Pipe Repair and Maintenance

[jwhite]

For all those new to the briar I thought I'd post a brief outline on cleaning and maintaining your pipes. Continuing posts will outline other aspects of pipe care.

Basic kit for for the care and feeding of your pipes.

Pipe Cleaners
I use regular, tapered (or thick and thin), and Bristle cleaners.

Shank brush
washable, reusable, effective and cheap!

Butner Reamer
If your cake gets too thick it can crack the bowl of your pipe, and this one size fits all reamer is easy to use cheap and well made. Yes there are better but this works well, just be careful not to dig into the rim.

All of the above can be found for the best prices I know here http://www.iwanries.com/Category_C522.cfm

Czech tool
Great inexpensive tamper, no newbie or veteran pipe smoker should be without one. The pick is good for stray strands of tobacco or clearing blocked air-holes. The spoon is great for clearing an over stuffed bowl or compacted ash without gouging the bowl, and it's a tamper for use during the smoke. I keep one in the glove box of each car, my desk, and my roll pouch. It works well and if I loose it I'm not heartbroken.

Also at Iwan Ries http://www.iwanries.com/Category_C519.cfm

Everclear 190 proof.
a great food grade solvent that will really get the sour gunk out of your pipe and evaporate quickly and cleanly without residual odors. Pipe sweetener works well but ounce for ounce this stuff is far more economical and at least as effective.

once purchased the only things you'll need to replace are are the pipe cleaners and a half pint of Everclear every year or so depending on the number of your pipes and how heavy you smoke. Total cost for all items at Iwan Ries $16.25 + shipping, most of which you'll never have to buy again.

My cleaning routine.

A clean and well rested pipe is a happy pipe. You will need; regular, tapered, and bristle pipe cleaners, a shank brush, a paper towel, and pure grain alcohol or pipe sweetener. In order to clean your pipes well the stem needs to be removed. You must let your pipe completely cool before doing this, unless you have a military bit, you will have problems if you don't. At best you will end up with a loose stem, at worst a split shank that will render your pipe useless until a professional performs repairs. Now that I frightened you into thinking your pipes are made of spun sugar, relax just let 'em sit for an hour or so before disassembling and you'll be fine. You can run a regular cleaner through the stem during or immediately after smoking and I recommend it. After your pipe has cooled, remove the stem from the shank. Wipe the tenon with a paper towel and run a clean tapered cleaner through the stem. Then use the other end or choose a new cleaner and run it through the shank and into the bowl. Continue until a fresh cleaner looks clean. Double a cleaner over and run that through to the bowl, double again and swab out the shank, repeat with a fresh cleaner until shank is clean. Now I realize this sounds like I'm burning through pipe cleaners like there is no tomorrow. But as I use both ends and then double it, then take a fresh to double and then double again I only use 1-2 regular or tapered cleaners per pipe. Some like to use a fresh cleaner for each step so they don't have to handle the dirty end, and I don't judge. Pipe cleaners are cheap, good pipes are not. I then use pure grain alcohol after the real dirty stuff has been removed. Pipe sweetener works well but is more expensive so Everclear is my cleaner if choice. It evaporates cleanly and is a food grade solvent, but be careful not to get it on the outside of your pipes, it can remove the finish. If you do get a little on the outside just wipe it off quickly and it will be fine. I dip the tip of a bristle pipe cleaner and run it through the stem. I dip the other end and repeat. I then take the same bristle cleaner and run it trough the shank and into the bowl, flip it over and repeat. Double the cleaner over and dip it into the alcohol and give the air hole between the shank and bowl a good scrubbing. Double it again, give that end a dunk, and swab the shank out. A shank brush is a great investment for your pipes, I bought mine at 3 for $1.50 about 4-5 years ago and I've still got 2. The this is a small nylon brush that will fit the air-hole between the shank and bowl. This also gets dunked in alcohol and scrubs said air-hole. Wipe it off on your paper towel and you'll probably loose it before it wares out. then take a tapered cleaner and run it through everything to dry up any remaining alcohol. I then reserve that cleaner for initial gunk removal of the next pipe. So if you're keeping track that's 1-3 fresh cleaners per pipe and the process takes between 2-3 min. per pipe.

 

[jwhite]

Salt and Alcohol treatment for sweetening a sour pipe or removing unwanted flavors/odors.

Before beginning I always go through the regular cleaning mentioned above unless I am starting with a pipe I know to be clean. In addition I wipe out the bowl with a tissue or paper towel and check the thickness of the cake. If it is the thickness of a nickle or greater it needs trimming so I ream it down to the thickness of a dime and wipe it clean. there is no point in treating cake that needs to be removed, and you are doing yourself a favor by getting everything in good order before you begin sweetening your pipe.

Materials you will need include:
Everclear 190 proof or other pure grain alcohol
kosher salt
I know many who use table salt and/or rubbing alcohol. This will work fine, however the large grains in kosher salt allow for more effective evaporation of the alcohol, are easier to clean out of the pipe after treatment, do not contain iodine, and does not dissolve as easily. You also have to exert some extra care with rubbing alcohol. Never use mentholated or any other scented/colored rubbing alcohol. This will create strong odors and flavors that will overpower any tobacco. A general rule of thumb for me is; if it is not a food grade, nontoxic material it doesn't go near my pipe. Besides I always have kosher salt on hand as it is fantastic for steaks and chops, and Everclear is part of my regular cleaning routine anyway.

The S/A treatment is pretty straight forward, it goes a little quicker with bent pipes but can certainly be done with straights. It just has to be done in a two part process.

For bent pipes- fill the bowl and shank with salt. Use a dropper or pipette to add alcohol one drop at a time, add a drop let it settle and add another until the salt is saturated, but not so much that it forms a puddle on top of it. Do this for both the bowl and the shank, being careful to avoid getting any alcohol on the outside of your pipe as it can dissolve the finish. Be sure to keep a clean dry cloth or paper towel handy to wipe up any drips as they occur. Set the bowl upright in a pipe rest or a bowl stuffed with a clean paper towel (not the one used for wiping up alcohol spills) and let sit for at least 24 hrs. or until the alcohol has evaporated. You will see a dark mahogany-black crust on the top of the salt. Remove all salt and use a pipe cleaner to be sure there is none hiding in the air-hole, shank, or bowl. If there is any salt left it will taste bad so get it all. Let sit for a couple of hours disassembled to be sure all alcohol has evaporated and give 'er a sniff your pipe should smell sweet, clean and very nice. Assembled it should taste sweet and good even empty. For a truly rank pipe or one that has been infused with a particularly strong aromatic you may want to repeat immediately after dumping the first batch of salt, or if it doesn't smell nice after drying.

For straight pipes- The procedure is pretty much the same just be sure to tightly twist a paper towel in shank when you are treating the bowl and vice verse. Do the paper towel first, and when you let it set leave it at a slight angle to help prevent any alcohol from running out and getting on the outside of your pipe. Also it will take twice as long as you can only treat the bowl and shank one at a time.

Some notes- This will not remove all trace of an aromatic but it will go a long way towards that end, and should render the pipe pleasant to smoke so a new blend, or style of pipe weed, can flavor the pipe nicely.

This treatment is also excellent for removing stain from the inside of a new pipe bowl. I love my Petes but for some ungodly reason they insist on dunking the entire bowl and shank during their finishing process. This will pull a lot of that out and makes the breaking in process much nicer.

 

[jwhite]

Cleaning and Polishing an Oxidized or Discolored Stem

Going whole hog-
This this is the method many professionals and die hard enthusiasts use if They have access to good tools.

Materials/tools needed;
tapered and Bristle pipe cleaners
Pure grain alcohol (Everclear)
Bleach
Vaseline
wet sand paper
0000 steal wool
white polishing compound
carnauba wax
variable speed buffer/variable speed dremel
rag wheel buff for either of the above and polishing/finishing buff for bench top buffer.
Never ever use the felt or solid buffing wheel for a dremel on your stems, Use the rag wheel only, and only if you are comfortable using that tool for precise work.

