Polishing Stems

[frtimmyd]

I want to make the stems on my pipes all shiny and nice looking. I actually only have a couple that are oxidized and need extra TLC but this is one of the areas of pipe smoking that I just have no knowledge and no one nearby who could walk me through it.
Is there a way of doing this without resorting to needing to get a buffing machine? Not that I'm opposed to machinery but there is a reason why no one will give me a key to the tool shed at the parish.

 

[hanymamdouh]

For oxidized mat stems you can soak it in a bleach for 8 hours and it will remove the oxidization, then applying very soft sand paper, for best result flood the stem and the sand paper by water while sanding, this will ensure no damage to stem and very soft surface.
For glossy acrylic stems; my father did a very nice trick before to restore it totally new. he applied sand paper totally wet, after that he used special treatment of car polishing (something they call lucker or such word), it is a composition of thinner, rubbing wax and other addetives, I really cannot remeber the components,then he sprayed the composition to the stem and begin rubbing and rubbing. The result was really fantastic, you may take a look to the first pipe from left, the stem was treated by the method I mentioned and it is now fantastic.

I will get the whole story from him and post it here for all.

 

[oakbear]

Not a plug, i have no connection to the company, but i tried the Walker Briar kit, and it works superbly.
I do suspect it's just T-Cut and carnauba wax thinned with paraffin, but it seriously works like a charm, and couldn't be easier.

 

[olderthandirt]

That's about it Mike.

I've had the best results so far using just the micro-mesh pads.
For myself at any rate, I refuse to use a bleach soak, makes the surface rough and ultimately causes more sanding work. For really horrid oxidation an OxyClean pre-soak seems to help get the ball rolling.
I have the variety pack of the softpads.

Grits of 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000, 12000.

Keeping the stem wet while working on it I use all 9 grits for badly oxidized stems.

In between each grit I dry the stem to see if it's ready to move up to the next pad. I'm looking for any vestiges of green. I'll stay with the coarse grits until all the brown-tan-green is gone. The two really oxidized stems I've done so far took an extra effort with the coarser grits.

From there it's just moving up through the grits.

The change that occurs between the 6000 and 8000 with respect to shine is amazing. My stems look like black glass at this point!

After finishing with the 12000 either carnauba with a buffer or Paragon by hand to help preserve what you've accomplished.
Periodic maintenance of the stems has been reasonably easy using the 2 finest grits.

 

[bigvan]

I'm not a fan of bleach soaking, either. The stems can become brittle and crack.

 

[cajunguy]

No reason for me to reiterate what has already been stated, as I pretty much follow the same procedures, but with different grits of sandpaper. I've used the bleach method before, but had one bad experience where it opened some pits in vulcanite, and it had not soaked that long. I just don't want to run that risk.
Since, I use a low concentration mixture of oxyclean as a pre-soak.
One thing I can add, however: when you clean a stem, do it under a very bright light. Under extreme light you will see scratches and oxidation that you normally would not. This prevents a saddening situation where you think the stem is perfect, then take it outside into the sunlight and realize it wasn't as clean as you thought.
Good luck and have fun.

 

[deyro]

I'd steer clear of bleach for routine maintenance as well. I've used it on a lot of stems for refurbs and haven't had pitting or cracking issues, but it's just a lot of work to sand them smooth again.
I think I'm going to give oxyclean and micromesh a try. I've been using 0000 steal wool before buffing with tripoli, which works well, but I'm not entirely satisfied with it.
Where does one find micromesh? None of the hardware or auto parts stores in my area seem to have it.

 

[bailey331]

I followed the instruction on this blog a few days ago and made my stems look awesome. Consisted of Oxyclean, Magic eraser, and Micro mess.
http://pipesmagazine.com/matchstickman/

 

[hanymamdouh]

I used bleach so many times without any cracks or problems, wet sanding after bleach gives perfect results for most of my stems.

 

[tab812]

Good info here...Mike where did you get your pads?

 

[olderthandirt]

@tab812

As I'm in the neighborhood...

I purchased the micro-mesh at Peachtree

Bottom of the page, item number 310.

 

[olderthandirt]

hehehe

Mike, you and I are posting at the same time it appears (-:

 

[mluyckx]

Hmm.. do those pads work well ? I was thinking of getting just the larger sheets and cutting strips of it as I need them. I was thinking it would be easier to have just a sheet to get around the stem, more so than a thicker more rigid pad.
Any thoughts on that ?

 

[olderthandirt]

Another forum member, damned if I can remember who it was, posted recently regarding using the sheet instead of the pad.

I've every intention of trying the sheets myself in the future but for the now the pads adapt well to all the various nooks and crannies of the different stem shapes I've used them on.
ETA: Al is who I was thinking of in this thread

 

[mluyckx]

I've used the Mr. Clean magic eraser thus far, but I've got over a dozen estates laying in a box now. Reclaiming my garage / workbench this weekend to slowly get started on them.
I'll buy both the pads and sheets and experiment on the nameless estates first. I'll keep you posted.

 

[frtimmyd]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I took Mick's advice on the Magic Eraser first (since I already had some sitting around). I applied it to the stem of my Peterson Kapet 69, finished up with an olive oil rub (we're an Italian family so it's not like I don't have gallons of this stuff) and HOLY SMOKES! Looks just like new.
I've got a Wellington that has a mess of a stem that I'll try the micromesh sheets on. It's not one that I'm currently smoking and it needs a lot of work to make it useable soooooooo....just the one to experiment on.

 

[batdemon]

Not a plug, i have no connection to the company, but i tried the Walker Briar kit, and it works superbly.
I do suspect it's just T-Cut and carnauba wax thinned with paraffin, but it seriously works like a charm, and couldn't be easier.

I just received this kit in the mail and agree that it is very easy to use and does a great job. Used it on 2 stems that were lightly oxidized and now they shine like new. I will try it on a heavier oxidized stem over the weekend and post on the results.

 

[snewton]

I use a dremel with a miniature buffing wheel, cheap and works a treat. I apply beeswax with it. After a light sanding of course

 

[danz]

^same,(i don't sand though) dremel with a buffing wheel and 'mothers' mag wheel polish which is probably highly toxic, then apply a 50/50 bees/carnuba wax.
Have to be careful with the dremel though as its easy to slip off and gouge up the finish on your pipe with the shaft of the buffing wheel.