Rescuing a Vulcanite Stem.

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Good evening all.
I have bought an estate pipe recently. The bowl suggests that it has not seen that much service - there’s no cake and the charring is very light around the rim but the stem was virtually orange with oxidisation.
I have looked online for remedies to get rid of that sour sulphur flavour and, so far, I have tried: oxi-clean baths followed by creme cleaner polishes, leaving it for extended periods in baths of both; I have recently gone to the extreme of toasting it over a candle flame (this seems to have yielded the best results so far) and I have let it soak in a weak bleach solution (a radical last attempt to resurrect it) but all to no avail - it still tastes sulphury on a dry inhale.
Is it worth continuing these cycles of treatment or am I just wasting my time?
The easiest thing to do would be to get a replacement stem made but it would cost me three times the cost of the pipe which, to be fair, is a lovely old silver collared bulldog so it might be worth it?
If I do go down the replacement stem route should I get a replacement vulcanite stem made or go for an acrylic one? I’m worried that I’ll have to replace the new stem at some point in the future or would regular smoking of it stop the oxidisation?
As it stands now, it is unsmokeable.

Thanks for any help,

Fusty.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I have recently gone to the extreme of toasting it over a candle flame

I did this one with a lighter and a wet paper towel followed by thumb buffing with toothpaste to shine it.

Is it worth continuing these cycles of treatment or am I just wasting my time

Have you tried scrubbing it with a Magic Eraser?

 

[Inspired Idler]

I did this one with a lighter and a wet paper towel followed by thumb buffing with toothpaste to shine it.

View attachment 102022




Have you tried scrubbing it with a Magic Eraser?

Fantastic results. Thanks for sharing!

 

[jhowell]

Take an extra long bristled pipe cleaner and charge it with mild abrasive ( I use automotive valve grinding compound followed by Fitz). Anchor one end on a solid object and run the stem back and forth while rotating the stem. This cleans the oxidation out of the interior of the stem where the taste on inhale comes from. It will also open the draw on a stem as well.

 

[mso489]

Replacements aren't all that expensive, if you can't get the stem polished up using the methods described here. It might be thirty dollars plus shipping, maybe a little more, but think of it as creating a new pipe with a vintage stummel. I did this with a gift pipe that had a stem that oxidized with every smoke, so I went with acrylic, and its a fine smoker now.

 

[Chasing Embers]

( I use automotive valve grinding compound followed by Fitz). Anchor one end on a solid object and run the stem back and forth while rotating the stem.

Churchwarden cleaners are great for that. I use Barkeeper's Friend as the abrasive.

 

[OzPiper]

it still tastes sulphury on a dry inhale.
Is it worth continuing these cycles of treatment or am I just wasting my time?
The easiest thing to do would be to get a replacement stem made
As it stands now, it is unsmokeable.

I had the exact problem with a pipe I bought in the '70s but sat unsmoked for 30 years. No amount of cleaning, deoxidising helped.
In the end I got a new acrylic stem made for it.
Very happy with it now.

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

I did this one with a lighter and a wet paper towel followed by thumb buffing with toothpaste to shine it.

View attachment 102022




Have you tried scrubbing it with a Magic Eraser?

I’ll give the toothpaste buff a go and see if that gets me anywhere - thank you.
I have tried the magic eraser but the sulphur is in the stem not just on the outer part of it so it did make the outside less discoloured but it was still unsmokeable.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I’ll give the toothpaste buff a go and see if that gets me anywhere - thank you.
I have tried the magic eraser but the sulphur is in the stem not just on the outer part of it so it did make the outside less discoloured but it was still unsmokeable.

The toothpaste just brings the shine up to a mirror finish, it doesn't remove the oxidation.

 

[paulfg]

the draft hole is often ignored,the stem can shine as much as you want but it will still taste off if the draft is oxidised.
do as advised above by jhowell & chasing

 

[Toast]

I'm by no means a restoration expert & the pipe cleaner approach sounds like the best bet - but I do wonder if the long bath you gave it might be part of the problem.

My oldest pipes have often needed really extensive work on the outside, but the inside doesn't see much light or moisture, so I've never needed to do anything.

As I understand it bleech & Oxiclean. effectively draw sulpher to the surface where it can be disposed of. The advice I've seen is that you shouldn't leave them in too long though, & I wonder if that's because that risks pulling sulpher into the airway too...?

Sorry, stable door & all that - but potentially helpful for next time round!

 

[Chasing Embers]

I wonder if that's because that risks pulling sulpher into the airway too...?

When I was still using bleach, really doesn't do much but pit the vulcanite, I plugged the airway on both ends with Vaseline to keep the bleach out of the airway.

 

[Toast]

When I was still using bleach, really doesn't do much but pit the vulcanite, I plugged the airway on both ends with Vaseline to keep the bleach out of the airway.

That's really good advice - I'll definitely be doing that next time round!

 

[anotherbob]

I can confirm that magic erasers work really well for this issue. I didn't even know that it was caused by sunlight so for 20 years that pipe was in direct sunlight. Well I don't make it shiny like embers does with toothpaste because I like that dull used pipe look.