Removing dents and bite marks in stem

[oldbear58]

I have a recent estate pipe purchase that cleaned up and smokes very well - a new favorite!

It has a deep tooth mark in the stem/bit just past the lip.

I intend to try making a tool that I can gently heat up to try to work this out.

Has anyone done this before or have any advice for ironing out dents or bite marks?

Oldbear

 

[Ocelot55]

In vulcanite and acrylic stems heating the surface will do wonders for many tooth impressions. There are some, however that cannot be removed no matter how much you heat the stem. A simple heat gun will do the trick, but so will large matches used strategically work as well.

 

[Brewdude]

riff raff (Al) has had terrific success with using black super glue on vulcanite. Just a tiny drop into the impression, and then he carefully works it smooth with micromesh. Apparently it doesn't work well on acrylic.

But I shouldn't be speaking for him. Perhaps he'll see this thread and chime in.


Cheers,

RR

 

[RDPipes]

As Jesse has stated already a heat gun will work very well but, one must be careful
not to heat it too much or you can bubble the stem. When all else fails I sand them, sometimes using a small jewelers file first depending on how bad they are. Of course taking precautions you don't file or sand too far making a bigger problem. Afterwards buffing with jewelers rouge and white rouge to bring the shine back. The only time I use black super glue is if the bite mark is way too deep to sand safely or if there's a hole bit through the stem.
While it works well on vulcanite and Black acrylic it tends to show a bit because the black doesn't seem to match well all the time depending on the density of the black.
Here's one I did awhile back before and after, you can see the repair if you look closely. Photos don't always show them in the same light as if it was in front of you.