I received this nice, big Jumbos Whitehall (or Whitehall Jumbos). Big pipe! Needs a bit of work.
It appears that the rim was severely charred and the burn was scraped away.
That's a real shame. Normally I could "top" it--take a few millimeters off--but there's too much damage here. That's about a quarter inch down the stummel. The stem is in could shape. Just needs cleaning and TLC.
Both stummel and stem got a good scrubbing. I took the above picture, went down to the shop, and went to work over the basement sink. Here's a picture of the stem taken just eight minutes later. It doesn't take a lot of work to clean a stem. Just a few squirts of AWESOME cleanser ($1.25) full-strength and a toothbrush.
I set the stem aside. Later, I will lightly sand and polish it. The stummel had lots of dings and dents. I spent quite a lot of time sanding. And sanding. And sanding. I decided to simply remove the damage from the rim area and round it out all around. This way the stummel does not lose any of its height.
(I lightly colored the sanded stummel with light brown leather dye and polished it up.) I sanded the stem with alcohol and 1000-1500-grit wet/dry sandpaper. The resulting pipe is quite pretty.
It appears that the rim was severely charred and the burn was scraped away.
That's a real shame. Normally I could "top" it--take a few millimeters off--but there's too much damage here. That's about a quarter inch down the stummel. The stem is in could shape. Just needs cleaning and TLC.
Both stummel and stem got a good scrubbing. I took the above picture, went down to the shop, and went to work over the basement sink. Here's a picture of the stem taken just eight minutes later. It doesn't take a lot of work to clean a stem. Just a few squirts of AWESOME cleanser ($1.25) full-strength and a toothbrush.
I set the stem aside. Later, I will lightly sand and polish it. The stummel had lots of dings and dents. I spent quite a lot of time sanding. And sanding. And sanding. I decided to simply remove the damage from the rim area and round it out all around. This way the stummel does not lose any of its height.
(I lightly colored the sanded stummel with light brown leather dye and polished it up.) I sanded the stem with alcohol and 1000-1500-grit wet/dry sandpaper. The resulting pipe is quite pretty.
But heel is considered soft..... I have a habit of knocking my pipe on the wooden cork that's stuck on my ash tray. Will it cause any damage in long term?