This procedure requires some handiness with tools and careful monitoring of the soaking process. Over exposure to bleach can eat away at the vulcanite. Too high a speed while polishing/buffing will cut into the stem, this is especially true with the smaller contact aria of a dremel.

Remove your stem from the bowl of your pipe coat any stamping or inlay on the stem with Vaseline. Submerge the stem in a 50% solution of bleach and water. Soak for one hour and rinse inside and out with warm, (NOT scalding), fresh water. Your pipe should look matte black and feel quite rough If you do not feel that all of the oxidation has been removed, soak longer checking every half hour. Do not soak for more than 2 hrs. total. After your pipe has been removed from the solution,washed with a mild dish soap, and rinsed well, dry the inside of the stem with a tapered cleaner, and thoroughly scrub the inside of the stem with a bristle cleaner dipped in pure grain alcohol. Follow with another tapered cleaner to dry. This will remove any residual oxidation from the stems interior. Wet sand by hand paying special attention not erode any stampings or the button. Follow this by hand buffing with the 0000 steal wool until the stem feels satin smooth to the touch. Next load the buffing wheel of a bench buffer with white polishing compound, or rag wheel of a dremel, and polish at the buffers lowest setting until the stem has developed a nice luster. You may wish to increase the speed of your bench buffer but exercise caution and don't get cocky about it. Increasing the speed on your dremel will only break your hart, you must use a very light touch with this tool, as at high speeds it can be sort of like trying to polish your silver with an angle grinder. Next load a clean finishing buff with carnauba wax ,or a clean rag wheel on the dremel, and put the finishing shine on your stem. You may want to finish by using a clean rag wheel on the bench tool to bring out highest possible shine. Be sure throughout this process to be careful to preserve any of the original markings as they can be erased through negligent sanding, buffing, or polishing.

 

[jwhite]

Cleaning and Polishing an Oxidized or Discolored Stem #2


A Very Good Alternative-

There are some very good products for the hobbyist's home use. One in particular that works so well that I will likely only use the above method in the future for initial restorations of badly oxidized pipes, and I mean really bad. The above method produces beautiful results but the pipe stem restoration kit by Walker Briar Works is outstanding.
At $19 dollars shipped CONUS it is worth every penny and will restore many stems and their polish is good for bowls as well. For casual polishing I have used Halcyon, and Paragon, waxes as well as Brebbia pipe and stem polish and the Walker wax on its own is superior for smooth and sand blasted pipes, paired with the stem cleaner and oxidation remover it is outstanding. If at some point in the future I were to live abroad I would happily pay the extra for international shipping. Simply put I have found no other wax or kit that works nearly as well

Instructions, copied from the website, for its use are as follows-

Using the materials in the Vulcanite Stem Restoration Kit is really pretty straight forward for most stems.

1. Apply the Deoxidizer/Cleaner to the stem using a soft cloth.

2. Rub until the oxidation has been completely removed. You will actually feel the stem get smoother as the oxidation is dissolved and removed.

3. When the stem is clean and black, rinse under warm (not hot!) running water to remove any remaining cleaner, then wipe dry.

4. Next, apply a fairly thick coat of the Carnauba Wax/Polish/Sealer using another soft cloth. Rub and work the wax into the stem. This will seal the Vulcanite.

5. Let the wax dry on the stem for about 10 minutes, then rub and polish with a soft cloth.

For the hard to clean area at the end of the stem where the button begins, use the same process as above, but apply the Deoxidizer and Carnauba wax in the corner using a pipe cleaner.

When you are finished cleaning and waxing your stem, hold it under a strong light or Sun light. If you see a tan or brown haze under the shine, that means oxidation has been “removed” sometime in the past using a buffing wheel. Instead of being completely removed, the looser oxidation has been buffed away and the deeper, harder oxidation has been heat buffed into the stem. It too can be removed with the Deoxidizer/Cleaner.

