Stem Wax/Polish?

[Fr_Tom]

Have a shipment of vintage Grabows coming in soon and would like to properly restore them. Can anybody steer me to the best source for carnauba wax and micro mesh pads?

Thanks!

I am completely ignorant on the wax/micromesh, but I did want to give you a big thumbs up for the vintage Grabows.

[Dr Uhaha]

Have a shipment of vintage Grabows coming in soon and would like to properly restore them. Can anybody steer me to the best source for carnauba wax and micro mesh pads?

Thanks!

I am completely ignorant on the wax/micromesh, but I did want to give you a big thumbs up for the vintage Grabows.

These will be my... wait for it... first Dr. Grabow pipes, ever. It is a mid-60s 5-piece set of Commodores with a lined 'Dr. Grabow' display box. I assume they were intended for advertising or as a gift set, but from the pictures it looks like only one or two has been smoked. Not too bad for $20.

[Fr_Tom]

Have a shipment of vintage Grabows coming in soon and would like to properly restore them. Can anybody steer me to the best source for carnauba wax and micro mesh pads?

Thanks!

I am completely ignorant on the wax/micromesh, but I did want to give you a big thumbs up for the vintage Grabows.

These will be my... wait for it... first Dr. Grabow pipes, ever. It is a mid-60s 5-piece set of Commodores with a lined 'Dr. Grabow' display box. I assume they were intended for advertising or as a gift set, but from the pictures it looks like only one or two has been smoked. Not too bad for $20.

Score!

[simplepipes]

Beautiful set of pipes . . . congratulations.

Should restore very nicely . . .

-sp

[Dr Uhaha]

Beautiful set of pipes . . . congratulations.

Should restore very nicely . . .

-sp

Goodwill Online always has pipes for sale. (Don't tell anyone)

[Houtenziel]

Have a shipment of vintage Grabows coming in soon and would like to properly restore them. Can anybody steer me to the best source for carnauba wax and micro mesh pads?

Thanks!

I am completely ignorant on the wax/micromesh, but I did want to give you a big thumbs up for the vintage Grabows.

These will be my... wait for it... first Dr. Grabow pipes, ever. It is a mid-60s 5-piece set of Commodores with a lined 'Dr. Grabow' display box. I assume they were intended for advertising or as a gift set, but from the pictures it looks like only one or two has been smoked. Not too bad for $20.

Beautiful set. If I can give you two vital pieces of advice when restoring Grabow stems.. don't hog on the button too much as those factory bevels are so nice and really a pain to bring back with a file once they are gone. Number two is if you are going to use flame to remove heavy oxidation, stay far far away from the logo on the stem. The heat causes the vulcanite to puff up a bit, and it will squeeze that logo right out. Learned that one the hard way.. after being warned by Thelonious Monkfish about it.. did it anyway and paid the price.
Not really advice so much as just general wisdom that has been passed down to me.. don't be in a rush on each grit step. Run it under some water, wipe it down and check your progress often. Don't go on to the next grit until you are totally satisfied the oxidation is gone.. nothing worse than getting to 12000 grit and then seeing a big glaring thing you missed.
If you want to cheat, a Flitz rubdown after micro-mesh will bring that stem up to a piano glass shine and makes the wax lay down super smooth.

I can talk about pipe restoring all day.. but I wont.

[Thelonious monkfish]

Great score! I don't use carnauba or micro mesh. Carnauba smears when I handle it and looks awful, Paragon/Halcyon do this too but they shine up again twisted in a shirt, carnauba is just a gummy mess for me. I prefer shellac but won't suggest it. Halcyon is good enough, microcrystalline wax polishes itself. So a little, very little, bit worked onto the pipe, then "buffed" with a piece of wax impregnated 5000 grit sanding sponge(foam back automotive type) provides a nice shine. I just use regular wet/dry sandpaper, folded to keep it's shape so you don't obfuscate the gleam lines, especially on the stem. Emory board for reshpaping buttons, otherwise I generally start with 800 or so grit and work up to around 2000 before applying wax or shellac. I keep the paper wet.

[Dr Uhaha]

Great score! I don't use carnauba or micro mesh. Carnauba smears when I handle it and looks awful, Paragon/Halcyon do this too but they shine up again twisted in a shirt, carnauba is just a gummy mess for me. I prefer shellac but won't suggest it. Halcyon is good enough, microcrystalline wax polishes itself. So a little, very little, bit worked onto the pipe, then "buffed" with a piece of wax impregnated 5000 grit sanding sponge(foam back automotive type) provides a nice shine. I just use regular wet/dry sandpaper, folded to keep it's shape so you don't obfuscate the gleam lines, especially on the stem. Emory board for reshpaping buttons, otherwise I generally start with 800 or so grit and work up to around 2000 before applying wax or shellac. I keep the paper wet.

Thank you for the advice. Base on everything I've read I ordered some Halcyon II from finepipes.com. These Commodores are going to make a fascinating little diversion for a while. They have aluminum screw stems with removable metal stingers - never seen an arrangement quite like that. Once restored I will be very curious to learn how they actually smoke. I'm guessing that the thick aluminum stem insert and stinger was designed to create condensation and contain it. Have not found any ads describing this as a 'system,' but I'm pretty sure they went to the trouble for a reason.

[Houtenziel]

Great score! I don't use carnauba or micro mesh. Carnauba smears when I handle it and looks awful, Paragon/Halcyon do this too but they shine up again twisted in a shirt, carnauba is just a gummy mess for me. I prefer shellac but won't suggest it. Halcyon is good enough, microcrystalline wax polishes itself. So a little, very little, bit worked onto the pipe, then "buffed" with a piece of wax impregnated 5000 grit sanding sponge(foam back automotive type) provides a nice shine. I just use regular wet/dry sandpaper, folded to keep it's shape so you don't obfuscate the gleam lines, especially on the stem. Emory board for reshpaping buttons, otherwise I generally start with 800 or so grit and work up to around 2000 before applying wax or shellac. I keep the paper wet.

Interestingly enough, I bought I buffing setup and the whole three stage deal with rogue, white diamond, and carnauba.. and I actually think that microcrystaline waxes provide a more durable and attractive finish. Carnauba definitely gets gummy, especially on rusticated or blasted pipes. Even if you aren't hogging on it with the buffer wheel, the excess carnauba tends to build up and round out the look of a crisp blast. Thinner hand applied waxes don't seem to suffer from this issue. Also.. and this is could just be my subjective opinion, but carnauba seems to increase how hard vulcanite feels on the bite. All the stems I've finished in carnauba always end up feeling very much like acrylic when I am done.

[Fr_Tom]

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



[mention]Kevin Keith[/mention] 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 [mention]Thelonious monkfish[/mention] 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?