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Fixing a pipe

Did some stem work on 4 of the other projects. The last 4 pipes in the lot I got a while back. Gave the stems anout an hour soak in an oxiclean solution. Then scrubbed with some 0000 steel wool. Then another hour in the oxiclean solution. Back to the steel wool and then a magic eraser. They came out pretty good. Got 90% of the oxidation off. I still need to hit them with some polishing compound and carnauba wax. Not sure when I will get to do that so I gave them a coat of chapstick to protect them until then and to see how well it works. They looks pretty good and are smokable now yay.

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These two are rougher than the other two and much smaller. The dr grabow is tiny. Might be a 10 or 15 min smoke lol. The other is a work in progress. It had quite a hidden crack when I received it. I think I am going to stain the whole pipe black to hide the repair of the crack. It and the dr grabow will probably be beater/ yardwork or fishing pipes.

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Once these are finished I have an oom paul in need of some work as well as cleaning up one of the kirstens I never gave a good clean. Hopefully the pipes incoming won't need any or much work haha.
 
Encountered an interesting issue with this dr grabow commodore this evening. I thought I would explain a fix if anyone ever grabbed a pipe that had the same problem.

The pipe was recieved with the stem stuck in place. The dr grabow adjustomatic are nice because the stem will never get over clocked permanently which I like. This pipe though it was part of the problem. The threaded stem was stuck but the adjustomatic feature spun as it should. Because of this I couldn't break the stem loose. The stem would just continue to spin on the fitting. I tried running some alcohol soaked cleaners through it, using my retort, heating it, and dripping some mineral oil into the joint with no luck getting it to loosen.

After a bit of research I read that if some pressure is applied to the stem right before the shank where the mechanism sits it will stop it from turning and allow you to possibly remove it. The trick is doing this without damaging the stem.

What I did was take a scrap piece of 2x4 and drilled a 1/2 hole. Then cut the 2x4 right through the center of the hole. Creating a set of softish jaws to pinch on the stem. I wrapped the stem in a rag and clamped it in my vice. Slowing adding more pressure until the stem stopped free spinning on the mechanism inside. Then it easily came loose! I'm super happy it worked out so well. The stem was very gunky and nasty causing it to stick. I was also hapoy that there was no damage to the stem at all :thumbup:

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Ps: be very careful with a retort. I broke my glass beaker with alcohol still inside and the torch going today. As well as the torch lighter (the reservoir cracked during use). :bored:
 

Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
The older Grabows seem nicer than present day ones. Is that a fair assessment?
 
The older Grabows seem nicer than present day ones. Is that a fair assessment?
I think the build quality is pretty close but my experience with brand new dr grabow pipes has been limited. I do know there was alot more variety in the vintage pipes. They don't offer the same variety of shapes and finishes that they use too. Some of their stems differ now from the older ones. But even the new ones smoke well.

There are a couple new ones I would like to grab still. Three in particular. The smooth royalton bulldog. I've always liked the way it looked and the bright acrylic stem.

They offer a new adjustomatic. I think it would be neat to have a brand new production one to compare to all my old estates.

Lastly but not least they offer a panel shape that I wouldn't mind picking up. It is a none retail pipe that you can only get from them directly. Based off their old panel shapes. I though it looked pretty neat.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
Did some stem work on 4 of the other projects. The last 4 pipes in the lot I got a while back. Gave the stems anout an hour soak in an oxiclean solution. Then scrubbed with some 0000 steel wool. Then another hour in the oxiclean solution. Back to the steel wool and then a magic eraser. They came out pretty good. Got 90% of the oxidation off. I still need to hit them with some polishing compound and carnauba wax. Not sure when I will get to do that so I gave them a coat of chapstick to protect them until then and to see how well it works. They looks pretty good and are smokable now yay.

View attachment 899824

These two are rougher than the other two and much smaller. The dr grabow is tiny. Might be a 10 or 15 min smoke lol. The other is a work in progress. It had quite a hidden crack when I received it. I think I am going to stain the whole pipe black to hide the repair of the crack. It and the dr grabow will probably be beater/ yardwork or fishing pipes.

View attachment 899827
Once these are finished I have an oom paul in need of some work as well as cleaning up one of the kirstens I never gave a good clean. Hopefully the pipes incoming won't need any or much work haha.
I need to get a pipe that is a 15 minute, or less, smoke.
 
Got a little bit to add to this thread. My focus has shifted heavily to fishing and the all the project pipes have been sitting idle. That is changing as I am getting some renewed interest in finishing them haha. Added a few more projects as well as a new tool that I am hoping to help make the projects a bit easier.

Added these pipes the other day. All Dr grabows and should clean up nicely.

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The tool is a mini lathe and turning tools. My father surprised me with early December. I have cleaned up the lathe and tinkered with it a little so far. Also added a jacobs chuck to aid any drilling. Being able to use the lathe for sanding and polishing with be a huge help. Going to pick up some polishing and buffing wheels that the chuck can accept. The lathe is adjustable rpm so it should be much more stable and useful than my grinder with the polishing wheel. This should speed up some of the stem work that has held up quite a few of the pipe projects. In addition I may be tinkering with pipe and tamper building sometime when I get the hang of the lathe and get a proper chuck for the wood pieces. Looking forward to learning more and putting it to use. Might be able to finish some of these lingering projects up sooner than later hopefully. Updates will come as I make some progress finally lol. Thanks to everyone that has put up with my lack of progress and motivation.

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After clean up

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First tinkering with some pine and learning the tools and process.

