This is one that I just finished refurbishing. It came in a box of pipe bowls that I was given that needed re-stemming. I cleaned and reamed it and removed the tars on the rim. The shank had a small crack in it that needed to be fixed so before I re-stemmed it I cleaned the outside of the shank with a cotton swab of acetone to remove any finish that was on the area that the band would cover. I measured the outer diameter of the shank, picked out a nickel band. Just before placing the band I put some super glue in the crack and let it dry. Once done I dabbed a bit of all purpose glue where the band would go and then heated band so that I could pressure fit it in place. I re-stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain to give it a more even finish. I buffed it with Tripoli and White Diamond before giving it a coat of wax. Then I laid it aside.

I found an interesting stem blank that would give the pipe a pleasing look to my eye. I turned the tenon with a PIMO tenon turning tool until it was a close fit and then did the rest of the work on the tenon with sand paper by hand. Once I had the tenon fitting snugly I took my Dremel to the outer diameter of the stem to bring it as close as possible to the diameter of the shank of the pipe. I finished the exact fit by hand with varying grades of sand paper. Upon completion of the fit I used 240, 400 and 600 grit sand paper to remove the scratches and then 1500,1800, 2400, 3200,4000 and 6000 micro-mesh sanding pads to finish the polish on the stem. I put the stem on the pipe and then took it to the buffer and did a final buff with White Diamond buffing compound on a mixed felt/flannel wheel. Remember never buff a stem without it being in place on the bowl or you will round the edges at the stem/shank connection.

Once I had the stem as smooth as I wanted I gave it a coating of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil and let it dry for half an hour and then buffed the entire pipe with a carnuaba wax buff.

Here is the finished product: