Removing Pipe Stain

[hessenland]

I'm in the process of acquiring some old Grabows to play around with from our antique store.

What do you guys think is the best way of removing the old stain? To sand or should I let the entire piece of briar soak in alcohol?

 

[wolfscout]

I just had a terrible time getting the stain off of a wire-brush rustication job on a Dr. Grabow Starfire.

What I ended up doing was using over 91% alcohol soak and then some fine steel wool to get the stain off. Going to give it an oil finish and then wax up nicely afterwards.

I've found that 800 grit sandpaper on the rim to remove those burn marks that "some older puffers" have done to a nice pipe is ... well ... irritation max'd out to me.

There are chemical paint and stain removers but to buy that for a few pipes to me is not economically feasible.

 

[unclearthur]

A soak in some high test alcohol is the best way. Most "stains" are actually alanine dyes similar to (and in some cases identical to ) leather dyes. They are alcohol soluble. The majority of finishes are also easily removed with alcohol. Some less expensive pipes do use varnish or lacquer . In that case it's sanding as more aggressive solvents are pretty much poisonous.

 

[johnnyrebel]

Recently i had asked some advice on this same issue. Here is a link to that thread. Alot of good advice in there. Hope that helps some.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/bowl-sanding-qs#post-44677

 

[ejames]

I've refinished a boat load of Grabows-own close to 200 of them.With a lot of them the lacquer is tinted,removing just the lacquer will change the color on a lot of pipes. I've found that OOOO steel wool soaked with Isopropyl alcohol and a little elbow grease will remove the lacquer.After that I usually sand starting with 360 grit as there is usually some dings and scratches to remove anyway. On a rusticated pipe I use a small brass wire brush and alcohol to remove the lacquer. A stiff tooth brush will do it also--with more elbow grease.

 

[buckeye]

i seen a guy on youtube using the magic eraser to remove stain.

 

[flanative]

you would be suprised at what a dab of flitz gun polish on a linen wheel will do with stains! Ive had pipes that looked like the entire rim was charcoal and when I was finished it looked almost new. Alot of supposedly "ruined" pipes are never as bad as they look.

 

[hessenland]

Thanks for all your input thus far.
When speaking of soaking, does this refer to letting the entire bowl sit drowned in an alcohol bath?

 

[unclearthur]

I let them sit in the alcohol. So far only one very cheap no name has warped.