Vulcanite Problems, Suggestions?

[canucklehead]

I have a few estate pipes with ridiculously stinky vulcanite stems, even after thorough cleaning and sanding. They still smell like the air out of an old inner tube, sulphur, and burning tires. Is there any way to reduce the stench enough to use them comfortably?

A couple of them have very granular, almost grey, stems that don't polish to a shiny finish. Is this just crap vulcanite, or can I fix this?


Thanks for your assistance.

 

[mingc]

Methinks you still haven't sanded enough. Or if you've already succeeded in removing all the oxidation from the outside surface, you still have oxidation in the draft tube. How to remove the latter, I'm not sure.

 

[pipebaum81]

I have a few estate pipes with ridiculously stinky vulcanite stems, even after thorough cleaning and sanding

Could describe to us what sanding methods you used and what and to what extent you sanded? If its vulcanite you should be able to sand to a point that the material is not oxidized.

 

[workman]

I have a few estate pipes with ridiculously stinky vulcanite stems, even after thorough cleaning and sanding. They still smell like the air out of an old inner tube, sulphur, and burning tires. Is there any way to reduce the stench enough to use them comfortably?

A couple of them have very granular, almost grey, stems that don't polish to a shiny finish. Is this just crap vulcanite, or can I fix this?


Thanks for your assistance.

Sometimes oxidation goes all the way through the stem material. At that point it is unsalvageable.
I can't think of a way to sand the inside of a stem. Maybe they are just gone.

 

[canucklehead]

Could describe to us what sanding methods you used and what and to what extent you sanded? If its vulcanite you should be able to sand to a point that the material is not oxidized.

Short Oxyclean soak, 600 grit sandpaper until black, magic eraser (bulk, no detergents) and whitening toothpaste. Cleaned airways with alcohol and pipe cleaners then scrubbed thoroughly with a churchwarden cleaner with one end in a vise and toothpaste as suggested in here. Then buffed with polishing compound and buffing wheel on my dremel.

 

[Old School 3319]

Waiting on chasing to chime in he could give you some tips

 

[Chasing Embers]

Photos would help.

 

[pipebaum81]

I am not of the school that uses oxidizers (oxyclean, toothpaste etc) to remedy oxidation. I have read forums and advice into the ground and I am certainly not trying to relive that debate.

I use micromesh sand paper and a foam block for the exterior of vulcanite stems. I went sand by hand starting at 1200 (or lower if the stem is really bad) and end at 12000 gradually stepping through about 5-7 different grits. While wet and sanding the rubber doesn't smell all that great. Actually quite like you describe, but I've not had lingering smells once dry and shiny. If restoring a stem I also soak a quality pipe cleaner in a desirable alcohol (Jameson is a personal go-to) and let sit inside the stem for a bit. By no means am an expert but I do truly believe that restoring a lustrous shine to vulcanite requires quite a bit more time and elbow grease than expected or hoped for.

 

[Chasing Embers]

restoring a lustrous shine to vulcanite requires quite a bit more time and elbow grease than expected or hoped for

I'm lazy, this was done with a lighter, a wet paper towel, and toothpaste.

 

[pipebaum81]

I'm lazy, this was done with a lighter, a wet paper towel, and toothpaste.

Thats so awesome! When youre not feeling lazy anymore I think we'd love to see a tutorial video of such black magic!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Thats so awesome! When youre not feeling lazy anymore I think we'd love to see a tutorial video of such black magic!

I did one and posted it here. YouTube flagged and deleted it for tobacco use.

Here's the thread it was in.

Weber Shellbrooke Cleanup :: Pipe Repair and Maintenance

@sablebrush52 @jpmcwjr @BROBS @diamondback @vates @AlabamaDan @ron123 @whsergent @Ctbill A neighbor brought me a pipe from her junk drawer recently and told me it was a gift for being a good friend. Looking it over I decided though fairly rough looking, not an impossible restore. What I...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[pipebaum81]

I did one and posted it here. YouTube flagged and deleted it for tobacco use.

I wish YouTube didn't suck so hard. Would have loved to learn from those videos. Pipes both posted here and the thread you shred looked great

 

[canucklehead]

I'm not worried too much if they have a mirror finish, they are beater pipes for the most part, I was just hoping to remove the stink, so I can smoke them lol. Maybe I just need to remove more material?‍. I will take pics later tonight and post. Thanks for the responses.

 

[workman]

I am not of the school that uses oxidizers (oxyclean, toothpaste etc) to remedy oxidation. I have read forums and advice into the ground and I am certainly not trying to relive that debate.

I use micromesh sand paper and a foam block for the exterior of vulcanite stems. I went sand by hand starting at 1200 (or lower if the stem is really bad) and end at 12000 gradually stepping through about 5-7 different grits. While wet and sanding the rubber doesn't smell all that great. Actually quite like you describe, but I've not had lingering smells once dry and shiny. If restoring a stem I also soak a quality pipe cleaner in a desirable alcohol (Jameson is a personal go-to) and let sit inside the stem for a bit. By no means am an expert but I do truly believe that restoring a lustrous shine to vulcanite requires quite a bit more time and elbow grease than expected or hoped for.

Jameson is great. I use it for other purposes.

 

[BROBS]

I have a few estate pipes with ridiculously stinky vulcanite stems, even after thorough cleaning and sanding. They still smell like the air out of an old inner tube, sulphur, and burning tires. Is there any way to reduce the stench enough to use them comfortably?

A couple of them have very granular, almost grey, stems that don't polish to a shiny finish. Is this just crap vulcanite, or can I fix this?


Thanks for your assistance.

If you scrub them quite a bit with rubbing alcohol until they stop turning brown, then polish. It can work too.

 

[canucklehead]

I do truly believe that restoring a lustrous shine to vulcanite requires quite a bit more time and elbow grease than expected or hoped for.

I think this was a part of my problem for sure haha...

I just spent another couple hours on two stems, mostly with a magic eraser, toothpaste (as a mild abrasive) and a damp rag. It definitely helped a lot with one of the stems (top in pic). I could polish it up more for sure, but it doesn't stink as bad now and looks half decent. The other stem (bottom in pic) still stinks, and the surface texture still feels granular and gritty. Maybe it just needs more elbow grease, but the other one looks way better from the same treatment.


Top stem in it's pipe, an old very well used Savinelli brushed bulldog.

 

[rajangan]

I have no reason to think it's the magic eraser other than to rule it out, but smell your magic eraser just in case.

 

[jeff540]

I had a very similar, foul tasting vulcanite stem in a Nording freehand. The only fix that worked was a lucite replacement stem by Boswell's.

 

[pappymac]

Nothing good in life comes easy.
Getting an old vulcanite stem requires work and sometimes a lot of it.

Or you can just send it to a pipe repair shop for cleaning and polishing.

 

[rajangan]

I remember years ago in tech college mounting steel samples in bakelite. I'm pretty sure bakelite and vulcanite are similar. I found this website: Restoring Vintage Bakelite - http://www.retrofixes.com/2013/08/restoring-vintage-bakelite.html?m=1

It says that bakelite breaks down into base chemicals over time, so I think what it is, is that you've removed the oxidation but the aroma is these base chemicals. Perhaps formaldehyde as suggested in the web page. So my theory is that you should pack it in with some charcoal and/or baking soda and leave it in the sun or on a dash board for a week and see if that removes the scent.