Peterson Killarney Makeover

[Coastie3202]

A friend of mine from work switched from smoking cigars to smoking a pipe.  He purchased a basket pipe from a local smoke shop, found he enjoyed it, so went and ordered himself this Peterson Killarney.

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He has been having some difficulty slowing down his smoking pace so found that the Killarney would get hot and uncomfortable to hold.  He even got to the point where he just quit smoking it.  I asked him about the pipe one day at work when we were out on break together and he told me his woes with the pipe, so I offered to take a look at it to see what I could do.

On inspection of the pipe I noted of course that it is red, and it appears that Peterson puts a thin coat of lacquer on this model.  It is my opinion that lacquer on a pipe tends to make the pipe a hotter tool to hold than non-lacquered.  I could be wrong, but there it is.  I also noted that the back of the bowl, just above the shank, seemed to be getting more heat due to some discoloration (light black/gray) starting to show through the finish.  I inspected the bowl and did not find too much, except the start of some burn out, which explained the discoloration.  So I took the pipe down to the bare briar to remove the lacquer and the color so I could get a better look at the possible damage to the briar.  I gotta tell you that whatever Peterson used for the color on this pipe was like removing powder coat from metal.  But persistence paid off.  I sanded the entire pipe with 220, 320, 400, 500, 1000, 1200, and then the whole series of Micromesh pads.  I then applied a coat of black Fiebings dye, rubbed the majority off which allows the dye to remain attached to the grain and really makes it stand out.  I then put some rustification over the heat discoloration, then treated it to Tripoli, White Diamond, and two coats of Carnuba, finished off with a final buff using a clean 4" flannel.  I then cleaned up and shined up the stem.  I think he will find that the Peterson smokes a little cooler now, and will encourage him to sip, don't drag.

I can't believe that Peterson would put that red color over a piece of briar that has such beautiful grain.  

If for some reason my pics don't show let me know as I am new to posting pics on this forum and am uncertain if I am doing it correctly.

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[pepesdad1]

Nice job, Coastie.

 

[Briar Spirit]

Very good of you to look at the pipe for your friend and the grain is quite nice under that nasty coating, as the chamber has a noticeable start of a burn-out I would give the damaged area a pipe-mud treatment and give the pipe a couple of days for the cement to go off. If the damage isn't dealt with prior to your friend continuing to smoke his pipe it is quite likely to have a full on burn-out. As you will know it will have suffered the damage as there will have been a bit of sand or stone inside the Briar so there was a tiny hole inside the wood, this will mean there is potentially much deeper damage than the eye will detect, a coating of pipe-mud will stop any further damage.  :sunny: 

 

[holymolar]

Impressive restoration, Coastie, as always with you.

 

[Coastie3202]

Very good of you to look at the pipe for your friend and the grain is quite nice under that nasty coating, as the chamber has a noticeable start of a burn-out I would give the damaged area a pipe-mud treatment and give the pipe a couple of days for the cement to go off. If the damage isn't dealt with prior to your friend continuing to smoke his pipe it is quite likely to have a full on burn-out. As you will know it will have suffered the damage as there will have been a bit of sand or stone inside the Briar so there was a tiny hole inside the wood, this will mean there is potentially much deeper damage than the eye will detect, a coating of pipe-mud will stop any further damage.  :sunny: 

Thanks for that recommendation Briar Spirit. I was actually considering that last night and with your input I think I will go ahead and do that. I am not a cigar smoker so no access to cigar ash. I have read that cigar ash and water is the mixture to use. Is there another recipe that will work if one doesn't have cigar ash?

 

[Coastie3202]

Impressive restoration, Coastie, as always with you.

Thanks Joyal. You are the one that helped me learn after all.

 

[Briar Spirit]

Thanks for that recommendation Briar Spirit.  I was actually considering that last night and with your input I think I will go ahead and do that.  I am not a cigar smoker so no access to cigar ash.  I have read that cigar ash and water is the mixture  to use.  Is there another recipe that will work if one doesn't have cigar ash?

With no access to cigar ash you can use pipe tobacco ash, it doesn't set as hard as cigar ash but it works well enough to stop a burn-out.

The ash you need to get from your smokes is the whiter stuff, if it is darker grey or black there is a lot of unburnt material in the mix and liable to combust along with the tobacco in the chamber.

Water is better if the pipe is for someone else but it is said saliva will bond the ash better, I cannot confirm nor deny this claim but saliva is not suitable if the pipe is not your own of course. I would recommend some distilled water, you want the mixture to be pretty thick and pasty.

I personally prefer to get into the chamber with a flat faced tooth pick to remove any of the charred Briar, this will make the bonding properties of the pipe mud all the stronger as it will bond with wood and not charcoal.

 

[Coastie3202]

Thanks for that recommendation Briar Spirit.  I was actually considering that last night and with your input I think I will go ahead and do that.  I am not a cigar smoker so no access to cigar ash.  I have read that cigar ash and water is the mixture  to use.  Is there another recipe that will work if one doesn't have cigar ash?

With no access to cigar ash you can use pipe tobacco ash, it doesn't set as hard as cigar ash but it works well enough to stop a burn-out.

The ash you need to get from your smokes is the whiter stuff, if it is darker grey or black there is a lot of unburnt material in the mix and liable to combust along with the tobacco in the chamber.

Water is better if the pipe is for someone else but it is said saliva will bond the ash better, I cannot confirm nor deny this claim but saliva is not suitable if the pipe is not your own of course. I would recommend some distilled water, you want the mixture to be pretty thick and pasty.

I personally prefer to get into the chamber with a flat faced tooth pick to remove any of the charred Briar, this will make the bonding properties of the pipe mud all the stronger as it will bond with wood and not charcoal.

Thanks. This kind of information is exactly why I joined this forum. Appreciate the pointers.

 

[Hiram-2011]

Very nice work brother and mighty kind to help out a friend like that.

 

[Briar Spirit]

Thanks.  This kind of information is exactly why I joined this forum.  Appreciate the pointers.

Only glad to be able to help a little, you are most welcome.  :sunny: 

 

[Coastie3202]

Very nice work brother and mighty kind to help out a friend like that.

I love working on briar so much that I seek out people who have pipes that they want worked on, including restoration, refinish, repair (to a point), general cleaning, or rustification (which is my 1st love). I do it all for nothing other than their thanks and being able to read their opinions of my work.

The more briar I can work on the more I learn.

 

[Brewdude]

Very impressive makeover Coastie!


Cheers,

RR