Blog by Greg Wolford
Last week I wrote about restoring an old Medico VFQ (if you missed it the article is here. I mentioned that Steve was sending me a better stem – and boy did he!
It arrived Saturday and I spent a little time polishing it with micromesh 1500-12000 over the weekend. As you can see, it was almost pristine when it arrived.
Today I touched up the stem’s stamping with white paint to make it pop and then, after the paint cured, I gave it a light buff with white diamond and then a few coats of wax to finish it off. And I must say it really does complete the project.
As you can see, there’s a big difference in the stems. I also found they seem to be made of some different material; the original left a black looking sanding dust and the new one a white-looking dust, more like acrylic. Anyway, here’s the real completed project.
Again, thanks, Steve, for providing me with such a nice stem to top off saving this old pipe with. And, in case you’re wondering, I’ve had the chance to run a few bowls through her and she smokes great for me!
rebornpipes 
Greg, thanks for the good text, and pictures. The project came out near perfection. What a blessing to have friends like Steve. What are the odds that a friend would have the exact stem needed to finish your project? Well done Greg, and Steve
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What a beauty pipe. The caption sounded like a Harlequin Romance novel.
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Thanks, Bill; I like a “catchy” title! LOL
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Glad it fit well Greg. Looks really good – like it was made for it. Odd about the sanding dust. I know that one is indeed nylon from my research and from doing minor work on it. But odd that yours is a different colour dust…. ah well. The mysteries of the refurbishing work.
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Yes, it seems like it came right off this stummel from the factory. In researching the VFQ line a bit I too have seen them listed as nylon: it is indeed a mystery why they seem different.
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