Rub a new coating of Deoxidizer/Cleaner onto the stem, and work it in as much as possible. Then put a thin coat of the Deoxidizer/Cleaner on the stem and let it sit of half an hour or so, until it’s dry. There is a mild solvent in the deoxidizer that will not hurt the Vulcanite, but will do its best to soften the deep oxidation. When the coating you have added is dry, wipe it off, then add more Deoxidizer/Cleaner with a soft cloth and rub. The oxidation softened in the previous step will be removed. Then rewax using the Carnauba Wax/Polish/Sealer as above and check again.


Jimbos Happy hybrid -

If I am worried about oxidation on the interior of a stem or I am restoring an estate pipe that I want sanitized and thoroughly refinished. I will do the first part of the Whole Hog method up to and including hand buffing with steel wool, and finish with the Walker kit, both parts. I finish by giving it a final dry buff with a rag wheel to really bring out the shine.

 

[Vlad]

Thanks, James. My biggest problem is residue building along the top of my bowl, almost entirely on the part towards the shank. I don't care much about my junky pipe, but I'm scared about cleaning it off my "nice" pipe, as I might remove the finish. Any tips on cleaning it and preventing it from happening in the first place?

 

[jwhite]

Try a good spit and polish first. I'm being literal here. Suck on a paper towel and put a little spit on your finger. Wet the rim of your bowl with your finger and rub vigorously with the wet towel, that should get most of it. The second alternative is just a bit more risky with regard to the finish but I've had no bad results. I use this method when I'm due to re-wax and polish my pipes anyway so any slight wax loss is immaterial. Take some alcohol and just moisten a paper towel, I put a piece between my thumb and the small decorative bottle I keep on my desk and give it a quick shake. You just want a very small amount. Think along the lines of how you might add a small amount of cologne to your finger for application. Rub around the top of the rim firmly and quickly buff with a dry paper towel, repeat until your rim is clear and shiny. Wax your pipe as usual with the product of your preference.

I know that this runs counter to the generally good practice of keeping alcohol away from the outside of your pipes but I believe it is the exception that proves the rule. I am also a woodworker who makes his own waxes, finishes, polishes, and dyes. I can tell you that as long as you don't let liquid alcohol on your pipes and buff immediately the wax will set and gloss just as before.

 

[drewmac]

Great thread! The one thing I like to do when doing a salt treatment is placing some painters tape on the outside of the bowl with a layer of electrical on top. This way, if I splill some alcohol it doesn't eat the finish.

 

[Psicko]

I prefer using cottonballs instead of salt. that way you don;t have to worry about not getting out the salt before smoking the pipe again.

 

[HokieGeek]

for the regular pipe cleaning, is this done after each fill?

 

[jwhite]

for the regular pipe cleaning, is this done after each fill?

Each day, if you like to reload, and only the My Cleaning Routine paragraph. The rest is as needed. I have a sufficient rotation that I could smoke several times a day with a different pipe and only have to clean once a week, but I usually clean every 2nd or 3rd day.

It takes me about 2-3 min. per pipe. I have gotten pretty efficient at it but it shouldn't take much longer than 5 min. as you're getting used to it. I will say I am pretty meticulous about my keeping my pipes, partly because keeping them clean and waxed prevents harder work later on by preventing oxidized stems and skunky pipes that need to be defunked, but even before you run into problems fresh clean pipes taste so much better. My pipes taste sweet and good before even adding the tobacco. This is strictly YMMV but I enjoy holding and polishing my pipes. I find even the most humble among them beautiful, and caring for them is a peaceful and rewarding activity.

 

[HokieGeek]

Each day, if you like to reload, and only the My Cleaning Routine paragraph. The rest is as needed. I have a sufficient rotation that I could smoke several times a day with a different pipe and only have to clean once a week, but I usually clean every 2nd or 3rd day.

