. No, nine, nyet, non, negatory. This experience will be beautiful.

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

I have two virgin (natural) finish Ruthenbergs- one I bought as an estate and already had a fair amount of color. The other I bought new and is starting to color nicely. It is kind of like a meerschaum. An unstained pipe is definitely more susceptible to getting dirty though. I have used the estate Ruthenberg pretty hard, fishing, hiking, etc. and it picked up a bit of that grimy look that you are talking about. I had good luck with smudging it lightly with denatured alcohol to clean some of the grime off to show the nice brown patina underneath.

 

[lonestar]

All the above !

Natural briar colors beautifully but a natural blast is prone to pick up dirt and grime if you don't take a bit of care. No gloved hands are necessary, but don't smoke it when your planting a garden or changing a transmission.