I've found many daunting challenges in my pipe restoring journey. The most difficult to overcome have been stems that been chewed nearly through, but cake removal from the inside of the bowl is a close second, especially when the carbon buildup is the consistency of cooled magma or asphalt.
Case in point is this estate Nob Hill billiard. (I hope you have already had dinner)
I tried three different pipe reamers on that stuff but I wasn't making much progress. I had used my Dremel tool with the cylindrical sanding bid in the past, but it was hard to keep a consistent thickness. I'd either go too deep or not deep enough. Plus, the cylindrical bit didn't usually fit right near the bottom of the bowl. This time I used a small conical sanding bit and had good results. If you are going to try this I recommend using a fairly slow speed and exercise patience.
Once I got the cake down to a reasonable thickness I finished with my Pipe Net and then an emery board.
The next problem was the buildup on the rim. It wasn't just tar on there. That was pretty solid carbon buildup. And because of the bevel of the rim I didn't want to sand that stuff and risk ruining the rim. What I did that worked really well was to dip my dental pick/scraping tool in a capfull of Everclear and gently scrape away a bit of the coating just like a dentist would plaque from a tooth, occasionally wiping the rim off with a cotton pad to check my progress. It took some time, but very little effort.
The tenon is fitted with a small scoop-type sting which is easily removable for cleaning. (It really needed it, too) The dental pick and some steel wool can in handy here.
Here's the final restoration result after the usual cleaning and buffing.
As for the Nob Hill pipe itself, it seems to be a quality piece of briar. The finish on the smooth part is deep and lustrous, the sort I've seen on GBDs and Comoys. So perhaps it is a second to one of those.
Case in point is this estate Nob Hill billiard. (I hope you have already had dinner)
I tried three different pipe reamers on that stuff but I wasn't making much progress. I had used my Dremel tool with the cylindrical sanding bid in the past, but it was hard to keep a consistent thickness. I'd either go too deep or not deep enough. Plus, the cylindrical bit didn't usually fit right near the bottom of the bowl. This time I used a small conical sanding bit and had good results. If you are going to try this I recommend using a fairly slow speed and exercise patience.
Once I got the cake down to a reasonable thickness I finished with my Pipe Net and then an emery board.
The next problem was the buildup on the rim. It wasn't just tar on there. That was pretty solid carbon buildup. And because of the bevel of the rim I didn't want to sand that stuff and risk ruining the rim. What I did that worked really well was to dip my dental pick/scraping tool in a capfull of Everclear and gently scrape away a bit of the coating just like a dentist would plaque from a tooth, occasionally wiping the rim off with a cotton pad to check my progress. It took some time, but very little effort.
The tenon is fitted with a small scoop-type sting which is easily removable for cleaning. (It really needed it, too) The dental pick and some steel wool can in handy here.
Here's the final restoration result after the usual cleaning and buffing.
As for the Nob Hill pipe itself, it seems to be a quality piece of briar. The finish on the smooth part is deep and lustrous, the sort I've seen on GBDs and Comoys. So perhaps it is a second to one of those.
I love the smell and taste of a freshly restored pipe.