P-lip Conversion

[furthur73]

Greetings all,
I'm fairly new to the forums and just getting back into the pipe after a lengthy hiatus that began around 1999. Along with rekindling an interest in all things pipe related I have begun restoring some nice older estates, herein lies my question. I have restored a very nice sterling banded Peterson Donegal Rocky 80s with a P-lip stem. I love the pipe and it smokes brilliantly, unfortunately I hate the P-lip. I would like to convert the P-lip to a standard fishtail by modifying the existing stem rather than replacing it outright. My question is whether or not any of you more experienced estate restorers have tried this, and if so, is the bore of the stem and amount of material left after removing the "lip" sufficient to reshape the P-lip into a fishtail? Thanks in advance for any advice you may share.
Furthur73

 

[billypm]

I have removed the p-lips from a few pipes with good success. I just took an emery board to the dang things and went to work. There is plenty of vulcanite left after the p-lip is gone, but the airway that is revealed is round and slightly above the center of the button. I just left it that way and have no gripes-- but I know there are those who take jeweler's files and open the airway up to a fan shape.

 

[tbradsim1]

Here is one I did on a 30s Pete, tip was broke so I modified it, not hard at all.

 

[tbradsim1]

View from back end.

 

[nsfisher]

I have also done it to one. Very simple. Half hour of your time and you got it.

 

[werdna]

I've done it on a Dr. Grabow Omega, thanks to a little coaching from nsfisher. Easy to do, and the results are great. I simply cut off the very tip of the P-lip and left a button, then filed it down to round the corners of the button.

 

[furthur73]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I think may make this my project tomorrow, I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[dd50]

Based on suggestions in another thread, I just filed it down with a bastard file and it couldn't have been easier and I'm very happy with the results.