Restoring a White Continental

[cwarmouth]

Thanks to the generosity of another member, I am now the proud owner of a white Dr. Grabow Viscount Continental. I'm a big fan of the color pipes from Dr. Grabow, and the Continental is probably my favorite shape, so you can imagine how excited I was to get this pipe. It's discolored after 40 or so years of use, but other than that the rim is charred and beat all to heck, the stem is a lovely oxidation brown, and it is filthy. Sounds like fun to me. Let's take this horse out of the barn and see where she goes.

 

[edwinbaz]

Nice! Congrats on the gift and have fun with the resto. That shape #24 is a beauty. I recently bought one, but a Starfire. Can't wait to see how it cleans up.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I was expecting a Lincoln :rofl:

 

[josephcross]

I'm interested in seeing how you tackle the rim charring on this particular pipe.

 

[cwarmouth]

I recently bought one, but a Starfire.

Was it on eBay? Beat up rim?

I was expecting a Lincoln

I wish.

 

[cwarmouth]

Focused on cleanup of the stem, shank, and inside of bowl this evening. The pile of Q-Tips and pipe cleaners was just too gross to photograph but this stinger kind of gives you an idea of what I was up against. And boy, the stem is not giving up it's oxidation easily.

 

[mayfair70]

the stem is not giving up it's oxidation easily

A Magic Eraser should make quick work of the oxidation. It has worked for me on horribly colored vulcanite stems.
I too, was expecting a Lincoln. :crazy:

 

[mikethompson]

This must be pipe resto season - seems like everyone has their little projects going

 

[mso489]

I thought of the automobile first too, but that's a great pipe restoration project. If things go well, I'd like to see a photo of the results.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I was thinking 1970 Lincoln. But the pipe is better.

 

[cwarmouth]

Hey Folks. For those of you who thought I was restoring a car, I apologize for the passive deception, but how many people would really click on it if I added Dr. Grabow to the title?
When I first started this project I didn't know if it was going to be a cleanup or a full-on restoration, meaning removing the paint and refinishing it. Lucky for me, it cleaned up pretty well. Once the stem finally submitted (to 400 grit with a heavy hand, 600 grit, 800 grit, 2500 grit, worn out 2500 grit, magic eraser, and obsidian oil) the rest of the project was pretty straight forward. The inside required the typical pile of pipe cleaners and Q-tips but it wasn't as bad as I feared. After it was cleaned and sanitized inside (white pipe cleaners come out white everywhere - even inside of the bowl), I scrubbed down the outside of the bowl with cotton balls and 99% alcohol, followed by a very light touch with a magic eraser. The first pictures don't show it, but it was pretty yellow before cleanup. Quite a bit of grime came off the bowl, and while it'll never be white again, it polished up to a quite beautiful creamy color. The charring of the rim cleaned up better than I expected, leaving behind a discoloration that pays homage to a lifetime of good, honest use. I find it to be a quite attractive pipe. What kind of tobacco should I use for the first smoke?

 

[edwinbaz]

cwarmouth, that turned out nice. May it smoke well and give you many years of service.

I'm dedicating mine to OTC blends, but who knows, it might marry to something else.

Was it on eBay? Beat up rim?

Yes. I think that's the one. The rim has quite a bit of gunk and some dents, but nothing too horrible.

 

[Chasing Embers]

how many people would really click on it if I added Dr. Grabow to the title?

Most of us actually. Dr. Grabow makes a good pipe, and has quite a following.