Reincarnation

[Jacques_Poutine]

I took a chance and bought a 3$ pipe on Ebay totaled 8$ after shipping. It was an old Yello Bole Premier Bulldog. Battered and bruised and definitely showing its age. By the battered burned and bruised looks of it, I think she was somebodies favorite once upon a time. The rim was charred and burnt the ring between the grooved lines was missing chunks and it was dented beyond belief. If not for my fine love of whisky I have no honest idea why I bought it but I did(The whisky must have known something I didn't).

[/url][/img]

Anyways the other day the pipe came in the mail, and she looked even worse in person then it did in the ad. Anyways I took a look and it was still a solid pipe just "loved" too much by somebody. So I took my sander to it, grinded the rim until it was solid and flat, but then I remembered the damn ring between the grooven lines was missing chunks so I sanded the entire pipe until the grooves were gone, then sanded until it had as near perfect symmetry as I could achieve with the tools on hand and the whisky in my belly. Then I took some 500 grit paper and hand bombed the rest to smooth it out as much as possible, Then (this is where the magic happened) the almighty pipe gods must have pulled a swap on me because i used a damp cloth to remove the dust that built up from this process and low and behold right before me is A BEAUTIFUL BRAND NEW RHODESIAN, I swear this is a brand new pipe and not the old dirty piece of junk I have been digging away at.

[/url][/img]

All in all, I could not be happier with my 8$ investment, I packed it up and smoked a few bowls and I fully understand why somebody somewhere loved this pipe so much, it smoked cool and dry, amazing draw, and I am yet to relight a bowl more then once. the moral of this story is don't be afraid to take a chance on a cheap old dirty pipe. It's amazing what some sandpaper and patience can pull off.

[/url][/img]

I can now understand why this was once somebodies favorite pipe and when I smoke it I will always wonder about the life it once had. It now has a place among my favorites and will enjoy many more years of use.

 

[Brewdude]

Looks fantastic Jaques. You did a helluva job!


:cheers:



Cheers,

RR

 

[Jacques_Poutine]

I swear someone somewhere swapped pipes on me lol, this is my first time refurbishing a pipe and I think I might have found a new hobby for when I have no space to build boats, I think I'm going to have to invest in a nice dremel tool though for next time, I think a dremel would make the ultimate multi tool for pipe work especially if I want to get into more detail(I used to be a tattoo artist I think I could get very ambitious).

 

[Harlock999]

Great job!
Maybe you could take a little off the stem so it meets up with the shank more smoothly?

 

[Jacques_Poutine]

PS, the stem is about 1mm too big on the corners and though its not a big deal I'm curious if anyone has any idea's on shaping them flush again? I trust myself working with wood but I'm iffy on the plastic, anyone else ever work with minor stemwork or should I just leave it be?


lol I was writing for some advice on that Harlock, I'm not sure the best way to go about it.

 

[George Kaplan]

Great work, Jacques. I get a lot of enjoyment from that sort of refurb work myself. I'm actually in the middle of re-shaping a diamond shank stem right now. Vulcanite actually sands down just as easily as briar, if not more so. Since you're dealing with flat planes there, I'd lay the sandpaper on a flat surface and rub the stem on it, rather than rubbing the stem with the paper. Am I making sense? (been into the whiskey a bit myself) Thing about stem work, though: it takes a LOT of tedious sanding with some very fine grit paper then some polishing with a Dremel or buffing wheel to get a passable shine. You may want to invest in one of those before you get started on that one. If it smokes all right, and you don't mind the looks of it, then don't worry about it.

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

I wonder if you couldn't come up with some kind of an insert that would better bridge that gap, as opposed to altering the stem itself.

 

[Jacques_Poutine]

@George, Ya, that's about how I figured it would be, the shine is really what worries me, whats the point of having a perfectly fitted pipe that has all these scuffs and scratches around the stem, I might just leave it be for now it honestly doesn't bother me and is really only noticable(<---spell check says that's wrong but I say its right) to someone looking directly at it, its really just the corners are sharp. I was gentile on the shank when I was sanding it out and really only scraped off the varnish down there, I could remedy it by varnishing the pipe but I like the naked wood with nothing but a nice polish to it so it gets more of a patina with age from touching it. Though Daves insert idea is interesting.

Also up here[Canada] we make our whisky without the "e" the "e" makes it too complex and usually leads to trouble and we don't like trouble, it takes too much work and doesn't pay well enough so we try to keep it simple.

@Dave, That might be the perfect idea, I build boats so I have lots of epoxy around and tonnes of wood(I never toss away wood no matter now small it might be) I might even have enough dust from what I sanded off the rim and bowl to make up some composite putty from the original briar.

Thanks for the feedback guys, now I have ideas bouncing around in my head, though I'm not quite sure which road I'm going yet though.

 

[George Kaplan]

Ah, yes. Those pesky corners. Now I see 'em. That's why factories do most of the sanding with the stem ON. If I were you, I'd just leave it alone until you're more comfortable working with vulcanite, or until it bugs you too much to look at it. An insert could work, but if it increases the gap at the end of the tenon, it could create a gurgle trap. Plan C would be to sand a bit square off the end of the shank, then take the same amount off the end of the tenon. If the mortise is beveled this might not work, but not all are and many of those that are have a loose enough tolerance for a little shortening.

I drink both whisky and whiskey. The beverage in question that night was from Tennessee, and therefore whiskey. They grow their own 'E's down there, and usually have a surplus, so they put 'em in everything, including the booze.