Stem Wax/Polish?

[houtenziel]

The new Savinelli stem quickly oxidized as soon as it was exposed to air/moisture in the air.



Kevin Keith had suggested the Magic Eraser to me once, and I spent what seemed like 2 hours and ended up with maybe 4 of the Magic Erasers in shreds, and there was little if any change in the oxidation. It took Thelonious monkfish to finally get the Silver Duke stem looking good.

I am tempted to try something like Simichrome to polish the oxidation off, but I don't want to just end up with a dull finish instead of an oxidized one. What is my best strategy here? I don't want to invest a lot of time or buy a buffer. Is there something reasonably quick that can polish a seriously oxidized stem?

If it were me, I would use flame on that stem.. but I totally understand why people shy away from it because it is sort of sketchy the first time you do it. But you could probably have that stem back to black within about 2-3 minutes of just quickly running the oxidized areas over a candle flame(and when I say quickly, I mean like back and forth or side to side, just passing through the flame and then out again). Wipe the soot off and repeat until the oxidation is gone. I'd recommend using a pipe you don't really care about for the first go to get the feel of it. You'd still need to use some sort of polish after.

Another option would be to use bleach free Soft-scrub like you can get at the grocery store - slop it on the stem and let it sit for 10 minutes or so, and then rub down with a soft cloth thoroughly like you would with a polish. Bleach Free Soft-scrub has worked pretty well for me in the past, before I was confident enough to start sanding them.. it just takes more elbow grease.

[Bamarick]

The new Savinelli stem quickly oxidized as soon as it was exposed to air/moisture in the air.



Kevin Keith had suggested the Magic Eraser to me once, and I spent what seemed like 2 hours and ended up with maybe 4 of the Magic Erasers in shreds, and there was little if any change in the oxidation. It took Thelonious monkfish to finally get the Silver Duke stem looking good.

I am tempted to try something like Simichrome to polish the oxidation off, but I don't want to just end up with a dull finish instead of an oxidized one. What is my best strategy here? I don't want to invest a lot of time or buy a buffer. Is there something reasonably quick that can polish a seriously oxidized stem?

If it were me, I would use flame on that stem.. but I totally understand why people shy away from it because it is sort of sketchy the first time you do it. But you could probably have that stem back to black within about 2-3 minutes of just quickly running the oxidized areas over a candle flame(and when I say quickly, I mean like back and forth or side to side, just passing through the flame and then out again). Wipe the soot off and repeat until the oxidation is gone. I'd recommend using a pipe you don't really care about for the first go to get the feel of it. You'd still need to use some sort of polish after.

Another option would be to use bleach free Soft-scrub like you can get at the grocery store - slop it on the stem and let it sit for 10 minutes or so, and then rub down with a soft cloth thoroughly like you would with a polish. Bleach Free Soft-scrub has worked pretty well for me in the past, before I was confident enough to start sanding them.. it just takes more elbow grease

Mr Hout how about a soak in OxiClean? I used that method on a junky Molina pipe I got off of EBay. It worked pretty good with me being able to remove, perhaps, 90% or more of the gunk on the stem.

[houtenziel]

The new Savinelli stem quickly oxidized as soon as it was exposed to air/moisture in the air.



Kevin Keith had suggested the Magic Eraser to me once, and I spent what seemed like 2 hours and ended up with maybe 4 of the Magic Erasers in shreds, and there was little if any change in the oxidation. It took Thelonious monkfish to finally get the Silver Duke stem looking good.

I am tempted to try something like Simichrome to polish the oxidation off, but I don't want to just end up with a dull finish instead of an oxidized one. What is my best strategy here? I don't want to invest a lot of time or buy a buffer. Is there something reasonably quick that can polish a seriously oxidized stem?

If it were me, I would use flame on that stem.. but I totally understand why people shy away from it because it is sort of sketchy the first time you do it. But you could probably have that stem back to black within about 2-3 minutes of just quickly running the oxidized areas over a candle flame(and when I say quickly, I mean like back and forth or side to side, just passing through the flame and then out again). Wipe the soot off and repeat until the oxidation is gone. I'd recommend using a pipe you don't really care about for the first go to get the feel of it. You'd still need to use some sort of polish after.

Another option would be to use bleach free Soft-scrub like you can get at the grocery store - slop it on the stem and let it sit for 10 minutes or so, and then rub down with a soft cloth thoroughly like you would with a polish. Bleach Free Soft-scrub has worked pretty well for me in the past, before I was confident enough to start sanding them.. it just takes more elbow grease

Mr Hout how about a soak in OxiClean? I used that method on a junky Molina pipe I got off of EBay. It worked pretty good with me being able to remove, perhaps, 90% or more of the gunk on the stem.

Oxiclean is definitely an option, and it does seem to loosen up the oxidation. The main issue I have with it is that the way it works is actually by oxidation. It forces the outer layer to basically(chemistry pun intended) complete the oxidative process, and so you can end up with a lot of oxidation inside the airway since the Oxiclean is in there too. Also Oxiclean is really hard on aluminum tenons, stingers, and bands, and it can cause glue failure and remove painted on nomenclature. Virtually all the same problems exist with bleach as with Oxiclean, except that bleach is several steps up in caustic oxidation power, and it will pit vulcanite badly which requires a lot of sanding. Oxiclean can do this too if you let it set too long in the bath.

[Thelonious monkfish]

Mr Hout how about a soak in OxiClean? I used that method on a junky Molina pipe I got off of EBay. It worked pretty good with me being able to remove, perhaps, 90% or more of the gunk on the stem.

Oxidation is removed physically. Material is lost. There is no soak or solution that will reverse it. Get proficient with sanding, keeping gleam lines straight and not rolling edges or rounding buttons. Just take your time and develop what works for you. Little toothpaste on a churchwarden cleaner with one end anchored can make quick work of internal oxidation. Again, go slow, don't blow out the draft hole by digging in. Good luck, Rick, Tom, anyone else.