Obsidian Oil is Amazing

[OzPiper]

Why bother with the Ibepen bath if you're going to sand it anyway? Does it soften the oxidized layer that needs to be removed?

It removes most of the oxidation - externally and internally without using sandpaper.
I only use Micromesh pads on the stems after an IbepenDeoxidiser soak.

I'm challenged using sandpaper and Duane's (@Chasing Embers) lighter method. I've removed too much material using bleach and sandpaper with my first attempts at cleaning stems.

 

[Chasing Embers]

using bleach

That'll leave ebonite full of pits.

 

[OzPiper]

That'll leave ebonite full of pits.

Found out the hard way ?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Chasing Embers lighter method

Haven't done it for a while but I got one in the mail today that needs attention.

 

[OzPiper]

Haven't done it for a while but I got one in the mail today that needs attention.

I tried your naked flame method once but chickened out after smelling burnt rubber. ?

 

[Chasing Embers]

I tried your naked flame method once but chickened out after smelling burnt rubber. ?

If you heat it enough to smell burnt rubber, you've left the flame in one place for too long.?

 

[Duck]

Heat, be it applied by lighter, boiled water, or an oven brings the sulphur to the surface. It happens in seconds, and doesn't roughen the surface of the vulcanite. The sulphur can then be wiped and polished off using mild abrasives.

Bleach is an oxidizing agent, and is the last thing I want to let near vulcanite. All it does is oxidize the surface, and leaves it pitted. You then have to sand down the pitted stem to remove the damage you've done.

Alternatively you can re-cure rubber to reattach the sulphur. Search for 'rubber bloom' to find out the details. I've never tried that as I don't expect my oven temperature to be accurate enough to make it a viable option.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Heat, be it applied by lighter, boiled water, or an oven brings the sulphur to the surface

Actually, using a lighter doesn't. Many shape stems and remove chatter with a lighter without oxidizing the stem. The vapor from the boiling water is what causes the flash oxidation. I use a flame to blacken the very outer surface of the stems then wipe away the blacked areas along with the singed oxidized layer with a wet paper towel.

 

[SBC]

I use a flame to blacken the very outer surface of the stems then wipe away the blacked areas along with the singed oxidized layer with a wet paper towel.

The before and after pics are truly remarkable. You don't happen to have a video demonstrating this, do you?

 

[cigrmaster]

I have been using Obidisian for a number of years. I have always started using it on clean stems and it keeps the high quality German vulcanite stems looking great. Obidisian is useless on the old sulfur laden vulcanite stems.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The before and after pics are truly remarkable. You don't happen to have a video demonstrating this, do you?

I did and posted a thread about it but youtube deleted it citing inappropriate content : tobacco use. There is the article on Reborn Pipes but I don't use the buffer to shine them, I thumb buff with toothpaste after removing the oxidation.

A BIC lighter and Oxidation - https://rebornpipes.com/2012/06/14/a-bic-lighter-and-oxidation/


And the thread where the videos were posted.

Weber Shellbrooke Cleanup :: Pipe Repair and Maintenance

@sablebrush52 @jpmcwjr @BROBS @diamondback @vates @AlabamaDan @ron123 @whsergent @Ctbill A neighbor brought me a pipe from her junk drawer recently and told me it was a gift for being a good friend. Looking it over I decided though fairly rough looking, not an impossible restore. What I...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[ssjones]

I wrote off Obsidian oil as snake oil a long time ago. It's like the Armor-All of the pipe world, nice and shiny at first, dulls back to the original finish level quickly. I guess if you apply it pretty frequently, your stems will be shiny. But, food grade mineral oil will accomplish the same thing. About a buck-a-ounce. Gallons are even cheaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Mineral-oil-wood-cutting-board/dp/B01B5ECU3O/ref=asc_df_B01B5ECU3O/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198057711065&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9131714012726903948&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008037&hvtargid=pla-348539841526&psc=1

 

[Chasing Embers]

I wrote off Obsidian oil as snake oil a long time ago. It's like the Armor-All of the pipe world, nice and shiny at first, dulls back to the original finish level quickly. I guess if you apply it pretty frequently, your stems will be shiny. But, food grade mineral oil will accomplish the same thing. About a buck-a-ounce. Gallons are even cheaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Mineral-oil-wood-cutting-board/dp/B01B5ECU3O/ref=asc_df_B01B5ECU3O/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198057711065&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9131714012726903948&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008037&hvtargid=pla-348539841526&psc=1

Once a stem is cleaned, wiping a stem down with a jeweler's cloth makes oiling obsolete.

 

[telescopes]

Once a stem is cleaned, wiping a stem down with a jeweler's cloth makes oiling obsolete.

Not sure my older Charatans agree. Sunlight eats them up quickly without some oil protection.

 

[mingc]

I wrote off Obsidian oil as snake oil a long time ago. It's like the Armor-All of the pipe world, nice and shiny at first, dulls back to the original finish level quickly. I guess if you apply it pretty frequently, your stems will be shiny. But, food grade mineral oil will accomplish the same thing. About a buck-a-ounce. Gallons are even cheaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Mineral-oil-wood-cutting-board/dp/B01B5ECU3O/ref=asc_df_B01B5ECU3O/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198057711065&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9131714012726903948&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008037&hvtargid=pla-348539841526&psc=1

I use Obsidian Oil for its UV protectants, not the shine. Buff for shine and/or use wax. When wax wears off, it'll be back to whatever it looks like originally too. An alternative may be chapstick with UV protectants.

Not sure my older Charatans agree. Sunlight eats them up quickly without some oil protection.

I keep my stems out of sunlight. Even then some still go green. The curse of vulcanite.

 

[ssjones]

I'd be very curious to know exactly what "UV protectors" are in Mineral, er, Obsidian oil.

Here's the SDS sheet, doesn't shed much light, to this layman.

https://amacobrent.s3.amazonaws.com/sds/UK%20SDS/C%20Liquid%20Series/44%20-%20C-1%20OBSIDIAN%20-%20SDS4948.pdf

 

[mingc]

I'd be very curious to know exactly what "UV protectors" are in Mineral, er, Obsidian oil.

Here's the SDS sheet, doesn't shed much light, to this layman.

https://amacobrent.s3.amazonaws.com/sds/UK%20SDS/C%20Liquid%20Series/44%20-%20C-1%20OBSIDIAN%20-%20SDS4948.pdf

I've no idea either. I don't think that that's the SDS for Obsidian Oil. It's for a different unrelated product with a similar name.

@hauntedmyst who makes Obsidian Oil says earlier this thread it's not mineral oil. I've no connection to him, have never met him, but I like his product. I think it help although I frankly can't really say for sure how much. But then people like Dunhill pipes and McClelland tobacco for reasons that are inexplicable to me, so I don't question it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Not sure my older Charatans agree. Sunlight eats them up quickly without some oil protection.

My Savinelli's from the '50s and '60s respond well to it.

 

[ssjones]

I've no idea either. I don't think that that's the SDS for Obsidian Oil. It's for a different unrelated product with a similar name.

@hauntedmyst who makes Obsidian Oil says earlier this thread it's not mineral oil. I've no connection to him, have never met him, but I like his product. I think it help although I frankly can't really say for sure how much. But then people like Dunhill pipes and McClelland tobacco for reasons that are inexplicable to me, so I don't question it.

Wait, member Hauntedmyst MAKES Obsidian oil? That's interesting!

 

[hauntedmyst]

Wait, member Hauntedmyst MAKES Obsidian oil? That's interesting!

Yes! It's small batch made in old cooper stills from the Jameson factory and aged for 30 years in my aging barns.