JC's 4th Cleanup - Butz-Choquin Flat Oval Shank Brandy

[JCinPA]

This was listed at $60, I countered $45, settled on $50, delivered. But, it's a nice pipe, fairly clean to begin with, about like the two Adam @Whisky gifted me, and I think I will be very happy when it is done. The vulcanite stem is not in great shape, but neither is all chewed up, it should clean up just dandy. The stummel looks very good and with just a little rim char, should clean up to be a great pipe.

 

[luvmysuper]

That's a beautiful pipe!

 

[Benzadmiral]

Looks darn good. I think all it needs is to polish the stem; the briar looks great. I bought a pot-bowl Italian briar with an acrylic stem from that same vendor this year, and it's been a great pipe.

 

[nortac]

Looks like it has had a partial clean up already, just needs the finishing touches. Nice pipe.

 

[Hirsute]

Looks like that will clean up nicely! And the logo stamping on the stem looks pretty crisp--you should be able to use a very fine brush and paint it white again if you want. Testors model paints from the hobby shop are good for that type of job.

 

[JCinPA]

Well, so much for painting the BC logo in the stem. It's more or less gone. But I'm not that much of a stickler for this kind of work, and not a "collector", per se. I just like getting pipes, cleaning them up and smoking them.

So there was very minor crud on the stummel, so while soaking the stem in Oxiclean, I got after the stummel with Murphy's soap and a soft toothbrush. I think the last guy who had this pipe tried to restain it, or change the color (probably like me, working on fairly easy pipes to learn technique), because a lot of red came off in my hand and you can see it clearly on the towel here. No brown, just red. And since that has never happened to me before, I think the last guy tried to redden this up a bit.

So, after rinsing it off, I put a little Howard's butcher block conditioner on it, to restore the wood a bit after the soap and the rinse.

Then I did two coats of the Paragon wax, buffing till warm in my hand and with a microfiber cloth each time. My cotton wheels came, but not my compound, so this was still all manual.

Then Magic Eraser, 320, 600, 800 grit wet/dry, followed by 1500-12000 micromesh pads and CIF cream worked with a t-shirt on the stem, and here is the final result. It started out in good shape, but I love the finished state. I'll buff the stem lightly when my compound comes, but right now I'm about to smoke it. I think all this hand work on easy pipes is going to make me better at the more difficult projects, and using a buffer. This one was fun. Off to fill her and light up, gents!

 

[JCinPA]

By the way, I'm quite sure the last owner was trying to learn, like I am. The red stain coming off is a sign, I think. But also it was either hardly smoked at all, or he reamed it and did the alcohol treatment, because I sure did not have to. Smelled just fine, and the bowl was immaculate, although it had been smoked before. I'm ready for more challenging pipe work now, but this was fun and I have a practically new (lightly smoked) Butz Choquin for $50, delivered. I'm happy with that, since it's about the cost of a Bones.