What to Use to Polish Up Restored Estates?

[jonesee75]

Hello everyone. Currently in the restoration process of 3 pipes.

Dr Grabow Silver Duke

Peterson Dublin Premier Dublin

Ben Wade Royal Matt 10
Stems have come out great. Stems were all highly oxidized and are shiny black. My question now is how to treat the bowls. They all had scratches and some dents. I lightly sanded them with 800-1000 grit paper and they smoothed out nicely. What should I use to bring back the shine?
Thanks in advance for any assistance!

 

[lumberjakpipester]

I mostly use Carnuba wax on a polishing wheel, but have had success with pure bee's wax, shaved thin, and heated with the warmth of your fingers then massaged vigorously into the briar.

 

[jonesee75]

Sounds like carnuba wax it is. A few before and after of the Peterson Dublin Stem. This is my first attempt at a pipe restoration.
Before:

After:

 

[lumberjakpipester]

Nice Work on that stem!

 

[jonesee75]

Thanks, I think I have finally found a hobby.

 

[lumberjakpipester]

+1 It is a very fun hobby indeed!

 

[cynyr]

Nicely done!

 

[ghost]

Nice stem job!

 

[kf4bsb]

Very nice job on that stem. I have probably done 250 to 300 restorations and pretty much all I use is Carnuba and or Bee's wax. I can't wait to see how the bowl turns out!

 

[kf4bsb]

There are several places you can order it from. If you have a Woodcraft store nearby (I'm lucky that I do) you can pick it up there. They have a large mailorder division as well. You can check them out at http://www.woodcraft.com I know I have seen it available online at different places that sell buffing equipment, but I don't know any of those websites off the top of my head. Woodcraft also carries the Tripoli and the Wihte Diamond compounds that so many pipe makes and restoration people use.

 

[lumberjakpipester]

I got mine on ebay, it came from the UK.

 

[hfearly]

Dents steam out with a wet towel and a heated knife.

Scratches sand out with sandpaper / micro mesh.

Re-finish with Fiebing's Leather dyes.

Polish-Clean with Brown Tripoli and a slow speed buffing machine.

Polish-Shine with White Diamond and a slow speed buffing machine.

Polish-Shine-and-Preserve with Carbauba wax and a slow speed buffing machine.
At least, that's how I do it

 

[hfearly]

Where can you get carnuba wax?

I get all my buffing compounds, wax, micro mesh pads from Lee Valley Tools Inc.

 

[nsfisher]

Good job mate.

 

[ssjones]

I use hfearly processes. Carnuba won't really shine a dull bowl, but protects. White Diamond will bring up the shine. I learned most of my processes from Steve Laug, who now has a blog "Reborn Pipes" where he details several pipe restorations per week with pix and detail steps.
http://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/

 

[jonesee75]

@sam, I used diluted oxyclean. I let them sit for about 2 hours.

 

[yadan]

Here in Israel Carnuba isn't available, but beeswax (called donahg in Hebrew) is plentiful. It's great for shining and protecting both stems and bowls.

 

[trailspike48]

I bought some Paragon Wax, it puts on a decent shine for those of us without a buffer.