Plugged pipe

[banjobob]

I bought a WDC Polo on eBay and when it arrived, it was completely plugged up.

I tried pipe cleaners with no luck.

I eventually removed the bit, and got out my drill.

It had an extreme bend in the shank but I reasoned it was probably drilled w/ a straight bit,

so I put in a small bit, ran the drill backwards and pushed out a plug of something resembling tobacco and dust and sawdust that was 1/4" long and now it draws nice.

I was pretty proud of myself.

BanjoBob

 

[oakbear]

It's pretty scary getting power tools near a pipe ime! Great feeling when you rescue something which is otherwise useless though!

 

[banjobob]

A totally plugged pipe is worthless so I wasn't risking much.

I had another old art deco pipe that was plugged in the shank.

The bit unscrewed and left a threaded part sticking out of the shank that had the air hole in the

middle of it. I tried drilling that out and I could never get through it.

Long story short, that threaded end sticking out was supposed to be part of the bit.

I unscrewed the threaded thing and found that it was a stinger that I almost drilled completely through.

Now I'm left with a beautiful old pipe with no way to attach the bit. Hah!

It's probably not worth having a repair, and I'm clueless how to do it myself.

 

[crpntr1]

Last weekend I was working on a briarmeer that was clogged & pipe cleaners wouldn't touch it. I just let the bit sit on alcohol for a hour or so & worked awhile with cleaners...I got it out after 30 min or so.