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sparker69

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 25, 2022
784
4,806
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Hello everyone,

I started on this pipe universe a month ago with a little joke buying a RAW brand pipe which I already read here it’s a rubbish pipe. Although I’m still a newbie, I can control my smoking pace, the density of my bowls and the daily cleaning process, due to lots of info you can find here and in the www in general.
Although I don’t find that RAW pipe to be that bad as I read, I’ve started to acquire new pipes to my collection. I bought a cheap corncob at a local store, a Savinelli starter kit with a Savinelli One 321 rusticated pipe and then I’ve heard about estate pipes. Since I didn’t want to spend too much money I started looking in eBay type site from Portugal and went on to buy a Peterson Kildare 82S and a Peterson Killarney 406.
The Kildare came in good shape and clean only with some bite marks on the stem along with some decolouration.
The Killarney on the other hand, although aesthetically is(or was) perfect wasn’t cleaned so I researched a bit and started doing it my self. I took the stem out, filled the bowl with sea salt(although I read somewhere I should only use kosher salt) and mixed it with cheap whiskey I had around the house(40% alc) and I’m letting it sit for 24 hours. Unfortunately, during this process I needed to pick up the stem and had my fingers with some drops of whiskey and the stem started to lose the black colour and some red/brown stains started to appear. My questions are:

Can I reverse this process?
Is extra virgin olive oil good to return the polished black look on the stem? And if so, should I use sandpaper on the stem before applying it?

Since english is not my native language, sorry in advance if something is not well written.

Greetings to all pipe smokers and I hope to share my future path in this adventure with all of you!
Welcome to the group from Montreal, Canada.
I don't know if this helps, but I had a vulcanite stem that oxidized very quickly after buying it - turning deep green. After much research and a few different attempts at "fixing it", the best solution I found was micromesh pads with the stem in water and then buffing with mineral oil. Whenever I smoke a pipe with a vulcanite stem, once cool after the smoke, I remove the stem, pass a pipe cleaner through it and then apply a coat of mineral oil with my finger. I leave it, minimum a few hours, but usually overnight and then the next morning I buff it with a paper towel. Works great so far. Here's the page where I found the best information on cleaning stems: Removing Oxidization on Vulcanite Stems - https://rebornpipes.com/2012/06/02/removing-oxidization-on-vulcanite-stems-2/
 
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Kirklands

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 26, 2023
119
198
70
Kansas City, Missouri
Welcome, from Missouri in central USA! Stem refurbishing is a common aspect of enjoying estate pipes, and the Pipe Repair and Maintenance forum will give good guidance. Glad to have you with us.
 
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