It takes me about 2-3 min. per pipe. I have gotten pretty efficient at it but it shouldn't take much longer than 5 min. as you're getting used to it. I will say I am pretty meticulous about my keeping my pipes, partly because keeping them clean and waxed prevents harder work later on by preventing oxidized stems and skunky pipes that need to be defunked, but even before you run into problems fresh clean pipes taste so much better. My pipes taste sweet and good before even adding the tobacco. This is strictly YMMV but I enjoy holding and polishing my pipes. I find even the most humble among them beautiful, and caring for them is a peaceful and rewarding activity.

Cool, so no different than taking care of a Str8.

 

[jwhite]

Cool, so no different than taking care of a Str8.

 

[scottish steve]

I had gleaned most of this info peripatetically from various sources through the years, but it was courteous and generous of you to take the time to post this in a well-ordered and informative way. Thank you sir.
A query if I may?
I'd like to get the "Full Virginia Flake-iness" out of one of my pipes, but have no idea where to source 95% alcohol. Any idea of the minimum alcohol content need for the salt and alcohol refreshing method to work or is this unnecessary for a well-cared-for briar? Should I just smoke over it and allow it to dissipate gradually?

 

[jwhite]

How did I miss this thread. Great post James. Thank you.

edit; This should be a sticky

It is under the Gentalman's Essentials sticky at the top of the page.

I had gleaned most of this info peripatetically from various sources through the years, but it was courteous and generous of you to take the time to post this in a well-ordered and informative way. Thank you sir.
A query if I may?
I'd like to get the "Full Virginia Flake-iness" out of one of my pipes, but have no idea where to source 95% alcohol. Any idea of the minimum alcohol content need for the salt and alcohol refreshing method to work or is this unnecessary for a well-cared-for briar? Should I just smoke over it and allow it to dissipate gradually?

If you have the high proof rums or whiskeys, Bacardi 151 is an example, they will work on an S/A treatment but they will leave a residiual taste of the rum or whisky for a few smokes, and I would give them a longer period both with the salt and emptied to dry. Some like that some don't. Many use rubbing or pharmaceutical alcohol and claim good results, just be sure not to buy the colored or mentholated versions. And I would let it sit until all scent of the alcohol has evaporated, but many swear by it as it's cheaper than pure grain spirits.

If the pipe is pleasurable to smoke it will take on the character of whatever tobacco you regularly enjoy, so you do not need to do anything. However I find myself treating my pipes about once a year or so as it leaves a clean carbon cake removing any tarriness or bitterness that can develop with regular use, but not at all necessary.

 

[scottish steve]

All of my briars tasted different, even from the first few smokes using the same blend, but over time they have all picked up different characters from the various tobaccos I've enjoyed in them. I am of course, averse to smoking a Latakia-based blend in any pipe I want to have Vas in. I don't really like Latakia, but I can see the appeal. Curiously enough, Dunhill's 965 didn't leave much of a flavour after a few smokes with something else, but the FVF is hanging around quite persistently. I don't object to it, but prefer the more citrus character of Erinmore and would like to regain that so I can use both pipes I have here without too much "browning from the Lakeland". Bacardi 151 is available in a local pub. I might ask them if I can take out a measure or two, to save me buying a whole bottle. I'm probably going to buy another rustic soon and if I can find Irish Oak, devote it to that. I've decided my Cara Sandblast will be only for Erinmore Flake and use my Comoy Bulldog as a bit of a tester pipe. Though I would like to clean it thoroughly. I tried to ream a couple of bowls using a pen-knife. This is a very bad idea! Forum-members take note!

 

[jwhite]

The rum will work fine to dissolve the tars and remove a good deal of the ghost from the pipe, but as mentioned earlier it will leave the pipe a bit rummy. I haven't done this in preparation for a pipe intended to be used with more delicate VA's so I can't be curtain that won't mask the brighter flavors your looking for. I don't think it will make anything taste bad at all and it should smoke out after a few bowls. What are you using to do regular cleaning? A regular pipe sweetener should be pretty neutral, but if your using the rum as a regular part of your cleaning routine that flavor will be part of your pipe until it gets thoroughly cleaned with something else. Some really like it but you should be sure if its going to be a regular part of your routine. I'd try it out on the tester first and see what you think, and if its not for you go with the rubbing alcohol.