Painting an old briar

[beardedcavalier]

I've a couple of old, tired looking briars and it occurred to me they might look better painted black, or white... or whatever. Can briar bowls be painted or is this an absolute no-no?

 

[dmcmtk]

They can be re-stained, that will often freshen up the look of an old pipe. What exactly do you have?

 

[danielplainview]

Smoking paint fumes wouldn't be very tasty. You can use pipe stain to freshen up tired briar. Its probably just caked up and grungy. They can be shined without staining most of the time.
Checkout the pipe repair threads at the top of the main page. ^^

 

[dottiewarden]

My Chacom Samba 44 Bent Dublín is finished in black and is a stunning example of a black tie affair briar. In a word, elegant! We all love to admire the grain of a smooth or blasted briar, but that doesn't mean painted pipes are necessarily ugly. But whether you choose to finish your old pipe with a solid color or stain, the important thing is to use a product that will take the heat.
You may find this thread interesting:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/pipes-with-shellackedvarnished-finishes

 

[beardedcavalier]

Thanks everyone. I have a simple, unbranded briar that I picked up for very little at an auction. It was once a beautiful thing, and it smokes very well. It has come up a bit with polishing, but the main problem is that there is char at the top of the bowl which all the rubbing in the world won't remove...

 

[aldecaker]

I would try cleaning first. A lot of times what you see is not char but smoking deposits. If that doesn't work, you could try toppong the bowl. I don't think I would ever resort to actually painting a pipe. Can you pst a pic?

 

[blueeyedogre]

Google rebornpipes.com and you'll find a great information site on simple things you can do to bring your pipe back to its full glory. My advice..... take so acetone (nail polish remover) and some cotton make-up pads, remove the remainder of the stain from the pipe, some light sanding on the rim to remove the char, and some fiebing leather stain (can be found at most shoe repairs) and restain the pipe yourself. The info from reborn pipes will easily walk you through the best and easiest ways to do it with a minimal fuss.

 

[phil67]

I'd certainly stay clear of paint. However, many of the pipe makers on the Pipemakers forum site use shellac on their pipes and we're certainly not talking about cheap pipes! This idea that it will clog up the pores on a pipe and not allow it to breath is somewhat absurd. After all, carnauba wax, in essence, is doing the very same thing.

 

[foggymountain]

Do not use paint. It could ruin the taste. If you hate the finish sand it off by hand and leave it unfinished.

 

[zekest]

I'd use Krylon high temp paint found in car part stores.
Splatter type barbeque and patio table paint would give it a awesome rusticated look.
Just don't paint the inside of the bowl and it'll be fine.

 

[jkrug]

I have a friend that does hydro dipping and I'm thinking of buying a cheap smooth briar pipe and having him dip it in camo for me. It would be a good cheap beater pipe to use when I am in the outdoors.

 

[ivapewithfire]

What is "hydro dipping"?

 

[mso489]

+1 foggymountain. In sanding, you may uncover a fill or two, but I have several pipes that came unfinished, and smoking

them gives them a golden glow as appealing as any stain or new-pipe finish. One or two of these pipes look as if they have

a lovely light walnut stain, and it polishes up to a glow.

 

[weezell]

If you hate the finish sand it off by hand and leave it unfinished.

You got it foggy! One of my most loved pipes is an unstained Sav Author ...

 

[literaryworkshop]

Refinishing a pipe shouldn't be all that hard. Remove the old finish with a good solvent, and then pick the finish of your choice. Lots of tutorials on the web.

 

[jkrug]

Rob...hydro dipping is the process of floating a thin plastic like film on the surface of water and then dipping an object down thru that film into the water and the film wraps around and sticks to the object. That's a brief uncomplicated description but hopefully explains it enough. The best example I can come up with would be plastic shotgun and rifle stocks are treated this way to give them a camo finish.

 

[jkrug]

Rob...hydro dipping is the process of floating a thin plastic like film on the surface of water and then dipping an object down thru that film into the water and the film wraps around and sticks to the object. That's a brief uncomplicated description but hopefully explains it enough. The best example I can come up with would be plastic shotgun and rifle stocks are treated this way to give them a camo finish.

 

[buroak]

I would go for the sanding and re-staining approach, but there is no accounting for taste.

 

[ivapewithfire]

Thanks for the explanation jkrug, I had never heard of that. Sound's interesting.
If you do try it, be sure and post how it works out for you.