polishing vulcanite stems

[rick777]

I have 3 stems that while I am polishing I can see the oxidation appear, as I am polishing.

I polish to a nice deep black, when I polish a different area and look back, it is a dull red again.

I soaked one (carefully) in bleach before polishing to see if it helped, did not work.

I am using white (diamond), the finest polishing compound. I doubt it is the compound.

I have polished about 23 other stems and did not have this problem.

I coat them with Obsidian Pipe Stem oil moments after polishing.
Any ideas?
One of them is an old kaywoodie with a 4 hole stinger. Not easy to replace.
The only thing I can think of is trying a wet polish, similar to what is used to polish car headlights, but that may be a little extreme. It may not work anyway, as probably need to dry them off before applying Obsidian.
Thanks for any advice.
Rick

 

[jasongone]

i have had some that i just had to go at with a 600 or 800 fine sandpaper then do the polishing routine.

 

[ace57]

I polished one years ago with some stuff I had for getting scraches out of motorcycel windsheilds and it worked good.

 

[zunismoke]

I was polishing some stems about a month ago, thought I got it all, gave it a coat of carnuba. Noticed later that there was still brown showing through. Had to go back again using the red rouge, but finally got it all.

 

[ssjones]

Meguiars Plastic polish does a great job, available at most Autoparts stores. Novus also makes some nice cleaner/polishes for plastic. Neither will damage plastic, you can do that with sandpaper, etc.....

 

[shimrra]

I have used the meguiar's PlastX plastic polish before (not on a pipe) and it works really well... for a time. there is no sealer in it, so it is a MUST that you follow with something to maintain the luster

 

[jimbo]

On vulcanite stems I have used Flitz metal polish paste rubbed in with a cloth and polished. It seems to work fine. Be sure you remove all the polish with clean cloth and pipe cleaner soaked in whatever alcohol you use for that.
I rub my vulcanite stems with the Briar Pipe Wipe rag after every smoke. It seems to prevent oxidation from coming back.

 

[rick777]

hmmm
I never thought of Flitz. I will have to test it.
A few random thoughts.....
The windshield/headlight polish, I looked at the chemistry and they are almost identical. They both contain a glazing agent which is a chemical I am not necessarily into chewing on. (they both also have a disclaimer NOT for use on rubber.) Probably work but leaves me a bit uncertain about the long term effect on these troublesome bits.
A serious sanding and polishing may work on one of the stems, I tried it on another one and the oxidation still appeared instantly.
Anybody try the Walker Briar works stem kit? How does it fare on problematic stems like the ones I have?
I wonder if the Obsidian pipe stem oil will displace water?

I could use a creme polish as the last step, rinse it off with alcohol and/or water, and apply the obsidian while it is still wet. This way the stem never is never exposed to the air and should not oxidize. I will try this this evening. (Flitz, Vim, or whatever strikes my fancy.)
I have tried VIM Creme (contains bleach and microparticles). It worked very well as a quick clean up, but takes some elbow work for anything heavy. What is good, a dab on a pipe cleaner and the airhole is as clean as a new born stem. It rinses easy with water too. It does leave the stem chemically clean and will allow it to oxidize quickly. I used to apply Paragon wax while it was still wet. Paragon worked well, but the stem was so slippery in my teeth that I dropped 2 pipes as I was working on a car. (had to work the paragon in, it really does not displace water well, you have to rub.)
The more I think of it, never exposing the cleaned/polished bit to oxygen (in the air) seems like a sure fire fix, accomplishing this will make for a few good experiments.
Anyway, all advice is welcome and I will keep you updated on my tests.
Rick

 

[unclearthur]

On really tough to clean stems I use valve grinding compound after an initial gentle sanding. Then I go to the white compound.

 

[romeowood]

Anybody try the Walker Briar works stem kit? How does it fare on problematic stems like the ones I have?

