stem polishing

Brothers of Briar

Help Support Brothers of Briar:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

piperguckert

Active member
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
well the last few times iv gone to my pipe club iv ben ridiculed for the conditions of my stems by a few gues not nameing names (COUGHF DOCK) (COUGHF PERRIE) COUGHF and its true mine are in prity dier need of some polishing dock told me about something but i forgot so what is your gues techneques for polishing your volcanite stems?
 
I just got this Ben Wade on ebay for $45.
It needed a lot of cleaning.
I soaked the stem in vodka and it came out lookin' bad.
I thought I wrecked it. It needs a little more work, but it doesn't look like shit anymore.
bw10.jpg

bw210.jpg

bw310.jpg
 
I have tried many methods over the years to clean and polish stems, but nothing works as well as a buffing wheel with jewelers rouge and carnuba wax.
 
A simple bench grinder from Sears and polishing wheels and tripoli from Home Depot will clean those stems up like new...

Best,
D.J.
 
Using a bench grinder motor is a bad idea for polishing a pipe. Most bench grinder motors run at 3600 rpms or somthing thereabouts. This is too fast for buffing and polishing. It will burn the wax off your pipe rather than putting it on. And could potentially result in scorches.

What you want is a speed around 1700 rpms. Baldor makes good motors. There are plenty put there. Just make sure you get the right speed.
 
Nick":4412w62x said:
Using a bench grinder motor is a bad idea for polishing a pipe. Most bench grinder motors run at 3600 rpms or somthing thereabouts. This is too fast for buffing and polishing. It will burn the wax off your pipe rather than putting it on. And could potentially result in scorches.

What you want is a speed around 1700 rpms. Baldor makes good motors. There are plenty put there. Just make sure you get the right speed.
Woodcraft sells a Delta slow speed grinder that is 1725 rpm, takes 8 inch wheels. You've got the double shafts, nuts, washers, everything you need. Just take off the shrouds and replace the grinding wheels with buffs. May have to add some washers or shims to the buffs if they're not as thick as the grinding wheels. Around $100, I've used one for years.

Jack
 
Nick":j6dlfdn8 said:
Using a bench grinder motor is a bad idea for polishing a pipe. Most bench grinder motors run at 3600 rpms or somthing thereabouts. This is too fast for buffing and polishing.
Not only that, but a grinder has too much torque, which is responsible for grabing your pipes and sending them across the room. I have the set-up described in the ASP buffing faq (Freedom buffer) and it works very well for me. I have yet to drop a pipe: if I press too hard the motor simply slows down, which is great to promote the light touch essential to good technique. As added bonus, it has variable speed: you can use low rpms when learning and gaining practice and shift to higher rpms once the technique is well in control.
 
Dave":uqye6vn7 said:
They are called Micro Mesh
Dave, thanks for the post. I wish I had known about these a few years ago, before getting the buffing set-up. What I used to use was nail emery files. Not all grits, only the finest used mostly for the finishing touches. They work great to remove the brown oxidation at the lip of the stem without rounding the button.
 
Wet Dottle":mefo97ns said:
Dave":mefo97ns said:
They are called Micro Mesh
Dave, thanks for the post. I wish I had known about these a few years ago, before getting the buffing set-up. What I used to use was nail emery files. Not all grits, only the finest used mostly for the finishing touches. They work great to remove the brown oxidation at the lip of the stem without rounding the button.



I found them while surfing the net

First I tried the whole set on some stems beyond repair

With a little work they can and do bring the stem to like new


After a compleat clean the finer grades I use for light touch ups maybe once a month

Im able to touch up 12 to 15 pipes in 1 hour without having a buffer on a table
I can do them while relaxing on the porch swing lol
 
A bench grinder will work just fine when your goal is to clean up some neglected old pipes.I would'nt suggest it for a high dollar briar but I've had excellent results using mine to get the gunk off of my yard pipes.

Best,
D.J.
 
I lightly sand my vulcanite stems with a very fine emory board and then polish them with jewlers rouge.
 
Top