Grabow beater pot

[Fr_Tom]

It is quite the deal and could be cleaned up nicely. It is a push tenon.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dr-Grabow-Rivi ... 3257466536

[kxg]

Thanks for the tip. I took a flyer on this and the GBD from the same seller. It’s time to try my hand at simple restoration.

[kxg]

The Grabow will take some work. It will be my first restore, so I will learn a lot. The GBD is in much better shape and should only require basic cleaning, should being the operative term. Please let me know if you see me doing anything totally crazy. I'm coachable!





Progress on both pipes: Stems have been swabbed out with Everclear until clean. The Grabow was, as expected, a mess! But so far so good.
The GBD is in the reaming/cleaning process. No issues encountered thus far.


The Grabow stummel is in the alcohol bath. It was in ~1.5 hours when the pic was taken.

[Ruffinogold]

Ummmm ... than jar looks like it's got bourbon in it ..... smoky bourbon

[MikeDennison]

So, it's cool too immerse the entire stummel in isopropyl? Won't that strip the finish? Just askin', because I don't know.

[kxg]

It will strip most of the finish, but I planned on that happening. This pipe was in very rough condition with a lava rim with chips from knocking on the rim, lots of dings, etc. The alcohol bath is supposed to soften the cake and that is true. I pulled it out of the bath an hour or so ago and reamed the bowl. It reamed easily with a Decatur reamer and I got a whole lot of carbon out of the bowl. It is back in the bath for a few or more hours.

Here is the GBD, pretty much finished. Also the stem for the Grabow and a stem that I buffed from one of my older pipes that needed polished.

[kxg]

Progress report on the Grabow. Pulled it from the ipa bath, reamed it, cleaned the airway, Brushed the strummed with a brass brush, then sanded the rim with a progression of wet paper. Now I’m deciding how to proceed. I may sand the stummel and then stain and wax.

[Kevin Keith]

Those look great K, good work

[Longshanks]

Yeah brother... starting to look real nice. I love restoring old pieces like this. If you stay away from the quick and easy "made in China" lacquer finish and go for a nice carnuba-wax finish, it comes out looking like a high dollar artisan pipe. I picked up a blue spade Dr G pot similar to that one. I sanded mine down, too, and cleaned up the sloppy rustication. Then I went with a darker brown stain and buffed it with carnuba. It turned out Beeeee-U-tiful~!!! Of course, that's a slightly biased opinion. I'd offer a picture, but it's been smoked so much and riding around in my pipe bag so long it looks like a jimmy pipe.

Here's another example of an old Arlington pot I refinished. Some of you may remember this ol' piece. I went with a reddish stain and carnuba and it turned out great. Again... slightly biased opinion.

[kxg]

That's a great transformation. This could be an entertaining and useful hobby!