Results vary--I've completely revived an ancient Kaywoodie, and made nary a change in an old BBB. For the most part, I think it's good stuff for 75%+ of stems.

 

[ejames]

I have 3 stems that while I am polishing I can see the oxidation appear, as I am polishing.

I polish to a nice deep black, when I polish a different area and look back, it is a dull red again.

I soaked one (carefully) in bleach before polishing to see if it helped, did not work.

I am using white (diamond), the finest polishing compound. I doubt it is the compound.

I don't recall ever seeing red oxidation on a vulcanite stem,usually brownish or greenish colors. This ain't a cumberland stem is it?

How long did you soak in the bleach?

Are you using the white diamond on a buffer?

 

[igloo]

Mentadent tooth paste works very well .

 

[rick777]

reddish brown.... dark rusty color.....
Dr Grabow adjustomatic stem was my test subject.
Soaked in bleach about 20 minutes.

White diamond on a spiral sewn buffer, turning at about 1000 rpm.
I tried my experiment applying the oil while the stem was still wet.

It worked partly. Most of the stem stayed black, but a reddish brown haze appeared on about 1/8 of the stem as I was applying the oil.

It is an area that I did not sand/polish as aggressively.
It appears I need to remove a lot more material, pretty much reshaping the stem.

These stems were pretty badly neglected, the oxidization is much deeper than I thought possible.
FYI, obsidian oil does not displace water very well, if at all.

 

[unclearthur]

An overnight soak in Oxyclean is often recommended. I have used and it works well. I don't like leaving all night though, so it's usually a couple hours with frequent checks.

 

[rick777]

I will get some oxyclean tomorrow, need it anyway.
Toothpaste was hit and miss, some stems worked, many others did not.
One of my trouble children is a pipe I just finished making. (from a partially drilled ebachaun)

I used a stem from a junk box that had no oxidization. I shaped it by hand with a file/sandpaper. As soon as I polished it the thing turned a fine brown/red hue. frustrating. Maybe I can find a way to feature it.. LOL.
(The pipe turned out well otherwise, I am quite pleased.)

(I am used to working with exotic woods, carving, checkering etc. My first pipe though.)

 

[unclearthur]

If you decide to chuck the stem you can get individual stems from PIMO http://www.pimopipecraft.com/ Most other places require an order of a dozen for stems.

 

[rick777]

I have been considering tossing it.
I have contacted the folks at PIMO.

I would like to use a churchwarden on my next handcrafted marvel...

They are out of stock. As soon as they get stock I am going to order several different stems. (Any time now they say.)
I have a nice 1970's Comoys Tigers Eye 3/4 bent with a broken saddle bit. They have something I can use to replace it. It is a longer than usual saddle bit. (I bought the pipe new ~1978, chewed right thru it in my novice excitement....) I may try to see if I can replicate the inlaid "C" as well.

 

[rick777]

oh, and I have to wait until canada post is finished this strike nonsense... :|

Haven't had mail for ~3 weeks.
Just now, found out pimo has churchwarden stems in stock...

 

[unclearthur]

The folks at PIMO are great people. Very helpful.

 

[rick777]

Update:
The oxyclean pulled all the oxidization off every stem I was working on, including some oxidization I did not know was there. The areas of concern were replaced with rough "white" spots. I wiped the stems down with some everclear and polished them. The ebonite/vulcanite stems seem just as hard as when they went into the oxy. No oxidization has appeared in the last 20 hours or so since I polished. I did not coat them with anything yet, but I will give them a dose of Obsidian.

I soaked them for 5 hours.
The oxyclean did not discolor or harm aluminum parts in any way I could see. However, I will coat aluminum with petro jelly in the future just in case.
Also, in hopes of avoiding this and other problems I am in the process of ordering quite a number of things from Pimo, including stems for some of my project pipes. (Order will be shipped as soon as canada post is back to work.....)

The folks at Pimo are awesome, I don't think I could recommend them enough.
Thanks everyone for your help!
Rick