Pipe cleaning and polishing.

[dunendain]

I just wanted to give a shout out to 4noggins.com. They have a great selection of pipe accessories, for cleaning and polishing both the Briar and the mouth piece. Something I have neglected for too long.

 

[admin]

Yes, they have some good stuff here:

http://www.4noggins.com/cleaningmaintanancesupplies.aspx

 

[python]

I am going to placing an order from them soon for some cleaning supplies. I want to clean up some stems, but want to do it quick and easy, lol.

 

[dunendain]

Now that I have a pipe stand, I believe it is time to make my pipes presentable

 

[cortezattic]

I was kickin' around the idea of going on eBay and buying a bunch of "clunkers" with foul stems just to have some junk to experiment with in my quest for a new "quick and easy" stem cleaner; like tetra-nitro-oxy-doodle-poop. (Maybe this post belongs in the Pipe Humor thread.)

 

[acaciavet]

Bob I have found that Bar Keepers Friend does a great job on Pipe Stems.

 

[cortezattic]

acaciavet,

Great idea. So much worth a try that I just ordered some from Amazon because it's one of the products that qualify for free shipping. Thanks!

 

[pipegangster]

I have a dual wheel buffer mounted to my work bench and carnuba wax and tripoli compound. I actually just polished up four of my Italians last nite. I know I'm new to this site, but if anyone needs a nice shine on their pipes, I would be happy to do it. I learned how to do this from my local pipe guru who was in the pipe repair/tobacco business for 37 years before he retired. Just shoot me a message and I'll be more than happy to help out.
Happy puffing brothers.

 

[cortezattic]

pipegangster,

I have a Dremel hand tool and a variety of buffing wheels. I have used it with carnauba wax and got great results. Do you think that one could use it with tripoli? Are there different grades of tripoli? If so, what would be best?

 

[pipegangster]

There are two types of tripoli that would do the job for you. Red would be the first choice and brown would be the second. Brown is usually available at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Red is a little harder to come by and you might have to order it online. The Dremel should work fine. Just make sure you dedicate seperate wheels for the tripoli and carnuba. This is very important. Use a clean cotton cloth to wipe down the pipe after you apply the tripoli and before the carnuba.
Tripoli is great for taking the oxidatation off of the stem and to remove the char burns from the top of your bowl. I would not use tripoli on the bowl itself as it can be abrasive and ruin your pipe. I learned that the hard way when I first started out..haha. You can use tripoli to strip the finish off of the pipe and bring it down to the bare briar. You can then stain the briar a different color if you wish.
Hope this helps you out. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask away. I am always more than happy to help out a fellow BOTB.

 

[python]

Acaciavet, that's a great idea!
Pipegangster, thanks for the offer!

 

[falconeer]

Hi,
sorry to hi-jack the thread, but a "Hello Chuck!" to Acaciavet - I didn't know you were over here too!
Gerry

 

[dunendain]

I have learned a valuable lesson about pipe cleaning. I was having trouble finding a pipe cleaner long enough to clean my churchwarden, and I remembered seeing some long cleaners in a craft shop. They were cheap, so I bought a bundle. When I ran out of regular pipe cleaners, I kept using those craft shop cleaners. That was a mistake. They were to soft, and when I scrubbed my pipes with whiskey they were not really getting the crud out. Slowly my pipes turn sour. I went to the B&M and bought some bristle, and some soft. When I used them for the whiskey scrub, I could not beieve what came out of my pipes. Yuch.. Lesson learned.

 

[python]

Dunendain, I am pretty sure that happened because the craft store pipe cleaners are made out of chenille or something like that. They are not high absorbent cotton, like real pipe cleaners.

 

[python]

Also, I forgot about this thread and made one with photos of pipes that I cleaned. Here is the link for that thread in case anyone missed it:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/some-pipes-i-cleaned-photo-intensive

 

[cortezattic]

I had the camera out and I took this shot of some pipes that

I just happened to be giving an alcohol soak. Cotton and gin treatment.

I hope this works well; it's a whole lot easier than salt.

 

[igloo]

Rouge sticks can be had at local class 8 truck chrome shops .Ever notice how shiny those hundred pound chunks of aluminum that the tires ride on are . and those 120 gallon fuel tanks are not stainless . smile

 

[chuckw]

Regarding the various grits of rubbing compound, this has been my experience. I use the red to start then switch wheels and use diamond white on vulcanite stems. Acrylic stems require another step. I use the blue compound as the final step. Altho many disagree with me, I use straight chlorine bleach to remove oxidation. I soak the stem with the tenon elevated out of the solution. This method isn't nearly as labor intensive as trying to buff it out and it negates the possibility of burning the stem or radically changing the shape due to deep oxidation. It does require buffing though as you are left with a flat black stem.
Everything you need can be found at www.tarheelparts.com No affilation

 

[dunendain]

Cortez, that seemed to work great by the look of things. Thanks for sharing.

 

[sapo59]

Thanks for the idea coretez, how well did it work?