help

[simon1]

I posted a pic. in the HDHD thread and with the flash I noticed a bit of "stuff" on the stem that wasn't really noticeable to the nekid eye.

I did the baking soda/water soak for about 30 minutes, then hit it lightly with 0000 steel wool, then dish soap, then Paragon wax using an old T-shirt. It brought out more brown stuff. Did I not leave it in the soak long enough, not scrub it enough, or what?

Pic. of the stem after treatment, with camera flash.

Pic. with no flash.

Pic. of the underside of the stem that was pretty shiny in the first place.

Should I try the bleach water method, or what? I don't have a buffer, but I do have the cloth attachments for a Dremel and am comfortable with using it.

 

[August West]

Grab a beer and call it patina.

 

[Alejandro Salemandro]

Wow. I've not had one that bad. Could it have been some chemical reaction I wonder? One of the experts will be along shortly I'm sure. Interested to see their opinion

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[simon1]

Grab a beer and call it patina.

Not funny there, Tony. Don't quit your day job.

I'm also wondering about the effects of bleach water on the plastic tenon of the Charatan stem.

 

[Price]

I haven't used actual bleach, but I have soaked a stem in an Oxi-Clean solution. I usually leave it overnight - the oxidation becomes very evident. I would also recommend starting with something maybe a little more abrasive than 000. I've started with 220 sandpaper on really bad cases, but this looks somewhere in between. Just go until the brown is gone, then work your way up to 000 to remove the scratches and hit it with Paragon or some similar wax. I have tried buffing with a dremel, but I find just rubbing it in with a soft cloth and buffing it off by hand is quite effective.

Edit: If you're concerned about the plastic tenon, use a pipe cleaner to suspend the stem so the tenon isn't in the solution.

 

[Ponycarman]

Looks like the baking soda bath brought out alot of oxidation. I've never went as deep to use sand paper. I normally just use 0000 steel wool and tons of elbow grease. That bad will probably take some good amout of time to get off.

I would let it soak again to let the oxidation soften then scrub it good with the steel wool. Saw alpster suggest scrubbing it under a running faucet. Which is a great idea. I've done it with a cup of warm water and dipping the steel wool before. You can watch the water turn colors as you progress.

After I can't see any more oxidation, I go back over it and scrub it really good again with a mr clean magic eraser. You can see the yellow come off on the white sponge. I normally just scrub till im happy with it.

I've not tried using any higher grit to get it off as of yet. Im sure it takes less work but you would probably have to polish the small scratches out again. Everything I've had to do so far (knock on wood) has been taked care of with the 0000 steel wool and the magic eraser after the soak in the baking soda/water.

Edit: prices suggestion of going to 000 grit is a good one too

 

[simon1]

Thanks guys.

Mark, I was thinking that the soak brought out stuff that was hiding in there. I may just need to soak it again and then continue. The pipe has had a bit of sunshine coming through the window on it over the last couple of years.

Price, I have sandpaper from 220 up to 1000. I may need to go by the auto supply store and pick up some 2000 also for polishing.

I'm a trained and experience machinist (from years ago, and I was an old handle cranker and not a CNC keyboard machinist) and the first part of the training was to use a hacksaw, file, and sandpaper to get the part to specs. To the tolerance of +/- 0.001. At work on the machines the tolerance could be +/- 0.00005, so I'm fully familiar with the progressive grits on sandpaper, and draw filing by hand.

I just don't want to screw up the stem on a 50 something year old pipe that's not made anymore. It's not like a part that you can throw in the scrap heap and then start over.

 

[Riff Raff]

Jumping in after some really great suggestions.

I agree with the Oxi-Clean. That stuff is amazing. I would also invest in some Micro Mesh sanding pads. You can get them all the way up to 12,000 grit. You can get an amazing shine on your stems using them. Then wax them. You can use either Paragon or Carnauba. Either will work well. Just my $0.02.

 

[Ponycarman]

Sounds like your heading in the right direction . Use whatever grit you feel comfortable with. I can certainly understand wanting to keep the pipe safe. Normally I am doing this on some cheap estate pipe I just got haha.

 

[Hirsute]

I'll echo Bill's recommendation for micro-mesh sanding pads. I also use the Walker Briar Works stem restore kit, which works quite well. And I've found Flitz is excellent after I've gone through a sanding progression--really gets rid of any remaining scratches and dullness and brings it to a nice shine. And I like Obsidian Oil for my vulcanite stems.

 

[simon1]

Thanks guys. I've got Oxi-Clean and Majic Eraser on the grocery list.

I have the Walker Briar Works stem restore kit, but the Carnauba wax has dried up a bit. I put the stem deoxidizer/cleaner on it but I only let it sit for about a minute or so to dry before buffing with a cloth. I'll coat it again with the deoxidizer and let it sit for about half hour or so and see what happens. I'm interested to see how an overnight soak in Oxi-Clean works. My jar of Paragon wax is still good.

Looking at my earlier post on machine shop tolerances, I must have been dyslexic when typing. On lathes, after the finish cut we'd loop a strip of sandpaper around the spinning part to bring it down to final tolerance, of which +/- 0.0002 was standard. Some specs. called for + 0.0000 and - 0.00005.

I'm guessing the little bit of sunlight that came through the window of an afternoon brought out some oxidation that was embedded in the stem after it was first cleaned up and buffed. Here's what it looked like when I first got it two or three years ago:

 

[Price]

Yeah, that oxidation pattern does look like a little sunlight hit the top while it was sitting on the rack.

And +1 on Obsidian oil. I'll wax a stem after working on it, but a dab of obsidian every once in a while maintains a nice finish.

 

[Ponycarman]

I don't remember what kinda of wax I have. I think paragon and halcyon. They both work well. Have only ever hand buffed my stuff.

 

[cwf71]

All, good stuff. Here is a good reference site for pipe restoration generally and this link is to stem oxidation specifically.
removing oxidation | rebornpipes

The only tool technique I haven't seen mentioned so far is the bic/flame method of oxidation removal.
A BIC lighter and Oxidation

It was found by chance as using a flame is a technique used in restoration of vulcanite to raise tooth impressions.

 

[ctr]

I did the baking soda thing once. Followed up with toothpaste and a toothbrush. Then pipe stem polish. Good as new. Don't know that I'd want to go the bleach route but that's just me.

 

[simon1]

Well...I used the Walker's deoxidizer again. Wiped/dabbed it on pretty thick and let it sit for about 40 minutes. All I can say about that stuff is...

Wow...just wow. I'll put some wax on the stem in awhile and shine it up a bit. This makes me want to find an old cruddy estate pipe and work on it.

I corresponded with Dave a few years ago, and sent him some pics., asking about Dad's old drugstore pipe. He seems very passionate about pipes. I hope Myers that took over the pipe restore/repair part of it is as committed as Dave is. I think he probably is.