Pipe restoration.

[caskwith]

Well having looked at some of the sites on pipe resotration i noticed that for polishing and re-finishing pipe bowls and stems actually requires very few tools. as one of my hobbies is silversmithing and jewellery making i have these tools already in my workshop (buffing wheel, flex-shaft etc). I think that i could put my jewellery skills into restoring a few pipes, seems pretty straight forward aslong as you have the right tools.

Anybody got any advice on this?

also if anybody has any old pipes that are in need of some attention that they would be willing to let me have a go at restoring then id love to hear from you. ive had a look on ebay but they all seem to be already restored for sale, obviously to bump up the price but i bet there are some guys out there with old pipes or know where to pick up a few cheaply and i could have a go at restoring it for you.

[drrgill]

You and I have started our pipe adventure at the same time,,I was dirrected to the FAQ pipes 101 in the sticky section...there are many links with great info. Also if you search ebay...Estate Pipes you will find hundreds of listings some of them are mostly parts and pieces..you can get 10 pipes for 8-10 dollars... see below for an example..also go to the pipes photos I just posted a Pipe Retort I bought on ebay and this guy makes them for cleaning those nasty estate pipes..

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Lot-of-1...QQcmdZViewItem


just an example. I will send you a pm and we can learn together!!

Enjoy
Drrgill

[caskwith]

You seem to get a lot more pipes on ebay in the US, over here on ebay UK there arent as many but i am keeping my eye on one or two lots that if they are cheap enough i may just purchase. i would but from ebay Us but the shipping charges are just too high.


I look forward to chatting with you and sharing experiences!

[Scott M]

A good bit of info can be found on the ASP Pipes Buffing and Polishing Page.

Most of the stuff I've done to date has been on a regular hand drill, but as of late I've been working with a bench grinder buffing wheel. I was fortunate enough to have a muslin wheel come with the set up, but you can get wheels, (and carnauba wax and white tripoli) from PIMO pipecrafters if you can't find any locally.

The only bits of advice I can offer at this point is to use the absolute lowest RPM when you're doing this. If you're cleaning the pipe up with white diamond / tripoli, you can zap the stampings / logos off in a New York minute if you're not careful. Anything past ~1750RPM is getting a bit too fast. Waxing seems to be alot better if it's done in multiple steps, as it allows the preceding layers to cool off and harden. And keep a firm grip on the item you're working on. These little suckers can reach Mach 2 or 3 if you're not paying attention, and will get dinged up pretty bad as they bounce off the floor, the walls, your knee, etc.


Get some pics up when you can!

Cheers!

[caskwith]

Originally Posted by Scott M

A good bit of info can be found on the ASP Pipes Buffing and Polishing Page.

Most of the stuff I've done to date has been on a regular hand drill, but as of late I've been working with a bench grinder buffing wheel. I was fortunate enough to have a muslin wheel come with the set up, but you can get wheels, (and carnauba wax and white tripoli) from PIMO pipecrafters if you can't find any locally.

The only bits of advice I can offer at this point is to use the absolute lowest RPM when you're doing this. If you're cleaning the pipe up with white diamond / tripoli, you can zap the stampings / logos off in a New York minute if you're not careful. Anything past ~1750RPM is getting a bit too fast. Waxing seems to be alot better if it's done in multiple steps, as it allows the preceding layers to cool off and harden. And keep a firm grip on the item you're working on. These little suckers can reach Mach 2 or 3 if you're not paying attention, and will get dinged up pretty bad as they bounce off the floor, the walls, your knee, etc.


Get some pics up when you can!

Cheers!

Thanks for the info there!

as i said being an amteur jeweller i have buffing wheels and a full set of foredom polishing compounds (emery through to red rouge) i also have a flex-shaft which i can use to sand out the bowls and polish hard to reach areas. my buffing wheel also has a speed controller so it should be fine, ive polished wood on it before and it was fine.

as for safety info, i know that too well, ive had a peice of silver embed itself in my foot after i lost my grip on it, OUCH! (i swore a lot more than that though )

thanks for the advice tho, and id love to see some pics of your own projects.

[drrgill]

Thanks Scott M......Great info.


Drrgill