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Nothing special but I'm quite excited about this inexpensive jacobs chuck. It will allow me to use polishing and sanding attachments for a drill in the lathe where I can adjust the rpms and have the stable base. A stable base is something I never had with the grinder. I don't have a shop or bench to mount it too so it would walk all over the driveway when trying to use it lol. Made using it a chore so I never did use it lol.

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Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
Wow nice. I really want to try my hand at some pipe turning but the buy in is a bit more than I want to throw at an experiment.
 
Wow nice. I really want to try my hand at some pipe turning but the buy in is a bit more than I want to throw at an experiment.


It can get pricey. I was already considering a lathe to tinker with. Had ideas of turning popper heads for flies as well as wooden lures. Tampers as well. I have a long way to go before turning a full pipe though. I will be happy with finishing some projects and tinkering for now. Keep an eye on classified ads. This lathe and tools was from a local guy that upgraded lathes. Got it and the tools for $75 :thumbup:
 
Got a little bit to add to this thread. My focus has shifted heavily to fishing and the all the project pipes have been sitting idle. That is changing as I am getting some renewed interest in finishing them haha. Added a few more projects as well as a new tool that I am hoping to help make the projects a bit easier.

Added these pipes the other day. All Dr grabows and should clean up nicely.

View attachment 1050847

The tool is a mini lathe and turning tools. My father surprised me with early December. I have cleaned up the lathe and tinkered with it a little so far. Also added a jacobs chuck to aid any drilling. Being able to use the lathe for sanding and polishing with be a huge help. Going to pick up some polishing and buffing wheels that the chuck can accept. The lathe is adjustable rpm so it should be much more stable and useful than my grinder with the polishing wheel. This should speed up some of the stem work that has held up quite a few of the pipe projects. In addition I may be tinkering with pipe and tamper building sometime when I get the hang of the lathe and get a proper chuck for the wood pieces. Looking forward to learning more and putting it to use. Might be able to finish some of these lingering projects up sooner than later hopefully. Updates will come as I make some progress finally lol. Thanks to everyone that has put up with my lack of progress and motivation.

View attachment 1050848

After clean up

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First tinkering with some pine and learning the tools and process.

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Nothing special but I'm quite excited about this inexpensive jacobs chuck. It will allow me to use polishing and sanding attachments for a drill in the lathe where I can adjust the rpms and have the stable base. A stable base is something I never had with the grinder. I don't have a shop or bench to mount it too so it would walk all over the driveway when trying to use it lol. Made using it a chore so I never did use it lol.

View attachment 1050851
I went all the way back and re-read this entire thread....VERY interesting! Just out of curiosity, how
many pipes do you own? I realize that most of them are probably estate pipes that you have bought
in not-so-good condition and turned into something nice, but still, I'll bet you've got a bunch of 'em! I
hope you keep adding new reclamation projects to this thread!
 
I went all the way back and re-read this entire thread....VERY interesting! Just out of curiosity, how
many pipes do you own? I realize that most of them are probably estate pipes that you have bought
in not-so-good condition and turned into something nice, but still, I'll bet you've got a bunch of 'em! I
hope you keep adding new reclamation projects to this thread!

Thanks! I would have to go back and re count to be exact but guessing around 50-60 briar. Total with all the other types and styles probably right around 100. A good many have been estates. Not all have been full restorations though. Think I have 17 needing to be finished up now lol. I'm way behind ha. Might get them done eventually haha.
 
Works pretty well! Polished up 12 stems in around an hour haha. Wayyy faster. Have two others back in an oxiclean bath to soften the oxidation and an additional 4 in an alcohol bath to clean them for the de-oxidation process. Once they are done all will get a few coats of carnauba wax and then on to cleaning and restoring the stummels. There are some light chatter and teeth marks in a few of them but I don't really want to go through taking them completely out. They aren't horrible and don't bother me. Just want to get them back to smoking.

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Got a bunch done today! The wheel in the lathe has helped immensely. Got all the stems waxed, almost all the stummels reamed and cleaned, and waxed. Only a couple that need a little more attention. They aren't perfect but wayy better than they were. A few look new. A couple have a few flaws but it doesn't bother me too much. Not many old used estates are perfect. Adds to the character haha.


Some will probably need the cottonball/alcohol treatment to banish the ghosts that linger. I have two that the stummels need some extra working. Four that just arrived that need a full restoration. Then one Kiko meerschaum that either needs a new stem completely or needs some serious repair to the stem.

These had some pretty neat grain

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...Continued.

These came out pretty well too. Much nicer all shined up.

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This one is probably going to need a little stem work. It is close but I don't think this is the original stem for the pipe. It is slightly too large and extends beyond the ferrule a little. Not too bad so it should work with a little extra sanding. Thats going to be a project for another day haha.

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This pipe needed some extra cleaning. Had to do some scrubbing to clean all the small spaces in the rustication which is why it isn't assembled. I'll give it a while for the wood to shrink back before putting the stem in. It should look pretty good when it is finished.

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...Continued.

These came out pretty well too. Much nicer all shined up.

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This one is probably going to need a little stem work. It is close but I don't think this is the original stem for the pipe. It is slightly too large and extends beyond the ferrule a little. Not too bad so it should work with a little extra sanding. Thats going to be a project for another day haha.

View attachment 1051765

This pipe needed some extra cleaning. Had to do some scrubbing to clean all the small spaces in the rustication which is why it isn't assembled. I'll give it a while for the wood to shrink back before putting the stem in. It should look pretty good when it is finished.

View attachment 1051766
 
Great job! They all look beautiful!!

Thanks a bunch! Planning to get started on the rest of them soon. Having fun with them again haha. The increase in efficiency has help my motivation alot. The stems were and still are ny least favorite part. Using the lathe as a polisher/buffer has cut the time in half though.
 
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