Question About Heat / Flame To Raise Dents On Vulcanite Stems...

[Peter - CCB]

Hey guys,

I’ve seen this done many times and again, reading a rebornpipes article, he explains it and they always seem to get a good result from this. At least enough to lessen any sanding needed.

I am pretty experienced in most restoration and I just have never seen a difference when I try. I’ve over done it for sure. I’m more careful then the first few times.
Today, I took several before pictures and after pictures and lined them up in a collage of Side-By-Side. I didn’t see any difference.
What are your experiences with this? I know it doesn’t work every time but it has never worked for me in the slightest.
I’d just like to decide if I should dismiss this or keep trying.

Thank you in advance for any replies!

Peter

 

[Chasing Embers]

I've had great results but I use a flame and not a heat gun.

 

[Peter - CCB]

I've had great results but I use a flame and not a heat gun.

Yeah. I’ve been using a lighter. Tried a candle. How long are you doing it for? Are you slowly heating it or putting the flame to it? I try to go just before it’ll bubble or burn and move the flame around to prevent that. Anywhere from 5-20 seconds depending how hot it gets. Not sure why I’m not seeing results over 5-6 stems or more I’ve tried it on. Just not sure if I’m doin it differently.

 

[BROBS]

Work on one small area and dance the flame over it. The results will be most noticeable after you sand/polish. I’ve been able to completely remove some pretty deep indentations

 

[mingc]

I've tried both a soft flame lighter and a heat gun with no real success. Even tried using a piece of wood to push from the other side of the dent while the vulcanite was still warm.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Yeah. I’ve been using a lighter. Tried a candle. How long are you doing it for? Are you slowly heating it or putting the flame to it? I try to go just before it’ll bubble or burn and move the flame around to prevent that. Anywhere from 5-20 seconds depending how hot it gets. Not sure why I’m not seeing results over 5-6 stems or more I’ve tried it on. Just not sure if I’m doin it differently.

I just pass the tip of an Old Boy flame back and forth across the dent until it lifts.

 

[peteguy]

I am in the half camp. I can see some improvement on about half of the stems I have tried. Interested in the responses of those who have higher rates of success.

 

[BROBS]

I am in the half camp. I can see some improvement on about half of the stems I have tried. Interested in the responses of those who have higher rates of success.

it really depends on the tooth mark. It does the most for chatter. For a big dent, it’s not going to do much.

 

[verporchting]

Funny timing but I just tried this today for the first time on a pipe I don’t care about much. Light chatter and oxidation with one moderate dent. Just winging it but I painted the bite zone with a lighter gently and buffed with a jewelers cloth. Seems to have work okay.

At first I wasn’t aggressive enough but once I held the flame a bit longer I got a sense of the heat and a tiny whiff of that burnt rubber smell but not enough to melt or bubble. I could tell right away it was working because there was a smudge of soot coming off on the cloth. Did this several times allowing the stem to cool a bit between and the chatter and dents were much better and the oxidation mostly gone. I will hand polish a little more and put some obsidian or mineral oil on and call it good.

I’m not going to lie, it would be terrifying with my best pipe! But it was something I’ve been wanting to try. Starting with a beater (garage / shop) pipe I was indifferent to was perfect.

 

[ssjones]

After heating it, my choice is flame from a lighter, I immediately dunk it in cold water to "Set" the memory. There is definitely a limit to how deep an indention can be lifted. Broad indentions work better, pin pricks, almost never.

 

[peregrinus]

I am pretty experienced in most restoration and I just have never seen a difference when I try.

I have used both open flame and heat gun on stems.
In my experience it is the type of dent, or rather the cause, that is more determinative of success than the heat source.
If what you are looking at is actually a dent then you can achieve some good results by heat. By the “type” of dent I mean a compression from a tooth. Applying heat resets the stems “memory”.
However, if what you have is a gouge created from wear or a bad scrape then there is nothing to raise and no amount of heat will replace the missing stem material.
Just my experience.

 

[tfdickson]

I‘ve used this method dozens of times with a butane lighter to erase chatter and it has worked perfectly and almost instantly every time. Heat with a sweeping motion for 5 seconds or so and then immediately wipe with a soft cloth. I‘ve never tried it on a deep indentation but I doubt it would work- it would require targeting the heat in a much more precise way than I think I’d be able to manage.

 

[maduromadness]

Definitely works with a butane passing over. Vulcanite seems to work better than acrylic but they both will smooth out. Never tried it on bad gouges but my teeth marks pop right out.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Back in my straight razor restoration days I used high grit wettable sand paper to take out scale imperfections Auto parts carry these papers in the paint and body section. 1500-2500 grit is what I would use rather than heat.

On my fountain pen restorations I used Mother Mag polish on "hard black rubber" which I think it similar material to pipe stems.